The Professional Fellows Program for the Middle East and North Africa places mid-career professionals from North Africa and Lebanon inside American organisations for a fully funded exchange of about 38 to 40 days. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors it, and Legacy International has run the MENA component since 2010.
Fellows begin with one week of team building and professional training in Washington, D.C., then work for four weeks at a host organisation in Austin, Detroit, Pittsburgh or Washington, D.C., and reconvene in Washington to close the programme. The work sits in economic empowerment: entrepreneurship, small and medium business, youth workforce development and community-driven economic development.
Every fellow designs a follow-on project to implement at home, and the exchange runs both ways — American hosts and mentors later travel to the region to co-lead training with their fellows. The two most recent cohorts took 50 fellows in Fall 2025 and 26 in Spring 2026.
Benefits & funding
- Fully funded: Legacy International and the U.S. Department of State cover all costs of international travel, the visa, limited sickness and accident insurance, and basic living costs in the United States — housing, meals and transport for the work commute.
- Housing is a furnished apartment or home during the fellowship placement, with hotel accommodation during the opening and closing weeks in Washington, D.C.
- One week of professional training and team building, a four-week placement inside an American host organisation, and a closing convening in Washington, D.C.
- Mentoring and support to design a follow-on community project, plus a reciprocal visit by the American host or mentor to the fellow’s home country.
- Fellows travel on a J-1 exchange visa, which carries no authorisation to work in the United States. Programme policy is that fellows arrive alone, without family.
Eligibility
- Citizen and current resident of Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco or Tunisia, applying through the country you live in. The list narrows cohort by cohort — Spring 2026 was open to Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia only.
- Aged 25 to 40 at the start of the programme.
- Currently employed, with at least two years of work experience in your field.
- Fluent English, enough to work full time at a U.S. worksite.
- Working as an entrepreneur or social innovator, a small or medium business owner or manager with a socially conscious focus, a youth workforce development professional, university incubator or accelerator staff, or in a government agency or policy office addressing unemployment and SME development.
- Willing to host a reciprocal programme for American counterparts at home.
- No academic degree is required.
- Applicants who have not travelled on a U.S. government funded programme within the last three years are preferred.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
Algeria · Egypt · Lebanon · Morocco · Tunisia
Residence required
Algeria · Egypt · Lebanon · Morocco · Tunisia
Experience required
≥ 2 yrs
Age requirement
25–40 yrs
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Application process
- 1Wait for a round to open. Legacy International announces the application window on the programme site, and U.S. embassies and in-country partners such as Amideast circulate it; the Spring 2026 round ran from 15 May to 23 June 2025.
- 2Create an account on Legacy International’s application portal at portal.legacyintl.org and complete the online application before the stated closing time.
- 3Applications are read and rated over several weeks after the deadline.
- 4Shortlisted candidates are interviewed.
- 5All applicants are notified of the result; selected fellows then work with Legacy International on visa and travel arrangements.
Program timeline
Spring 2026 applications open, 8:00 am EST
May 15, 2025
Spring 2026 applications close, 12:00 noon EST
Jun 23, 2025
Several weeks after the deadline
review and rating, then interviews and notification of all applicants
5.5-week exchange in the United States — training week, four-week placement, closing convening
Spring 2026
American hosts travel to Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria for the reciprocal leg
January to February 2026
Next round
not announced on the official site