A little achievement in my tiny life: Aspire leaders program 2023: Cycle 2

Aspire Leaders Program

Let’s know a little bit about Aspire Leaders Program:

The Aspire Leaders Program welcomes low-income, first-generation college students and recent graduates around the world to participate in a?free online?immersive leadership journey including professional skills training, an exclusive course designed and delivered by Harvard faculty, and interactive seminars led by world-class educators.

History of Aspire Institute

2017 – The Crossroads Emerging Leaders Program (CELP)?was launched from the Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard, in partnership with the Harvard Club of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)

2021 - In October 2021 the?Aspire Institute?was launched as a?spin off from Harvard as an independent?non-profit.?The Aspire Institute replaced the Crossroads Emerging Leaders Program.

?

My journey with Aspire Leadership Program started when my friend Md Rasel Ahamed told me about this program.

I became interested & applied for the Aspire Leaders Program (ALP), Cycle 2 of 2023.

And somehow I completed all the five stages of the Aspire Leaders Program.

(I am sharing my story & experience at the bottom after sharing all the informational things about ALP)

?

Not everyone are eligible to apply for this program.

So first of all who are eligible to apply in the program? Here are a few criteria that is need to be meet:

Aspire Leaders Program Eligibility

• 18-26 years old
• Low-income background
• First-generation college student or recent graduate but?not?enrolled in a graduate program
• Intermediate level English

If you meet these eligibility criteria and submit a 10 minute application, you will be accepted!

?

So at my time Aspire Leaders Program 2023: Cycle 2, there was five stages -

Stage 1: Self Assessment (March 29 – April 17, 2023)

Aptitude test on Math, English, Writing and Logic to discover strengths and potential.

Stage 2: Independent Learning (May 15 -? June 12, 2023)

Leadership development course

Stage 3: Interactive Learning (June 21 – July 19, 2023)

Live 90-minute seminars with world-class educators.

Stage 4: Predatory Stage (July 26 – August 23, 2023)

Personal and professional development and rigorous application

Stage 5: Immersive Learning (October 14 and 21, 2023)

Four live Harvard Business School case study session with Harvard professors and a global cohort of peers.

?

But from 2024, they have added many new things that wasn’t included before, even at the Alumni Welcome Session they have said, they will arrange presentation.

Anyway this is the website link:

https://www.aspireleaders.org/program/aspire-leaders/

?

As you enter the website, you will find from 2024, there are three modules:

MODULE I

FOUR WEEKS (3-5 HOURS/WEEK)

Personal and Professional Development

• Strengths-based leadership skills assessment.?
• Professional development resources co-created with Harvard Business School for creating a LinkedIn profile, crafting your resume, tips for interviewing, and how to network.?
• Live interactions among a global cohort of peers.

MODULE II

FOUR WEEKS (3-5 HOURS/WEEK)

Immersive Learning

• Master classes led by world-class educators from universities around the world.?
• Asynchronous and synchronous learning with a global cohort of peers and mentors.

MODULE III

SIX WEEKS (3-5 HOURS/WEEK)

Aspire Leadership Course: Societal Impact for First-Generation Leaders

Six session leadership development course designed and delivered by Harvard University faculty.?

• Week One: Understanding Yourself as a Leader
• Week Two: Importance of Understanding Context and Building Trust
• Week Three: Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence
• Week Four:?Voices of Leaders
• Week Six: Live Discussions – Being in Action in Your Communities Worldwide

And there are three cohort, cohort 1 application is now closed but there is cohort 2 & 3.

Cohort 2:

Application Deadline: Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. EST (Boston, USA)

Cohort 2 Program Dates: April - Aug., 2024

Cohort 3:

Application Deadline: Wednesday, July 3, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. EST (Boston, USA)

Cohort 3 Program Dates: Aug. - Nov., 2024

?

So when you will complete all the cohort & the stages you will be moved to ALP Alumni Community.

and there are two things actually Social Impact Seed Funding (SISF) – here you will get a fund if do something, which is more like a project, which will be beneficial for your community, country and the world. (main thing is you’re doing something good for the society & for that you will a fund (dollar, euro something) but you have to apply for that.

and there is STEAM fellowship program – don’t know much about that, you may find out by yourself.

