Latin America Leadership Program

• 10 weeks of virtual and in-person classes
• Academic materials
• Continuous support throughout the program
• Shared housing (2-3 roommates) for the in-person component (meals not included)
• Local transportation to program activities in Washington DC
• Basic Medical Insurance for emergencies
• Certification of program participation issued by LALP (NOT an official degree/certificate, does not lead to Georgetown alumni status)

* All participants, are required to cover their airfare, meals, and incidentals, and any other costs not included in the program fee.

LALP offers full scholarships to qualified candidates with demonstrated financial need. All candidates that receive a full scholarship MUST pay a USD 2,500 program registration fee.

For all other candidates, LALP offers partial scholarships that cover 75%, 50%, or 25% of the total cost of the program. Selected candidates who pay the total cost of the program in full or receive a partial scholarship WILL NOT be required to pay the $2,500 program registration fee.

Candidates who are citizens and residents of any of the following countries are eligible to apply for the GCL program: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti,  Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal*, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain*, Uruguay, and Venezuela. If your country is not listed, please email us at lalp@georgetown.edu to discuss your case.

(*) Qualified candidates from Spain and Portugal may apply if their projects impact the Latin American region.

Since GCL 2021, all Colombian applicants can submit their applications through the program application website bit.ly/.applygcl ​

In previous years, Colombian applicants that wanted to be considered for a full scholarship had to apply through the OAL Application Website (http://oaleducacion.com.co). 

•   I am a candidate from Brazil, where should I apply?​​

Since GCL 2023, all Brazilian candidates must submit their applications through the program application website at bit.ly/.applygcl 

In previous years, Brazilian applicants that wanted to be considered for a full scholarship had to contact our partners in Brazil at Instituto Ling.​

All GCL participants are required to return to their countries of origin for a year, once the program ends. We require this to ensure that the investment made in the fellow’s participation will revert to the region where s/he will be able to apply the knowledge and tools acquired during the program to be an agent of change. Failure to comply with this agreement will result in the participant reimbursing the Latin America Leadership Program for the total amount of the scholarship received (a full GCL scholarship is valued at USD 25,000.00).

• What if I cannot attend all program classes and activities?

Attendance of all program classes and activities, virtual and in-person, is mandatory. We understand that there may be emergencies or extraordinary circumstances that may require a participant to miss one or more classes/activities. In these special cases, participants are required to email lalp@georgetown.edu, the day before or before the day starts, to inform LALP of their absence. More than three absences may result in the participant reimbursing the Latin America Leadership Program the total amount of the scholarship received, and not being able to graduate with their GCL class.

Yes. For example, an applicant may be a citizen of the United States and a Latin American country. Applicants with dual citizenship can apply to the GCL program and will be considered as long as they reside in any of the Latin American countries listed above and will return to their countries of origin upon the culmination of the GCL program.

In order to be eligible to participate in the GCL program, you must be between 26 through 35 years of age as of the application deadline. We invite you to apply if you are interested, but please keep in mind that priority will be given to applicants who fulfill all requirements. If you are under 26 years of age, we encourage you to apply in the future, as this is a yearly program.

No, all applications must be submitted through the general program application site. If your application is selected, you might proceed to the interview phase. For this phase, LALP works with its local alumni base and other partners to conduct local interviews with the purpose to gain more information about the applicant and answer any questions about the program. Following the interview, local alumni volunteers and LALP partners complete a short report about the applicant and submit it to LALP for inclusion in the applicant's materials. The selection process and all final decisions are made exclusively by Georgetown University.

We tend to give priority to applicants with work experience because it allows participants to learn from each other and contribute their professional experiences to class discussions. Nevertheless, we take into consideration the application as a whole, and we encourage interested candidates to apply this year or in the future as this is a yearly program.

Your application and essays must be submitted in English. Supporting documents from your university and letters of recommendation may be submitted in English or Spanish only.

All required documents must be submitted in English or Spanish. Candidates from a Portuguese-speaking country must submit the original documents in Portuguese AND an English translation of these documents. The translation does not have to be certified.

The application and all required documents must be submitted through the GCL program application website to be considered for review and admission.

Georgetown requires a copy of an official transcript from each university where you have studied, to review your academic history and grades obtained.

