Creating Leaders

Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC), the international award-winning leadership institute in our country, has been working for the past five years to bridge gaps in society by uniting youth from diverse backgrounds, training them on leadership, problem solving, communication and teamwork skills, and then engaging them in action projects in the community to make a contribution to Bangladesh's development. BYLC's main vision is to eradicate poverty and make a change in the country by educating the next generation of home-grown leaders.
Building Bridges through Leadership Training (BBLT), the signature programme of BYLC, is a two and a half month long leadership course. It is an after-school programme designed for college and university students. The uniqueness of the BBLT programme is in its ability to bring together young from the three different educational systems, namely English, Bangla and Madrassa. 42 students are competitively selected for the programme in equal numbers from each system. “The BBLT course will take one on a journey of self discovery, inspiration and action," says Ejaj Ahmad, Founder and President of Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center. "By the end of the course, one will emerge as a transformed person with stronger leadership, communication and organising skills, and with a deeper sense of purpose in life.”
 The leadership curriculum of this course was originally developed at Harvard University in 2008 and has been revised and adapted over the years to meet the learning needs of the Bangladeshi youth. The intensity of the programme and the pragmatic learning model makes it all the more exciting and engaging for the participants. The students are encouraged to run experiments, take risks and question their own assumptions about leadership, power, influence and authority. Through reflective exercises, group activities and peer consultations, students develop their ability to inspire trust in others and mobilize people for collective action. After six weeks of in-class training, the students get an opportunity to translate their learning into action by designing and implementing small service projects in the community. To date, 373 graduates from 10 BBLT programmes have contributed to more than 20,000 hours of service in the community, and many graduates are now in leadership positions in different youth-led organisations in Bangladesh.
Admission is now open for BYLC's upcoming BBLT 11 programme in Dhaka. To learn more about the learning outcomes of BBLT and to apply online, visit www.bylc.org. The application deadline is February 22, 2014.