WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 2020 - 2021 cohort of the Pacific Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) for candidates from the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and from the freely associated states of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

 “This is an important program designed to develop and strengthen the competency of public officials in all of our island communities,” said Douglas W. Domenech, Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs. “Strong public sector leadership from the islands is not only best for island communities but is also critical to having resilient island communities.”

Applications are encouraged from public sector employees from the afore-mentioned U.S. territories and freely associated states for individuals who have had at least two consecutive years of government service. Applications should be submitted directly online at http://eldp.pitiviti.org before the deadline of April 30, 2020.

The 2020 - 2021 ELDP program will comprise four week-long classroom sessions scheduled to meet in Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii. The program will also incorporate a series of developmental and career enhancement assignments designed to develop public service values and leadership skills in management, finance, policy advocacy, and government operations. Successful applicants to the 2020 – 2021 cohort will be announced in mid-June 2020. The program kicks off on Guam on August 17, 2020 and runs through June 2021.

With six graduating classes, the U.S. Insular Areas in the Pacific and the Caribbean now count 149 ELDP alumni representing virtually every government agency, serving as dedicated public servants, directors, ambassadors, elected representatives, judges, and cabinet members.

Commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs in 2008, the ELDP was designed to assist the insular governments with developing and retaining qualified and talented professionals needed to lead their governments into the future. Today, the ELDP continues to serve as the premier leadership development program for government employees in key positions throughout the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands and in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The ELDP is administered by the Graduate School USA’s Pacific and Virgin Islands Training Initiatives (PITI-VITI), and funded through the United States Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs’ Technical Assistance Program.

For more information about the work of the Office of Insular Affairs, visit www.doi.gov/oia or follow on Twitter @ASIIADomenech.