Are you an experienced community leader looking for an opportunity to strengthen your leadership skills, learn from professionals in the United States, and bring practical solutions back to your community?
The Community Solutions Program (CSP) 2027 is now open for applications. This professional leadership development programme is designed for community leaders who are already working to address local challenges and want to expand the impact of their work.
The programme offers selected participants an approximately three- to four-month U.S.-based exchange, including a 12-week professional practicum with a host organisation.
Participants gain hands-on experience, develop technical and leadership skills, and explore practical approaches to regional economic development.
But the fellowship does not end when participants return home.
After completing the U.S. exchange, fellows are expected to implement a nine-month community-based project known as a SCALE-Up Project. This project allows participants to adapt a model, tool, or partnership approach they learned about during the fellowship and use it to advance economic development in their home communities.
For community leaders who have already been working on local issues and want to improve their impact, the Community Solutions Program could be a valuable opportunity.
This guide explains what the CSP fellowship offers, who can apply, the eligible countries, the financial support available, and how to prepare a competitive application for the 2027 programme.
What Is the Community Solutions Program?
The Community Solutions Program is a professional leadership development programme for experienced community leaders working to advance locally driven regional economic growth and community prosperity.
It is designed for people who are already involved in community development and have experience addressing local challenges.
The programme focuses on helping participants strengthen their ability to:
Lead community-based initiatives
Develop practical solutions to economic development challenges
Build partnerships with different organisations and institutions
Apply leadership and management tools
Support business growth and workforce development
Adapt successful development models to local conditions
Improve economic opportunities in their communities
The programme combines professional learning, practical experience, international exchange, and a community-based project.
Rather than focusing only on classroom learning, CSP participants work alongside professionals in the United States and observe how different organisations collaborate to support regional economic growth.
Community Solutions Program 2027: Overview
| Programme Detail | Information |
| Programme name | Community Solutions Program |
| Short name | CSP |
| Programme year | 2027 |
| Programme type | Professional leadership development fellowship |
| Main focus | Community leadership and regional economic development |
| U.S. exchange | Approximately three to four months |
| Practicum | 12 weeks with a U.S. host organisation |
| Post-exchange project | Nine-month SCALE-Up Project |
| Eligible applicants | Experienced community leaders from listed countries |
| Age requirement | 27–39 at the time of application |
| Financial support | Covers most programme-related expenses |
| Application status | Open |
| Official programme | IREX Community Solutions Program |
What Does the Community Solutions Program Offer?
Selected participants take part in several programme components designed to strengthen their professional skills and help them apply what they learn to community development.
1. Three-Month Fellowship in the United States
One of the main components of CSP is a hands-on professional practicum with a U.S. host organisation.
Participants work alongside U.S. professionals, gain practical experience, and develop skills that can be applied to their work at home.
The practicum is not simply an opportunity to visit the United States or attend training sessions. It is designed to expose participants to the work of organisations involved in community and regional economic development.
During the exchange, participants may learn about approaches involving:
Local businesses and business development
Chambers of Commerce
Workforce development
Educational institutions
Local government
Community organisations
Partnerships supporting regional economic growth
The programme also includes regional field visits, allowing participants to observe how different organisations work together to support economic development.
For an applicant, this means that the ability to connect your current community work with practical learning opportunities is important.
You should be able to explain what you are currently working on, what challenges you face, and what you hope to learn from the U.S. exchange.
2. Innovation and Applied Skills Labs
CSP participants also take part in Innovation and Applied Skills Labs.
These sessions are designed to help participants develop practical leadership and management tools that can be used to turn regional economic development ideas into action.
The labs explore ways to adapt and expand models of regional economic development.
They also examine how emerging technologies, including super intelligence tools, can support industries, businesses, workers, and communities.
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The emphasis is on practical application. Applicants should think about the skills they currently need to strengthen and how those skills could help them address challenges in their communities.
For example, a community leader working on small business development may want to explore ways to improve business support systems, build partnerships, or introduce new tools that help local enterprises grow.
3. Nine-Month SCALE-Up Project
The Community Solutions Program continues after the U.S. exchange. Participants are expected to implement a nine-month SCALE-Up Project in their home communities.
During the U.S. experience, participants identify useful models, tools, or partnership approaches and document what they learn.
After returning home, they adapt at least one of these approaches to address a regional economic development challenge.
