The Ukraine / Minnesota Civic Leadership Engagement Program for Youth is proposed to develop leadership skills, and build capacity of young civic leaders in Ukraine and Minnesota through emergence in civic engagement practices, sharing experience and developing best practices for youth engagement and development.
Objectives
• Create an opportunity for youth groups, school and government officials, businesses and non-profit organizations to learn from each other through shared experience of engaging in the exchange of ideas, strategic dialogue, and active/strategic problem solving.
• Ukrainian students will learn the approaches and models that have been implemented in Minnesota and the impact on their life and the community. The American students will learn of the challenges faced in an emerging democracy, they will explore the use of engagement as a tool to facilitate change.
• A major emphasis of the exchange will be the importance of facilitative leadership and civic engagement as it relates to community development and sustainability.

The program is designed to allow sharing of best practices and views of governance, develop a governance model that will support regional and national identity, and draft strategies to implement the potential model in Ukrainian regions. Future summits will be organized regionally to continue the work and ensure larger community participation.