Based in Honolulu, the Pacific Forum is a foreign policy research institute focused on the Asia-Pacific Region. Founded in 1975, the Pacific Forum collaborates with a broad network of research institutes from around the Pacific Rim, drawing on Asian perspectives and disseminating project findings and recommendations to global leaders, governments, and members of the public throughout the region. The Forum’s programs encompass current and emerging political, security, economic, maritime, and technology policy issues, and works to help stimulate cooperative policies through rigorous research, analyses and dialogues.

The Young Leaders Program was established in 2004 to build cross-cultural experiences for young scholars and foreign policy professionals to improve policy analysis skills early in their careers. The program affords Young Leaders an unparalleled opportunity to network, observe the foreign-policy making process and voice their generation’s viewpoints within elite circles of policy specialists. They also get a chance to develop their own perspective and gain a deeper understanding of conflicts and issues in the Asia-Pacific region, all while learning how experts and leaders deal with these problems.