The Nichibei Girls Collaborative (NGC) is a 7-month cultural exchange and social impact leadership development program for female-identifying (cis- and transgender) high school students in the US and Japan. Through on-site fieldwork, hands-on training, and team project-based learning, participants learn about social issues from diverse perspectives and develop their own leadership potential.

By joining this program, you have the opportunity to 1) connect with local and international peers, 2) make a lasting impact in your community, 3) become a role model for other young women, and 4) demonstrate your leadership skills, cross-cultural competence, and ability to collaborate with others in future academic and career opportunities.

This program is currently open to female-identifying (cis- and transgender) students at three partner schools: Fukuoka Futaba Gakuen, North Salinas High School, and Rancho San Juan High School.

Due to the program schedule, NGC is ideal for 1st-2nd year high school students. However, rising freshmen and juniors will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The program will be conducted in English, so participants should be comfortable communicating (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) in English, but it does not need to be your first language. Japanese language skills are not required, but you will have the opportunity to use Japanese with peers and while traveling during the program.

Female-identifying students of any nationality enrolled at one of the three partner schools are eligible to join. If you are not a US or Japanese citizen, there may be some additional considerations regarding your ability to travel for the fieldwork sessions (e.g., your passport application process will be different and you may need a visa to travel, depending on your nationality). If you are accepted to the program, VIA staff will do our best to support any unique requirements for your participation.

You should consider applying if you are interested in making an impact in your community, being creative and thinking outside the box, developing a deeper understanding of social issues, working with peers to solve challenges, and building leadership and collaboration skills in cross-cultural contexts.

Please contact the Program Directors if you have any questions:

• Yuki Ueda, [email protected]
• Kristy Ishii, [email protected]

For US students, the application is available on the Nichibei Girls Collaborative page of VIA’s website. The first time you access the application platform, you will be prompted to make a login. This allows you to save your progress and return at any time. Please review this step-by-step guide for more detailed instructions on completing the application.

Japanese students will apply directly to the faculty at Fukuoka Futaba Gakuen. The faculty will review applications and determine Japan student teams.

Two teams from the US and two teams from Japan will be accepted to the program. Each team will have three members, so there will be 12 participants total, six from the US and six from Japan.

After confirming your intent to participate, you will receive an invoice for the program fee from VIA’s finance department within about 5 business days. Payment is due 30 days after you receive the invoice.

The majority of participation costs are covered through generous support from the US-Japan Foundation, making it possible to limit the program fee to $500 USD. VIA is not currently able to offer any additional funding or fee reduction to participants. However, we encourage applicants to explore other resources in their community and network.

The fieldwork sessions (both in Fukuoka and in California) are a mandatory part of the program. All team members from both countries are expected to participate, although the schedules for local students and visiting students may be a little different.

The online program activities will be facilitated synchronously over Zoom and asynchronously on VIA’s online learning platform created by an organization called Crew For All, an organization that supports community-based social impact work with its online community platform. VIA has collaborated with Crew since 2015.

Participants will interact with each other on both of these platforms, as well as their teammates either over Zoom or in-person.

Online meetings with the whole program cohort will take place in the morning, Japan Time, which is the afternoon / early evening in California.

You do not need to have a fully developed project idea, but it’s good to have an idea of an issue you’d like to address in your community. This program will help you and your team develop your idea.

Each student must apply and be accepted to the program individually. However, there is a place in the application for you to enter the names of other potential teammates. We encourage you to discuss the program with friends, classmates, teammates, and club members at your school who may be interested in joining the program as well.

Each team will be made up of students from the same country and school, because the goal is for the students to implement a project in their own community. However, through the online and exchange portions of the program, students will have the opportunity to collaborate with students from other communities.

Only students who submit an application will be considered for the program. Even though you will participate in the program as a team, each member must complete the application separately. Please encourage your classmates to complete their own application so that they can be considered for the program.

Each applicant will be evaluated individually. If you are accepted to the program but none of the students listed in your application are accepted, VIA may suggest a team formation with other students from your school who are accepted to the program.

We will take everyone’s preferences into consideration. This is why we ask for you to list your preferred teammates. However, VIA will select members of the teams based on applicants’ preferences and overall fit with program goals.

You do not need to have a fully developed project idea, but it’s good to have an idea of an issue you’d like to address in your community. This program will help you and your team develop your idea.

Each student must apply and be accepted to the program individually. However, there is a place in the application for you to enter the names of other potential teammates. We encourage you to discuss the program with friends, classmates, teammates, and club members at your school who may be interested in joining the program as well.

Each team will be made up of students from the same country and school, because the goal is for the students to implement a project in their own community. However, through the online and exchange portions of the program, students will have the opportunity to collaborate with students from other communities.

Only students who submit an application will be considered for the program. Even though you will participate in the program as a team, each member must complete the application separately. Please encourage your classmates to complete their own application so that they can be considered for the program.

Each applicant will be evaluated individually. If you are accepted to the program but none of the students listed in your application are accepted, VIA may suggest a team formation with other students from your school who are accepted to the program.

We will take everyone’s preferences into consideration. This is why we ask for you to list your preferred teammates. However, VIA will select members of the teams based on applicants’ preferences and overall fit with program goals.

Yes! After completing all of the priority activities to a satisfactory level, as decided by VIA, you will receive a certificate.

Post-accelerator, teams go on to do a variety of things both professionally and personally. Some teams continue to expand and develop their programming, while others use the international education experience to apply for other programs, such as scholarships, graduate school, or jobs. Some individual participants apply to become Program Fellows for the following cohort.

Project funding is not a core element of the accelerator program. However, VIA can and will connect you with funding opportunities that are more specific to your project. All participants and alumni of the accelerator program are eligible to apply for the Social Impact Grant ($3000 USD).

Yes! We encourage you to connect individually with your peers and others you meet during the program. After the program, you can sign up to receive updates about events and opportunities from VIA. VIA organizes alumni gatherings and other events in the US and Asia several times a year. We also have online communities for participants to connect with each other and past program alumni. Finally, alumni may come back to join another program, or return as a program fellow to help facilitate another VIA program.