The YES Alumni Program wishes to engage YES alumni in building a worldwide YES community to continue building bridges as citizens around the world. The resources offered aim to provide tools to help YES alumni build these bridges and cultivate their leadership skills.
YES hosted a virtual webinar on Monday, July 15 with guest speaker Simon 'Si' Norton and YES alumni to explore, practice, and apply facilitation skills.
In recognition of Global Youth Service Day, YES hosted a virtual webinar on Thursday, April 20 with the goal of encouraging YES alumni and students to implement GYSD projects in their communities.
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the YES program, YES hosted a virtual panel discussion on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
On September 6, the YES program hosted a webinar on "Leveraging Your Exchange Experience Professionally."
On June 2, the YES program hosted the Art for Social Change webinar featuring an expert guest speaker and YES alumnus.
On April 14, the YES program hosted the GYSD Webinar on Developing Partnerships featuring three expert speakers.
On November 17, the YES program hosted a webinar on citizen diplomacy for International Education Week.
At this free webinar, attendees learned about how to use Monitoring and Evaluation tools to enhance the impact of their community projects.
At this free webinar, attendees learned about how to build their professional brand, form connections with professionals over LinkedIn, and make their profile stand out from the millions of others.
At this free webinar, three guest speakers, including two YES Alumni, shared their expertise on what characterizes media literacy and how to implement projects related to media literacy in one’s home community.
On November 9th, the YES program hosted a Digital Storytelling Webinar for International Education Week.
On Thursday, July 30, the YES program held a webinar for YES Alumni on Project Management and Development.
This year, as part of a month-long celebration of International Education Week, the YES program hosted an IEW webinar on November 6 at 6:00 PM EST.
What makes a strong resume? How do you impress a potential employer in an interview? How can you grow your professional brand and expand your network? The YES program was joined by Dr. Craig Zelizer, a leader in the social impact career advisory field, for his presentation called “Four Key Tips to Developing a High Impact Resume & Career.”
Since there are so many alumni interested in responding to a changing climate, YES program offered a webinar on May 14, with guest speakers from around the world that shared their expertise on how to make environmental projects more sustainable. This webinar encouraged alumni to maximize the impact of their projects and make them long-lasting.
The Lead for Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) webinar shared strategies and advice on leadership skills, volunteer management, and advancing community involvement.
Webinar attendees worked on strengthening their project leadership skills and learned strategies to recruit, retain, and manage volunteers to have a bigger impact with GYSD projects. Throughout the webinar, we provided information on previous YES GYSD projects, how to register GYSD projects, and facts about this very exciting day.
Meet the Panel:
Leen Al Yaman (YES 2008-9), YES program specialist in Lebanon shared best practices to manage volunteers. Leen has been working on the YES program since August 2016. She is the YES Senior Program Specialist at AMIDEAST Lebanon.
Anooj Bhandari, is a community builder, youth engagement activist, and artist. He facilitates youth organizing programs in the United States and abroad. His main focus is to help youth make changes in their immediate communities and have a positive impact on their future.
This webinar, led by Rachel Markowtiz from AMIDEAST, focuses on professional writing skills that will help you clearly articulate your ideas in your YES Alumni Grant application. The webinar covers all the essential elements of a compelling proposal and gives viewers a chance to brainstorm ideas and practice your skills. Rachel shares strategies to come up with innovative ways to address the who, what, where, when, why, and how of potential projects.
The YES community learns how to harness social media for social good with a guest speaker from the Ad Council!
The YES Gender Equality for Social Change Webinar celebrates the alumni who are advancing gender equality, gains further momentum for the cause, and builds awareness and strategies for best practices in striving towards gender equality in YES alumni communities around the globe. This webinar discussed how men and women can create projects and programs that challenge gender stereotypes, and emphasize the role YES alumni can take in supporting and changing perceptions about women.
Culture shock is a phenomenon that is frequently discussed as one goes into a new culture, but the opposite is rarely explored – what is it like to return home after a year in the United States and exposure to a new set of cultures, traditions, and lifestyles. It can truly be disorienting to return home.
As our newest cohort of YES alumni was settling back into their home countries, YES program held the Reverse Culture Shock Webinar (July 31, 2018 at 9AM EDT) featuring YES alumni from around the world. We invited all YES alumni, whether they had been back home for six years or six weeks, to join the conversation about reverse culture shock.
