OREANDA-NEWS. The TOMODACHI Initiative (and SoftBank Corp. are pleased to announce the "TOMODACHI Summer 2015 SoftBank Leadership Program." Fully funded by SoftBank, this program will send approximately 100 Japanese high school students from the disaster affected prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima to the University of California, Berkeley. The July 22 to August 12 program is an intensive three-week course focused on global leadership development and community service.

Participating students will explore methods for strengthening their local communities, while gaining a further understanding of American society and culture through homestays, volunteer activities, and exchanges with U.S. high school students. In addition, this program will send a number of professionals from the three prefectures to enable further support for the students' activities following their return.

This is the fourth year that TOMODACHI and SoftBank have partnered to offer this program. Many of the students from the past three years are now applying what they learned for the benefit of their home communities.

"Visiting the U.S. when I was 16 years old, learning a new culture and then studying at University of California, Berkeley, changed my life completely; it led me to believe you can change your future by challenging yourself to do new things," said Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank. "This program, now in its fourth year, has seen participants over the past three years take advantage of their experiences gained in the U.S. They are starting all kinds of new activities in their local communities with great results. I strongly hope that this program will be the first step that enables even more high school students to follow their dreams."

Interested students are encouraged to apply for the program via the link below. The application deadline is March 31, 2015. Participants will be selected at the end of May 2015.