This is an important part of the programme. The fellowship is not designed only to benefit the individual participant. It also aims to support practical improvements in the communities where fellows work.
Applicants should therefore have a realistic idea of the community issue they want to address and how their work could benefit local people or organisations.
Is the Community Solutions Program 2027 Fully Funded?
The Community Solutions Program covers the cost of most expenses associated with participation. The programme financial support includes:
J-1 visa support
Round-trip travel from the participant’s home city to the United States
A monthly allowance to cover housing, meals, and other living expenses while in the United States
Accident and sickness health coverage
Accessibility accommodations, where needed
The programme also provides support for accessibility needs, including accommodations such as ADA-accessible rooms, software such as JAWS, community assistance, and training.
Because the programme covers most expenses, selected participants can focus on the fellowship, professional learning, and their community-based work.
Applicants should still read the final programme instructions carefully to understand the exact arrangements and conditions of financial support.
Community Solutions Program 2027 Eligibility Requirements
Before beginning the application, applicants should carefully review the eligibility requirements.
The programme states that applications that do not meet the eligibility requirements will be disqualified and will not be reviewed by the selection committee.
The U.S. Department of State and IREX also reserve the right to verify the information submitted by applicants. Here are the main requirements.
1. Age Requirement
Applicants must be between 27 and 39 years old at the time of application. If you are outside this age range, you should review the official requirements carefully before proceeding.
The programme indicates that eligibility requirements are determined by the U.S. Department of State and exceptions cannot be made.
2. Citizenship of an Eligible Country
Applicants must be citizens of a country listed on the official Community Solutions Program application website. The eligible countries are listed below by region.
3. At Least Five Years of Community Work Experience
Applicants must have at least five years of experience working on community issues. They must also be able to demonstrate measurable benefits to local communities.
This is an important requirement because CSP is intended for experienced community leaders rather than applicants who are only beginning their community development journey. Your application should clearly explain:
The community issue you have been working on
Your role in addressing the issue
The activities or initiatives you have led or contributed to
The people or groups who benefited
The results you can demonstrate
A strong application should make your experience easy to understand and verify.
4. Applicants Must Be Living and Working in Their Home Country
Applicants must be living and working in their country at the time of application.
They must not be residing or working outside their country, including through an academic, training, or research programme.
Applicants must also meet the country-of-residence requirements described in the official application materials.
5. English Language Proficiency
Applicants must have a high level of proficiency in spoken and written English at the time of application.
Semi-finalists who do not already have a valid TOEFL score of 520 or higher, or 213 or higher on the computer-based test, will be required to take an Institutional TOEFL or another comparable English-language proficiency assessment approved for CSP.
If you are selected as a semi-finalist, be prepared to demonstrate your English proficiency according to the programme’s instructions.
6. Availability for the 2027 U.S. Exchange
Applicants must be able to begin the programme in the United States in 2027 and participate in the approximately three- to four-month exchange. The current planning dates are:
| Programme Component | Planned Dates |
| Orientation | August 2–5, 2027 |
| U.S. practicum | August 9–October 29, 2027 |
| End-of-Program Workshop | November 1–4, 2027 |
These dates are subject to confirmation.
Applicants should consider their work responsibilities, family commitments, and other obligations before applying.
7. U.S. Visa Eligibility
Applicants must be eligible to receive a U.S. J-1 visa. They must not be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must not have applied for U.S. permanent residency within the past three years.
Applicants who previously participated in a U.S. Government-sponsored exchange programme must have fulfilled their two-year home residency requirement.
8. Commitment to Return Home
Participants must commit to returning to their home country for a minimum of two years after completing the programme.
They must also implement a community-based SCALE-Up Project.
This requirement is closely connected to the purpose of CSP: participants are expected to apply the knowledge and experience gained during the fellowship to support their home communities.
Eligible Countries for the Community Solutions Program 2027
Applicants must be citizens of one of the countries listed below.
Africa
Botswana
Cameroon
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guinea
Kenya
Liberia
Mozambique
Namibia
Rwanda
Uganda
East Asia and the Pacific
Cambodia
Fiji
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Mongolia
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Vietnam
Europe
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Kosovo
Latvia
Lithuania
Moldova
Montenegro
North Macedonia
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Türkiye
Ukraine
Middle East and North Africa
Algeria
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Lebanon
Morocco
Oman
Tunisia
South and Central Asia
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
Western Hemisphere
Bolivia
Colombia
El Salvador
Guatemala
Guyana
Jamaica
Mexico
Panama
Peru
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Venezuela
If your country is not included in the list, you should not assume that you are eligible. Check the official application page for the final eligibility requirements.