My opinion: Its a free Leadership Program and if you can why not grab the opportunity, you can also add to your curriculum vitae (CV) and share it to your LinkedIn profile. what you have to do is, to give it a little time & then you’re good to go.

that’s all the informational things for you guys.

You can skip from here.

?

So here is my journey and experience with Aspire Leaders Program(ALP):

At the first stage I had to give an Aspiring Minds Computer Adaptive Test (AMCAT) which was basically on the following topics: English, Logic, Mathematics & Writing. Times was 1 hour 20 minutes.

Second Stage:

I had to do a course on Exercising Leadership: Foundation Principles HarvardX online course taken by by Ronald Heifetz - a senior lecturer in Public Leadership, at Harvard Kennedy School. This course was made free from a paid platform which is called edx. edX is the online learning platform from world-leading digital education company 2U, Inc.??? edX was founded by Harvard and MIT as an experiment to make the world’s best education available to everyone. (the course really added some value to my future leadership journey, the perspective that to see the problem not inside the box, also view it from outside the box)

After completing the course, you have to complete an assessment and I think in that assessment you have to score at least 75%. Of course, all the assessment will be based on the learning that have been taught in the course. and anyone who will complete the assessment with the required marks will get an certificate of completing Exercising Leadership course.

Then moving on to the Third Stage:

Well the third stage was fun and interesting. Here we had to attend faculty seminars. Here rules were we have participate at least one seminars but not more than five in total. Attending those seminars with people all around the world, it was a very new and amazing experience to me. People from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Syria, Africa, China etc. Everybody were asking questions and Professors were giving answers. What I found very interesting was where I was leading my usual life and when I was attending the seminars, topics that I usually don’t discuss with my friends those kind of topic were being discussed which was a very good thing I would say, because as a human being were not totally bounded by the geographical boundary. A country activities would definitely effect other and world countries. Topics were being discussed such as:

·???????? Renewable Energy in the Developing World

·???????? Leadership through Agility and Resilience

·???????? Movement Assistance and Rehabilitation with wearable Robots

·???????? The Power of Framing in the Art of Benin Kingdom

·???????? Navigating Unfamiliar Territories: A young woman’s journey through STEM.

In these seminars what I notices, even if anyone come without studying the topics, the way professors discussed them for anybody it was easier to understand, that what I felt. They start from basic and move to intermediate.

Fourth Stage:

It was all about submitting an application which requires:

·???????? A personal essay

·???????? Your resume/CV

·???????? Your school or college/university transcripts

·???????? A letter of recommendation from your academic institution

·???????? A short video interview submission

for submitting the application time duration was around 1 month.

?

Finally the Stage Five: Immersive Learning

You will added to a whatsApp group where learners from all the different countries will be added and divided in a different peer groups A, B, C, D & E.

Two case study will be given and there will be unofficial discussion which happened at my time one day before official discussion. Unofficial discussion with people from different countries will prepare you for the official discussion.

One thing I noticed here at the stage five is, in both of the official discussion Professors give multiple choices or a few options and learners have to select one option. Then professors go to different support group why do you support a option and why do you b and c. They never said like this that it is not right select or support b or a. They went in the discussion like why do you think this should be, how this these can support. I think these type of approach to the learners is a very effective approach for brainstorming, its like subconsciously participating all the participants in the discussions.

In session 1: iOpenEye: Theater and #MeToo in Nigeria was taken by Prof. Caroline Elkins

In session 2: VideaHealth: Building the AI Factory was taken by Prof. Karim R. Lakhani

Gratitude to Sarah Sikowitz Caroline Elkins Kristin Fabbe & in conclusion, but certainly not least, I would like to express my gratitude to the founders of Aspire Institute Tarun Khanna Karim Lakhani

"Great ideas have the power to shape the future, while great leaders can bring those ideas to life, creating a legacy of future leaders." Aspire Leaders Program

Best wishes to those who are going to be the future alumni of the Aspire Leaders Program.

Allven Chakma.

?

?

?

?

?

?

?