ABOUT THE YOUTH AMBASSADORS PROGRAM

About U.S. State Department Programs


AMIGOS partners with the US Department of State to administer the fully-funded Youth Ambassadors Program for youth from Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the United States. Youth participants, adult mentors, and host families are competitively selected.


The Youth Ambassadors Program combines:
-leadership development
-cultural exchange
-community service


The application for U.S.-based participants for Summer 2020 has not yet opened. Fill out this form and select “Youth Ambassadors” as your program interest to be notified when the next application opens!


Hosting a Youth Ambassador


Becoming a host family is a highly rewarding experience – it’s an opportunity for you and your family to open your home and share a part of your lives with a young person from another country. Our participants are on an exciting journey, experiencing a new country and culture and you can be a part of this experience with them! Host families are an essential part of the AMIGOS experience, and you can make a difference in a young person’s life by hosting them during their exchange! Please fill out this form if you are interested in being a host family. If you have any questions, please email the Program Coordinator at [email protected].

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What you'll do:
  • Study community development, civic engagement, and leadership.
  • Travel abroad for a three-week international training.
  • Stay with a host family during your international training.
  • Complete service projects and visit cultural sites while abroad.
  • Design and implement a community service project in your own community after you return home.
  • Gain confidence and leadership skills that prepare you for college, and beyond.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

High School Students: Students from the U.S., Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay are eligible to apply for the AMIGOS Youth Ambassadors Program. Learn more about the program on the U.S. State Department’s website.

Adult Mentors: Adult participants are Ecuadorian, Colombian, Paraguayan, Uruguayan, or United States teachers, trainers, school administrators, and youth educators. Adult mentors chaperone, facilitate, and mentor a group of high school-aged youth during the international training and exchange. The ideal mentor inspires young people to act as leaders and draws inspiration from the youth with whom they engage. This is an all-expenses-paid professional development opportunity funded by the US Department of State.

Host Families: Becoming a host family is a highly rewarding experience – it’s an opportunity for you and your family to open your home and share a part of your lives with a young person from another country. Our participants are on an exciting journey, experiencing a new country and culture and you can be a part of this experience with them! Host families are an essential part of the AMIGOS experience, and you can make a difference in a young person’s life by hosting them during their exchange!

Applications open periodically throughout the year. Typically, the exchange from the U.S. to South America occurs in July and the exchanges from South America to the U.S. occur in September and January, though this is subject to change. Applications for all exchanges are closed right now, but when they open, we will post them here. Please fill out this form and select “Youth Ambassadors” as your program interest if you would like to be notified when the application opens.

  • Be able to provide the Youth Ambassador or Adult Mentor with their own bed. Youth Ambassadors may share a bedroom with someone of the same age and gender, but must have their own bed.
  • Be able to provide 3 meals/day for the Youth Ambassador or Adult Mentor.
  • Be willing to involve the Youth Ambassador or Adult Mentor in normal family activities on weekday evenings and on weekends.
  • Be willing to submit information for a criminal background check for all family members over the age of 18 and have AMIGOS staff visit your home during the application process.
  • In 2019, the exchanges are taking place in Madison, WI and the San Francisco Bay Area, so we are only looking for host families from those regions at the moment.

All Youth Ambassador participants go through a competitive application, interview, and selection process. Student participants are aged 15–18. Student participants are selected based on demonstrated leadership and dedication to community service, financial need, and academic performance. Adult mentor participants are aged 21+ and are selected based on their successful track record of working with youth, the past and current involvement in community service, and a desire to promote cross-cultural exchange among youth from different countries.

Youth Ambassador participants will take part in training activities led by AMIGOS staff Monday–Friday from 9am–5pm. Saturdays and Sundays will normally be left open for participants to spend with their host families. There will be one day when students attend high school with either a host sibling or with a fellow U.S. Youth Ambassador. AMIGOS staff will also sometimes organize weekend events for all YAs and Host Families.

AMIGOS staff will visit each host family in their home to meet family members and answer any questions. In addition to the home visit, AMIGOS staff will facilitate a Host Family Training with representatives from each host family.

Youth Ambassadors Program participants will complete a 3-day orientation in their home country before International Training & Exchange. One of the goals of this orientation will be to prepare students for life in the United States. When participants arrive in the United States, they will spend their first two nights together with AMIGOS staff at a hostel or hotel. AMIGOS staff will lead additional activities during this extra day of orientation to ensure that students are ready for their host family experience!

The Youth Ambassadors Program is led by the U.S. State Department and World Learning, Inc. Amigos de las Americas (AMIGOS) operates exchanges for students in five countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, the U.S., and Uruguay.

Take a look at the U.S. State Department’s website for the Youth Ambassadors Program.


2020 PROJECTS
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Host families, you make dreams come true… When I knew I would go to the United States with this program, I thought… “My favorite thing will be that food. My favorite thing will be that place.” And I can tell you that my favorite thing wasn’t a place or a kind of food. My favorite thing was my host family.
Mario, Youth Ambassador