This webinar invited a panel of YES alumni from all the Recruiting Organizations (AMIDEAST, iEARN, IRIS, American Councils, and AFS) and represented regions around the world to discuss what it is like for YES alumni to re-adjust to life in their home countries. The Reverse Culture Shock Webinar took the form of a virtual roundtable discussion with five alumni sharing their experiences with reverse culture shock, and strategies and tactics to overcome obstacles. The YES alumni panelists shared their experiences of settling back into their home communities and created an open dialogue about some of the biggest barriers.
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) celebrates and encourages young people around the world to make a positive global impact by giving their time and efforts to improve their communities. To help YES alumni prepare for GYSD, YES programs hosted a webinar on March 29 that explored strategies to organize and carry out a GYSD project, specifically one that aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
The webinar reviewed the SDGs and provide strategies on how to expand the impact and sustainability of GYSD projects by thinking within the SDG context. Special guest speakers shared their work and projects to highlight the direct impact of youth-driven service in achieving the SDGs. Webinar participants gained the skills to link service projects to the UN SDGs and strengthen the impact and sustainability of their GYSD projects.
YES is celebrating its 15th Anniversary! To kick off the celebration the YES program hosted a webinar on January 31, 2018 to share opportunities for the YES community to celebrate 15 years.
American Councils for International Education is pleased to announce the 2018-2019 Alumni Grants Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), to assist YES alumni projects. The YES Alumni Grants Program will give alumni the opportunity to initiate social, economic, and community development projects of their own design in their home countries. Watch the full webinar for information and tips on applying for a YES Alumni Grant. Access the online application at https://ais.americancouncils.org/yesalumni.
In preparation of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, A STRONGER COMMUNITY - Engaging YES Alumni and Students with Disabilities (YES Alumni Webinar) will focus on helping the YES community create a more inclusive, engaging experience for students and alumni with disabilities.
Learn how to effectively organize projects and activities pertaining to the advancement of girls around the globe and learn more about United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
What if you could foster peace, promote mutual understanding, and empower a community through a game of football or ultimate frisbee? Guess what?....You can! Sports are universal bridges to overcome differences in culture and develop cross-cultural communication. The YES Alumni Sports for Development and Peace webinar took place on Tuesday, July 11 at 9AM EDT to educate the alumni community about projects and activities that use sports to promote development and peace. Experts in the field provided knowledge, tools, and resources for all attendees. Alumni, on-program students, and organizations learned how to effectively utilize sports to influence change in their communities. This webinar was open to all YES and YES Abroad alumni as well as on-program students.
Every day YES alumni work together to implement sustainable projects impacting their communities. But what if alumni wanted to support a project organized by alumni in another country? Is this possible?...YES! There are so many ways YES alumni can support their peers all over the globe and many of them found out how on the Cross-Country Collaboration webinar! The Cross-Country Collaboration webinar on Thursday, June 1 at 9AM EDT focused on how to support the projects of other alumni in YES countries around the globe. The panel of speakers included Jennifer Russell, Director of Education at iEARN-USA, Héla Nafti, TEARN Country Coordinator, and Shebnem Niazi,YES 2013-2014 and YES Alumni Coordinator of Bulgaria. The speakers provided tips for remote participation in projects happening in other YES countries and tools to use to collaborate with alumni from other countries.
From brainstorming to budgeting, planning a Global Youth Service Day project can be challenging sometimes. That's why we organized the YES Alumni webinar for GYSD on Thursday, March 30, 2017. The webinar was a dynamic, interactive experience that fused together GYSD webinars from the past. It was a complete mashup that focused on the purpose of GYSD, budgeting, and the actual steps for planning a successful GYSD project. The webinar prepared the greater YES community for GYSD weekend in April 2017 and served as a tool for alumni to explore community service ideas and to start their own service projects. Both YES alumni and on-program students were encouraged to attend. The special guest presenter was YES alumnus, Yutthakrit Chalermthai (YES 2008-2009, Thailand, hosted by AFS in Chesaning, MI). Yutthakrit is the founder and the first President of the YES Thai Alumni Association. After fulfilling his cultural exchange year in the U.S., Yutthakrit initiated and implemented more than 10 community service projects! He also started a social enterprise project called "Mushroom for Much More" which involves cultivating and selling mushrooms in order to financially support families living in poverty. During the webinar, Yutthakrit offered participants strategies, tools, & tips for starting their own GYSD projects.