We prefer that applicants upload the official transcript onto the application. However, we understand that some universities might wish to send the transcript directly to Georgetown. If so, please use the following address:

ATTN. Georgetown University Latin America Leadership Program
37th and O Streets, N.W.
433 Hariri Bldg.
Washington, DC 20057

If you have graduated from a university or post-graduate studies and have not received your diploma, please submit a certified copy of a document issued by your university stating that you have graduated from that institution. The document must include the date of graduation and the final grade point average.

Applicants must provide two letters of recommendation. One of these letters must come from an employer;  the second letter can be from a professor, employer, or any other figure who can write about your talents and abilities. Recommendations must not be from family members and must be written in English or Spanish only.

Letters of recommendation should be addressed to the attention of the GCL Admissions Committee.

There is no specific template or format for the letters of recommendation. However, please check the submission guidelines specified above. The letters should be addressed to the GCL Admissions Committee or Latin America Leadership Program.

There are several ways candidates can provide proof of English competency. Applicants may provide TOEFL or Cambridge English Language Assessment results for an exam taken in the past or a certificate or other proof of advanced English language courses completed successfully. Additionally, if an applicant has completed undergraduate or postgraduate studies at an English-speaking country, the corresponding diploma will suffice to prove proficiency. If none of these apply, you can still apply and the selection committee will make a decision of your English proficiency based on the application essays submitted and during the selection interview.

We ask that you please submit a legible and valid copy of your passport.

Yes, applicants must upload a short 2-minute video in English explaining their interest in participating in the program and the project they would like to develop as part of their GCL experience.

You may attach additional documents by clicking on the “Add Documents” button on the right-hand side of the application’s main page.

If you need technical assistance while creating, completing, or submitting the application please click on the "i" icon located on the top menu of the application platform to contact technical support. 

The GCL 2025 application opens on June 4, 2024, and closes on August 23, 2024, at 11:59 p.m., Washington, DC time with no exceptions.

If your question is not listed, please send them to lalp@georgetown.edu.

All applications and documents will be received by Georgetown University and later channeled to the appropriate Selection Committees in each country for review. Each local committee will determine preliminary candidates, carry out first-round interviews, and select semi-finalists. A list of semi-finalists will be sent to Georgetown University for a second review and round of interviews in English and via Skype to determine the final participants in the GCL program.

All applicants will be notified of the admissions decision no later than November 4, 2024, via email and by 5:00 p.m. Washington, DC time.

GCL 2025 will run from January 27-April 4, 2025, with four weeks of virtual programming where participants will join in from their own countries, and six weeks of in-person activities at Georgetown University. The final schedule will be promptly communicated to all selected candidates.

Selected participants must apply for a visitor visa at the embassy or consulate of the United States in their country. The visitor visa contains two designations—B1/B2—and lasts 90 days, which covers the time spent in the United States for the GCL program. All participants must ensure they abide by these timelines when coordinating their arrival and departure flights. Once accepted, participants will receive more information.

The program provides shared housing for admitted participants for the in-person program. Participants will be living in specified apartments with three roommates of the same gender during the in-person component of the program. Each apartment may have two bedrooms, with two people per bedroom. Please note the program cannot accommodate single-occupancy requests. Only GCL program participants are allowed to live in these apartments.

The academic schedule for the in-person GCL program normally runs from 9:30 a.m. through 4:15 p.m. with 15-minute breaks in between 75-minute sessions and a one-hour lunch break throughout the week. There are no activities scheduled for the weekend. For the virtual sessions, when applicable, the academic schedule may run two days a week, from 9:30 am to 12:15 pm. All times are Washington DC time. A final and detailed program calendar will be shared with all selected participants.

Site visits are subject to change each year. Applicants accepted into the program will receive a class schedule that lists potential site visits.

Speakers are subject to change each year. Applicants accepted into the program will receive a class schedule that lists potential speakers.

Selected candidates who can afford to pay all or part of the program cost (USD 25,000) are encouraged to do so to allocate scholarship funds to those candidates that won't be able to participate without receiving a full scholarship. Once selected, please indicate your willingness to cover program costs to the LALP team. Your contribution will allow LALP to expand its reach and provide a scholarship to those with the most need.

Qualified candidates from Spain and Portugal may also apply if their projects impact the Latin American region.