Johns Hopkins SAIS to host newly created U.S.-ASEAN Institute for Rising Leaders

The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies will host the newly created U.S.-ASEAN Institute for Rising Leaders, the White House announced today during its U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit, designed to help mid-career public service professionals from the 10 Southeast Asian Nations develop their academic and policy-making skills to help provide effective leadership for their people and the region.

Starting in 2023, the institute will bring approximately 30 mid-career public service professionals—up to three from each of the 10 Southeast Asian Nations—to SAIS annually for the multi-week leadership development program.

"This innovative program exemplifies the ways our university contributes to strengthening governance around the world," Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels said. "Drawing upon the strengths of Johns Hopkins SAIS and its distinguished faculty, the US-ASEAN Rising Leaders Institute will play a critical role in ensuring the next generation of Southeast Asian public servants and civic leaders have the knowledge and skills they need to better serve their nations and the global community."

Under the leadership of Dean James B. Steinberg, Johns Hopkins SAIS will develop a comprehensive program, including an advisory board made up of academic, foreign-policy, nonprofit, and private-sector leaders from the United States and Southeast Asia, to achieve this objective. The program will consist of classroom and extracurricular activities to help young leaders develop these skills, drawing on faculty from SAIS and other divisions of the university, and experts from the policy community.

The program will focus on decision-making and understanding contemporary international issues such as energy, technology, and public health. Rising leaders will have the opportunity to learn about U.S. approaches to these issues—including U.S. views on the Indo-Pacific—through interactions with faculty, thought leaders in the public and private sector, and experts on the region.

"The U.S.-ASEAN Institute for Rising Leaders will provide an opportunity to ensure ASEAN governments have the skilled and well-trained leaders to meet the needs of their people and the challenges of the 21st century, building on a belief that skilled policy making will not only benefit the people of a country, but for the region and the world," Steinberg said.

The Institute builds on Johns Hopkins tradition of educating leaders of the future. SAIS and Johns Hopkins are committed to education and research to help meet the challenges of modern governance including 21st century issues like democracy and technology. The new program will take advantage of Johns Hopkins University's new facilities at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., which will open in 2023.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established in 1967 as a political and economic union among 10 member states in Southeast Asia—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.