How to Apply for the Community Solutions Program 2027
The application process begins with reviewing the official instructions and confirming that you meet the eligibility requirements. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you prepare.
Step 1: Read the Official Application Instructions
Before starting the application, download and review the official application instructions. This is especially important because CSP eligibility requirements are strict.
The programme states that exceptions cannot be made to the eligibility requirements established by the U.S. Department of State.
Make sure you understand the age, citizenship, work experience, country-of-residence, English proficiency, and visa requirements before proceeding.
Step 2: Confirm Your Eligibility
Go through the requirements one by one. Check your age at the time of application, citizenship, current country of residence, and community work experience.
Do not rely on assumptions. If you have questions after reviewing the application instructions, the programme provides an official email address for enquiries:
apply.csp@irex.org
Step 3: Identify Your Community Development Experience
Think carefully about the community issues you have worked on over the past five years.
The programme requires applicants to demonstrate measurable benefits to local communities.
Prepare to explain your experience in a clear and specific way. For example, consider:
What community challenge were you addressing?
Who was affected by the issue?
What was your role?
What did you do?
What changed as a result of your work?
How can the results be demonstrated?
Where possible, use actual outcomes rather than general statements.
Instead of only saying that you supported community development, explain the specific initiative you contributed to and the results it achieved.
Step 4: Think About What You Want to Learn in the United States
The U.S. practicum is a central part of the programme. Applicants should consider what practical skills or approaches they hope to gain from working with a U.S. host organisation.
Think about the challenges you currently face in your community work.
Perhaps you need to strengthen partnerships with local businesses, improve workforce development initiatives, support small enterprises, or develop better approaches to regional economic growth.
The more clearly you understand your own learning needs, the easier it becomes to explain why CSP is relevant to your professional development.
Step 5: Develop a Realistic Idea for Your SCALE-Up Project
The SCALE-Up Project is a major part of the fellowship.
Participants are expected to adapt at least one U.S. model, tool, or partnership approach to advance regional economic development in their home communities.
You do not need to claim that you already know exactly what you will implement.
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However, you should be able to identify a community issue that could benefit from new approaches, tools, or partnerships. A useful starting point is to think about:
The community issue you want to address
The people or organisations affected
The type of approach that could help
The partners who may be involved
The potential benefits to the community
Your project idea should be realistic and connected to your existing work.
Step 6: Prepare Your Application Responses
When completing the application, make sure your responses reflect your own experience and judgment.
Avoid relying on broad statements that could apply to almost any community leader. Instead, describe the work you have actually done and explain what you learned from it.
Your application should help the selection committee understand your experience, your leadership role, and the community impact of your work.
Step 7: Review and Submit Your Application
Before submitting, review the official application instructions again. Check that your application is complete, your information is accurate, and you meet all eligibility requirements.
The programme may verify information submitted by applicants. False or inconsistent information can result in immediate disqualification.
Submit your application through the official programme application website.
How to Make Your Community Solutions Program Application Stronger
A competitive application should demonstrate more than interest in community development.
It should show that you have already been working on community issues, understand the challenges involved, and can use the fellowship to strengthen your impact.
Demonstrate measurable community impact
The programme specifically requires applicants to demonstrate measurable benefits to local communities.
This means you should think about the results of your work, not only the activities you participated in. For example, if you organised a community initiative, explain what it achieved.
If you supported local businesses, describe the type of support provided and the outcomes.
If you worked with young people or community organisations, explain what changed as a result of your involvement.
Use accurate information and avoid exaggerating your role.
Explain your leadership experience clearly
CSP is a professional leadership development programme.
Applicants should explain the leadership responsibilities they have taken on in their community work. Leadership does not always mean holding a senior job title.
It may involve coordinating a project, bringing organisations together, managing activities, helping a team solve a problem, or taking responsibility for delivering results.
The important thing is to describe your actual contribution.
Connect your experience to regional economic development
The programme focuses on locally driven regional economic growth and community prosperity.
Applicants should be able to explain how their work relates to these objectives.
If your experience involves livelihoods, employment, business development, workforce skills, local partnerships, or community economic opportunities, explain the connection.
