SHE-CAN Scholar recruiting is a six-month process. We begin by meeting candidates in-person in Cambodia, Liberia, and Guatemala.

To join SHE-CAN, you must participate in an intensive in-country recruiting process and conduct a community service project. Once selected you are matched with a powerful mentor team and supported in winning a scholarship to a top U.S. college. While attending college, you will have opportunities to participate in leadership training and exclusive internships. After graduating, you will return home and join a growing cohort of female leaders who are dedicated to working together to pull up other women into leadership positions and make a positive impact in their communities.

We’ve designed essential milestones to guide you towards your post-graduation success at home and to make a transformational impact. Each step strengthens your leadership and learning, supported by purposeful experiences that broaden your network and equip you to create lasting change in your home community.

As the impact of our scholars has expanded, SHE-CAN is determined to ensure that the full arc of your scholar leadership journey is supported – from recruitment, to thriving in college, to advancing as leaders in your home country upon graduation. Our newest program, YES SHE-CAN, builds career pathways home that extend into lasting, long-term leadership and transformation. YES SHE-CAN includes several initiatives (e.g. Take the Lead, Impact Summer, & SHE-CAN Collective) all designed to amplify scholars’ effective integration into impact roles in your home country.

SHE-CAN | Scholars - How it Works - Year 1

Year 1:
College Applications
&
Preparations

Once accepted as a potential scholar, you will be enrolled in test preparation classes for the SAT College Entrance Exam and a Duolingo English language exam, along with other college prep courses. While in classes, you’re expected to execute a Take the Lead community service leadership project. With SHE-CAN’s guidance and small financial support, finalists design and implement a meaningful change-making project that benefits the community in your home country that gives you both valuable skills and showcases your ability as a future leader. Upon performing well on the exams and completing a compelling Take the Lead project, you are officially accepted as a SHE-CAN Scholar.

SHE-CAN Scholars are then matched with a team of 4-6 U.S.-based mentors who will help you apply for a college scholarship and prepare you for life in the U.S. Your mentors will also greet you at the airport, host you over school holidays, provide guidance, emotional support, and access to professional networks.

Through a combination of SHE-CAN’s College Coalition and network of other institutions, you will be guided to apply to a U.S. college that will support you with full tuition costs, plus room & board funding. 

Years 2-4:
College Attendance
&
Leadership Development

Year 2 is when our Scholars actually begin their college studies. In addition to earning your degree, you will receive training and support to build your leadership skills. Throughout your time in college, you will work with your mentors to set short and long-term goals which are revisited every semester. 

SHE-CAN Scholars are leaders in their campus community who give back as resident advisors, orientation leaders, club presidents, study abroad scholars, and more. Plus, SHE-CAN Scholars have a 99% graduation rate!

We provide ongoing leadership training that you will engage in throughout your college experience. This includes public speaking engagements and webinars on health, acculturation, and professional advancement (e.g., resumes, LinkedIn profiles, interviewing, and keys to internship success).

Every other January, all scholars are brought to California for our annual Leadership Summit.  As a first-year college student, you will come together with other SHE-CAN Scholars to learn important skills like self-advocacy, networking and project management.

During your summer breaks, SHE-CAN’s Summer Impact Program can support you in finding summer internships that align with your career goals or in leading a Make a Change entrepreneurial impact project. This support will assist you in preparing networks and connections in your home country, as well as provide seed money and support for a change-making scholar-led impact project.

Year 5+
Graduation
&
Career Progression

In your final year of the program, you will graduate from college and return home. SHE-CAN will assist you with the post-grad employment process through our established relationships with in-country employers who are eager to hire returning SHE-CAN Scholars like you!

SHE-CAN Graduates are creative, courageous, and persistent. They energize their families, community, and country. SHE-CAN has identified that a crucial part of the arc of our support of future female global leadership needs to extend beyond your successful college graduation.

While a U.S. college education is an incredible asset, introductions, networking, mentoring post-college, and interview training are essential to realize the full circle of SHE-CAN’s mission.

Recognizing this need, SHE-CAN is developing the SHE-CAN Collective which would enable in-country convening of female leaders, SHE-CAN Scholars, and professionals who lift up the Scholars and allow our Graduates to build leadership skills and experiences collectively.

In 2026, SHE-CAN will begin piloting this program. We know that the Scholars themselves complete the circle by forming a global SHE-CAN Sisterhood of role models and mentors who are catalysts for change.