Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) is a registered non-profit and non-partisan youth leadership training institute in Bangladesh. BYLC works to bridge gaps in society by uniting youth from diverse backgrounds, equipping them with leadership, problem solving and teamwork skills, and engaging them in community service and active citizenship.

The concept of a youth leadership center was originally developed at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in January 2008. The proposal for a month-long leadership program, Building Bridges through Leadership Training (BBLT), was jointly developed by Ejaj Ahmad, then a graduate student at Harvard University, and Shammi S. Quddus, then an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The proposal won the 2008 Kathryn Davis Projects for Peace Prize in March 2008.

Ejaj and Shammi ran the BBLT pilot in Chittagong in the summer of 2008 with support from MIT Public Service Center. Building on the success and lessons learned from the pilot, the BBLT program was encapsulated within the framework of a non-profit organization, the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC). In early 2009, the organization was registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms in Bangladesh as a non-partisan social venture.

BBLT, now a four-month long program, is the signature project of BYLC. The first month consists of intensive classroom training on leadership. In the next three months, participants work in teams to organize service projects in underprivileged communities. BBLT Junior (BBLT-J), a new month-long program launched in 2010, creates an opportunity for BBLT graduates to teach leadership to secondary school students. BYLC also conducts executive programs and workshops on leadership for college and university students.

Over the past two years, BYLC's innovative approach to leadership development has been recognized by, among others, the U.S. State Department, the World Bank Group, the International Youth Foundation, the British High Commission in Dhaka, the Asia Society, the Washington Post and the Daily Star Independence Day Special.

Annual Report 2011 and Audited Financial Statements

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Annual Report 2010 and Audited Financial Statements

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Annual Report 2009 and Audited Financial Statements

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