Alfa Fellowship Program

Program History

Despite historic changes that have taken place in Russia over the past decade and a half and its subsequent emergence into the global community, there are still too few experts in the United States with direct, meaningful experience in the modern business, government, public policy, and cultural environment of Russia. The Alfa Fellowship Program is designed to address this problem by providing a new and exciting opportunity for young professionals from the U.S. to live and work in Russia and to enable them to develop a genuine expertise through individualized professional assignments. As the program continues to develop, a new generation of American leaders and professionals are being exposed to Russian professional life and society.

As of Program Year 2009–2010, the Alfa Fellowship Program is pleased to announce that the program has been expanded to include British citizens. For more information on the British component of the program, please visit the U.K. Alfa Fellowship Programme website.

The Alfa Fellowship Program is generously funded by Alfa-Bank and administered by CDS International in the United States and the Center for International Fellowships in Moscow.

About Alfa-Bank

Founded in 1990, Alfa-Bank is a leading financial institution in Russia. Alfa-Bank is the flagship company of Alfa Group Consortium, one of Russia’s largest privately owned financial-industrial conglomerates, with interests in oil and gas, commercial and investment banking, asset management, insurance, retail trade, telecommunications, media, water supply and water disposal, as well as other industrial-trade and special-situation investments.

Alfa-Bank, offers a wide range of products and operates in all sectors of the financial market, including corporate and retail lending, deposits, payment and account services, foreign exchange operations, cash handling services, custody services, investment banking and other ancillary services to corporate and retail customers.

The corporate and retail client base has grown considerably during the last several years—by September 1, 2009 Alfa-Bank Russia served over 55,000 corporate and 3.6 million retail customers, while the branch network has been extended to 341 offices across Russia and abroad, including a subsidiary bank in the Netherlands and financial subsidiaries in the United States and the UK. Alfa-Bank has a long history of supporting charities, Russian culture and creating programs for young talent.

OJSC Alfa-Bank is incorporated, focused and based in Russia, and is not affiliated with U.S.-based Alfa Insurance.