Young Professionals Exchange Applications Open

What is YPE?

YPE is a Rotary Club program designed for young professionals ages 25 – 35.  The purpose is to build a new generation of Rotarian global leaders with global perspectives and experience.  Another purpose is to build goodwill and peace between nations and clubs by building personal and professional relationships between young professionals in other countries. This leads to mutual understanding of  different cultures on both a business and personal level.   It is an exciting new program for Rotary, relevant and interesting to a younger membership!

How does it work?

For a period of 8 – 10 days, you will be part of a small group of other young professionals and will travel to Japan, where you will be hosted by a Rotary club.  You will stay in a Japanese home of a Rotarian club member who has volunteered to host you.  During your time in Japan, you will take part in various activities as a group (in 2019 and 2023, it was a group of 4).  In 2024 it will, take place in Osaka from either September 13 or 20.   These activities are not only professional but also social/cultural and Rotary based.  You will visit companies selected by the host Rotary Club and have a chance to interact with employees at your peer-level as well as higher level, and experience the Japanese corporate culture, how they make decisions, how they interact together, and what they focus on to make their success.  You will also spend time in Rotary/Rotaract activities and social cultural activities.

Similarly, there is a group of young professionals from Japan who will visit the Seattle area, hosted by 5 Rotary Clubs in the Seattle area who are hosting the same activities. In 2024, that will happen  August 10 - 18.  As part of this program, you will be spending some time together with them here in the Seattle area, during some of the group activities.  In Japan, you will have a chance to meet these same young professionals during your stay in Osaka. The program includes some time for sightseeing and unscheduled blocks of time.

How much does it cost?

While in Osaka, the home-stay is hosted by the Rotary Club there, as are most of the meals.  You will have some expenses for train and subway travel in and around Osaka.  The Rotary subsidy is 50% of the airfare and optional JR Rail Pass, and 100% reimbursement for Travel Insurance (medical). 

Who should participate?

Anybody roughly aged 25-35 who embodies the spirit of Rotary and wants to expand their minds and careers, meet new people both professionally and privately, and be open to learn some of the very different cultures of Japan.  You should also be open to helping us make this program better for future participants by giving feedback, recommendations, ideas and a little of your time.  You might even be asked to help us organize future exchanges as we grow and expand this program to more clubs in more countries!

I’M IN!  Now what next?

Just click on the link below and the application will be sent to you on May 5th, simultaneously with the other applicants. The applications will be open to complete from May 5- May 15th.

Want to know more?  Can’t go this time but want to be involved in some of the YPE activities in Seattle?  Click the link below and fill out contact info.

At the heart of Rotary is a business foundation.  Part of this program is business training, career and skills development. It may be that your employer will feel the same and offer some portion of the time away from work as paid time.  We may be able to play a roll in discussing this with your employer -- feel free to reach out and explore this further.

Here is the link to receive the application when it opens May 5th:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qM0FN0-FcRuFefTw7mv7FD0-Csnoc8anlOGYiPsAQXA/edit?ts=66100e8b

Please reach out with any questions and we are so excited for this to be a successful year with even more fun! Thank you to all of those helping make this program a life changing event for all those participating!