The Young Leaders Program

The Young Leaders program is the flagship program of the
French-American Foundation and continues to be central to the Foundation’s success in deepening understanding between France and the United States.

Background

The program was created in 1981 in response to observations that the close working relationships between French and American leaders in the post-war period were waning as new, younger leaders rose with little exposure to their transatlantic counterparts. From its inception, the program has taken small groups of carefully selected up-and-coming leaders in government, business, media, military, culture and the non-profit sector. The program has provided them with the opportunity to spend five days together discussing issues of common concern and, more importantly, getting to know each other. The relaxed atmosphere and the off-the-record nature of the conferences have fostered trenchant and open discussions of policy and social issues and have been very successful in facilitating the development of a new network of transatlantic leaders. Since 1981, Young Leaders meetings have been attended by more than 300 influential men and women, many of whom have gone on to positions of significant responsibility.

Past and current participants

Young Leaders include such prominent Americans as President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senators Evan Bayh and Bill Bradley, General Wesley Clark, former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, and business leaders Frank Herringer (Transamerica Corporation) and John Thain (CIT Group).

Past French participants include several business leaders, including Henri de Castries (AXA), Anne Lauvergeon (La Libération), and Michel Bon (formerly with France Télécom), in addition to a number of political leaders, such as Minister of Defense Alain Juppé, Minister for Higher Education and Research Valérie Pécresse, former Minister of European Affairs Pierre Moscovici, former Minister of Defense Alain Richard and former Minister of Justice Jacques Toubon.

Selection process and annual meetings

Young Leaders are selected by committees in France and the United States in a process coordinated by the Foundation’s offices. Candidates are identified in several ways: through recommendations from past participants, from board members and committee members of the French-American Foundation as well as from other interested observers and from media reports about rising young personalities.

Candidates are between 30 and 40 years of age and are considered to have the potential to rise to the highest levels of their profession. Selected Young Leaders are invited to participate in two annual meetings, which alternate each year between France and the United States. The 2009 Young Leaders meeting took place in Chicago, the 2010 meeting in Marseille, and the 2011 meeting in San Diego.

Roundtable sessions held during the meeting cover issues in politics, economics, media, social policy and world affairs. Roundtables are moderated by past participants with relevant expertise. An emphasis is always placed on promoting informal, frank dialogue, and the discussions are strictly off-the-record. The group stays together throughout the duration of the conference, with meals, free time and group activities providing further opportunities to develop personal relationships and networks and promote cross-cultural understanding.