Understanding RYLA: the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Program

RYLA's Purpose: to challenge the ideals of young people from the age of 18 to 28 years. Selected by the local Rotary Club in their Districts to receive the award, young people are entitled to attend a week long seminar aimed at developing further their personal and leadership skills.

The Cost: Investment for a RYLA seminar is kept to a minimum because the guest speakers volunteer their time. Seminars of this quality would normally cost many thousands of dollars to attend but the cost of RYLA is kept down to only several hundred dollars per awardee. Usually, all food, accommodation and seminar costs are met by the sponsoring Rotary Club but occasionally, a Rotary club may ask an awardee to contribute to the cost to enable that club to sponsor multiple awardees and remain within their budget. Talk with your local Rotary Club or your District RYLA committee about this. Any personal expenses are to be covered by the awardee, but the real cost to you is your time and participation.

Who Is Eligible: Young people, male and female, between the ages of 18 and 28 years are eligible to be nominated for RYLA. It is preferable that these young adults already have exhibited strong personal or leadership qualities or at least the potential to become leaders in clubs, community activities or in a career situation.

How to Apply: The selection process is conducted by your local Rotary Club and involves submitting an application form (available directly from the club or from your District's RYLA committee) and attending an interview.

More Information: Call or E-mail your District RYLA committee, fill out our Feedback form, or contact your local Rotary Club. More information on the R.I. RYLA webpage.