About the Benjamin Franklin initiative

The program

The Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Initiative (BFTF) – named after the legendary early American statesman and diplomat – is the first State Department youth program created to focus exclusively on U.S.-European relations, and the first to involve young people from across Europe and Eurasia.  The initiative’s vision includes channeling efforts of various public and private sector organizations and funding in order to launch an even wider range of programs for European and American successor generations.

  
            The students, aged 16-19, spend three weeks in the United States working on civic education, leadership development and community activism.  The participants consist of thirty-five European and Eurasian teenagers from thirty-two countries, ranging from Norway to Kazakhstan, along with ten American teenagers.  All participants must be nominated by Post, and must demonstrate a strong interest in learning more about the transatlantic relationship, the role of a free press in a democracy, and civic participation.   

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