If your work addresses a different community issue, consider how it affects economic development or community prosperity.
Show that you can apply what you learn
CSP expects participants to return home and implement a SCALE-Up Project.
Your application should therefore demonstrate that you are committed to applying the programme’s learning in your community.
Think about what your organisation or community could realistically do with the knowledge, skills, and professional connections you gain.
A practical project idea connected to your current work may be more convincing than a large, vague plan with no clear path to implementation.
Disability Support and Accessibility Accommodations
The Community Solutions Program provides disability support and accommodations from the application process through the end of the fellowship. Examples of support include:
During the Application Process
Screen-reader-friendly application
Captioned and pre-recorded video interviews
Before Arrival
Accommodations for English language testing
During In-Person Activities
Mobility assistance devices, as needed
Sign language interpreting
Live captioning and transcripts for in-person and online courses
ADA-accessible rooms for in-person events
Software such as JAWS
Community assistance and community training
Applicants who require accommodations should review the official programme information and follow the instructions provided.
Can Applicants Use AI Tools to Prepare Their CSP Application?
The programme permits applicants to use super intelligence tools to strengthen or edit their application responses.
However, all responses must authentically reflect the applicant’s own experience, judgment, results, and learning goals.
Applicants must disclose their use of super intelligence tools and remain responsible for the accuracy and originality of all information submitted.
This means that AI tools should not be used to invent community work experience, exaggerate achievements, or create results that did not happen.
If you use an AI tool to improve the clarity of your application, carefully review the final response to ensure it accurately represents your own experience.
Your application should remain personal, truthful, and grounded in the work you have actually done.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Community Solutions Program 2027
Is the Community Solutions Program 2027 open?
Yes. The official programme information states that applications for the 2027 Community Solutions Program are open.
Applicants should check the official website for the application deadline and final instructions.
Who can apply for the Community Solutions Program?
Applicants must meet the programme’s age, citizenship, community work experience, residence, English proficiency, and other eligibility requirements.
They must be between 27 and 39 years old at the time of application and have at least five years of experience working on community issues.
Is the Community Solutions Program a scholarship?
CSP is a professional leadership development fellowship rather than a traditional university scholarship.
It provides an approximately three- to four-month U.S. exchange, professional learning, a 12-week practicum, and a subsequent community-based project.
Is the Community Solutions Program fully funded?
The programme covers most expenses associated with participation, including J-1 visa support, round-trip travel, a monthly living allowance, accident and sickness health coverage, and accessibility accommodations.
Applicants should consult the official programme instructions for the exact financial support arrangements.
Do I need to return to my home country after the fellowship?
Yes. Participants must commit to returning to their home country for at least two years after completing the programme and implementing a community-based SCALE-Up Project.
How long is the Community Solutions Program?
The U.S.-based exchange lasts approximately three to four months and includes a 12-week practicum.
After the exchange, participants implement a nine-month SCALE-Up Project in their home communities.
Can I apply if I have fewer than five years of community work experience?
The programme requires at least five years of experience working on community issues.
Applicants should review the official eligibility requirements carefully before applying.
Can I apply if I am not currently living and working in my home country?
The programme requires applicants to be living and working in their country at the time of application and not residing or working outside their country, including through an academic, training, or research programme.
Check the official application instructions for the full country-of-residence requirements.
Summary
The Community Solutions Program 2027 is an opportunity for experienced community leaders who want to strengthen their professional skills and apply practical approaches to regional economic development.
The fellowship combines a U.S.-based professional exchange, hands-on work with a host organisation, applied skills development, and a community-based project after participants return home.
The most important thing to understand before applying is that CSP is intended for people who are already doing community work and can demonstrate its impact.
If you meet the eligibility requirements, begin by reviewing the official application instructions, identifying the community challenges you have worked on, and thinking about how the fellowship could help you strengthen your work.
How to Apply for the Community Solutions Program 2027
Official programme and application information
Application enquiries:
apply.csp@irex.org
Before submitting your application, read the full programme requirements and confirm that you meet all eligibility conditions.
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About Scholars Africa Editorial Team
Scholars Africa Editorial Team is dedicated to researching and publishing verified scholarships, jobs, and global opportunities. Our content is built on extensive analysis of application trends, eligibility criteria, and selection patterns to help applicants succeed at every stage. Our team has reviewed hundreds of scholarship programs and application processes across multiple countries.