Najmuzzaman Mohammad is a 2008-09 YES alumnus from India hosted with AYA in Alabama. He has an MBA with a focus on Innovation and Intrapreneurship and is currently a Product Manager at Aurea Software. Naj is also very active in providing training opportunities for both youth and adults and recently led a design-thinking workshop for grade 5-8 students at the Global City International School in Bangalore. “I gave the kids real life social problems which they had to solve by creating inventions that could be 3D printed.”

The workshop taught him a lot about how young people can be natural innovators and entrepreneurs. “I asked the kids to get some feedback for each iteration of their prototype from their peers who will be acting as consumers. The kids swiftly switched into the role of a consumer but unlike adults who would quickly jump to find flaws in the inventions, the kids started helping each other to make their inventions better. This was the purest form of co-creation I have ever witnessed.”

Naj describes how his YES program experience led him to where he is today.

"My YES program experience in the U.S. was a life-changing one. It opened my eyes to a whole new world of different perspectives. I understood a different system and style of education and the plethora of career options out there. I understood how important it was in life to do community service and contribute to a greater cause. I became more interculturally aware, sensitive and empathetic. This is the reason why it is easier for me to connect to my customers and understand them in my professional life. It is also the reason why I still actively volunteer to provide intercultural opportunities to promote a just and peaceful world. I also have to add that I learned to play the bass guitar during my YES year, which led me to form a rock band in college which soon became a sensation in the city and got us into many local TV shows!"

The YES experience helped me think like a global citizen. It made me concerned for the world around me and pushed me to work towards bringing change.

"In 2011, I was selected for a YES alumni Training of Trainers Workshop in Washington DC. This workshop gave me my first step towards becoming a trainer. I found it so interesting that I wanted to know more about training and in 2014, I became a National Qualified Trainer for Intercultural Learning at AFS.  As a Product Manager, I have used my training experience to design experiential design thinking workshops and sprint planning workshops, as well as workshops for youth. Funny thing is that even after so many years of training experience, I still tend to draw inspiration for my activities from the Alumni Training of Trainers workshop."

"Without the YES experience, I would have never been a trainer, done an MBA in Innovation, become a Product Manager, an entrepreneur and a member of the Board of Trustees of AFS Intercultural Programs. It helped me understand the importance of intercultural learning and the power of building relationships across cultures. The experience made me more confident about myself and pushed me to be different in life."

To read more about his design-thinking workshop and the lessons he learned from the young participants, check out his blog post, "5 Eye-Opening Lessons from Teaching Design Thinking to Grade 5 Students"