Call for Applications – 2026 LeadNext: Ambassadors for a Global Future 

LeadNext is TAF’s flagship youth leadership program focused on advancing global citizenship for the 21st century. Through a bold, people-centered approach, the program equips emerging leaders with the skills, networks, and perspectives to work across disciplines, navigate complexity, and lead effectively in diverse cultural contexts. The program will run from June–September (see program brief for all dates).Since launching in 2022, the program has brought together a growing network of leaders aged 18–25 from across Asia and the Pacific and the United States, supporting their growth, impact, and capacity to address today’s most pressing global challenges.The 2026 program combines an immersive virtual leadership training intensive, masterclasses with global experts, one-on-one mentorship, and a culminating in-person Global Leaders Summit. The unique cohort design—half from the U.S. and half from Asia and the Pacific—emphasizes relationship-building between future leaders from the United States and Asia, cultivating reciprocal exchange and mutual understanding. Through this experience, participants build practical skills in cross-cultural collaboration, communication, and leadership while joining a network that extends beyond the program itself.At a time of rapid global change, LeadNext responds by investing early in the next generation: equipping them at the early stages of their careers with the leadership tools, international networks, and global perspective needed to translate ideas into action across borders and sectors.For decades, The Asia Foundation has invested in leadership at all levels, recognizing that sustainable change depends not only on policies and programs, but on the people who lead them. LeadNext continues this commitment by supporting emerging leaders to help shape a more inclusive and resilient future.