It's so important to know how to use social media to mobilize your IEW projects and activities. This webinar provided strategies and tools for YES students using social media platforms to promote and propel their IEW projects and activities while gaining support from their peers.
This alumni webinar was presented by Joyce Kilikpo Jarwolo, founder and Executive Director of Public Health Initiative Liberia, and Ashfaq Hussain, YES '15 alumnus. Together, they discussed the importance of community health projects, and gave alumni step-by-step instructions for how to start their own public health initiatives.
On April 1, 2016, a panel of alumni, featuring Simona Ristovska, Hassan Saeed, and Dima Helou shared top Global Youth Service Day projects from their respective alumni associations. In addition to that, they each discussed a key to success from his/her project, including brainstorming project ideas, developing partnerships, and creating sustainable projects!
This YES Alumni Webinar taught participants how to raise money through a new source: crowdfunding! The webinar, led by Samiur Rahman (YES '14 Bangladesh), provided step-by-step instructions for how to start a crowdfunding campaign, compared and contrasted different crowdfunding sites, and shared best practices of successful campaigns!
People consistently rank public speaking as one of their top phobias. This YES webinar aimed to teach YES students and alumni how to present like professionals!
The webinar was led by Dawoud Zahran, a YES 2011-2012 alumnus from West Bank, who gave participants tips on how to organize presentations, strategies for calming nerves, and tools for keeping audiences engaged. This webinar, though applicable to all presentations, was especially timely because it directly preceded International Education Week, and gave many specific tips on how to give a quality IEW presentation.
The YES Alumni network has over 7,800 passionate, dedicated, and energetic students and young professionals from 46 different countries. Around the world, YES Alumni Associations and their members are actively engaged in community development projects, leadership initiatives and inventive new ways to use technology.
Finding a job is a daunting task - how do you learn about employers, strategize your search, and make connections with professionals? Learning how to bring your talent and experience to the field you are passionate about is a skill you will use throughout your entire career. In this live webinar we are joined by Abeer Abu Ghaith who explores how LinkedIn can be used as a tool to jumpstart your career, stay connected with other YES Alumni, and build your network for years to come.
This webinar featured Olga Elisa, the program manager for Do Something Indonesia, who provided strategies for how to motivate others to start volunteering, how to keep current volunteers engaged, and how to use technology to mobilize volunteers! Olga shared her knowledge on how to do community service projects on zero budget and how to keep volunteers excited and involved.
Nazrin Ariffin (YES '10) and Hanan Anwar (YES '10) from Malaysia provided an alumni perspective on how they have motivate youth in their area to volunteer. They discussed the SoundsGood concert they organized this year, which was free for youth to enter and which aimed to motivate others to volunteer. Nazrin and Hanan shared a step-by-step process of how they planned the event, how they reached out to other organizations and developed partnerships, and what the results of the concert have been.
Many YES alumni are dedicated to service and giving back to their communities; however, it can also be difficult to find funding for projects and events. The YES Alumni Webinar, “GYSD: Helping Others on a Budget,” that took place on March 17, 2015 at 9:00am EST focused taught the alumni how to plan projects for GYSD that would not require much money.
The webinar was hosted by Katherine Gerber, the Director of Outreach at Youth Service America. Katherine oversees the staff and programs that build capacity of local, national and international groups to create and scale high-impact youth service projects. This includes YSA’s signature campaign, Global Youth Service Day, and the Global Youth Service Network, an international coalition of organizations committed to positive youth development. She also serves as an advisor to YSA’s Youth Council. Katherine joined YSA in June 2012 as Manager of Outreach for National and Global Partnerships.
During the webinar, Katherine gave the alumni ideas for service projects that require very little funding, and taught them how to help others on a budget. She also discussed how to plan a project and register for GYSD, and helped alumni set up a timeline for their projects. In addition to that, Katherine also helped the alumni identify sources of funding for their projects that they may not have thought of before.
The YES Alumni Webinar: Project Evaluation was led by Dr. Agha Ajmal, who is a Fulbright scholar, currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Health Services Policy and Management from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Ajmal, originally from Karachi, Pakistan, has specialized in Health Program Monitoring and Evaluation, meaning that he develops evaluation frameworks and conducts cutting edge work in the area of health evaluation. He was joined by YES '08 alumnus, Marouane Smaili, who provided a YES Alumni perspective to evaluation. Together, they discussed the benefits of evaluation and gave professional strategies and tips for how to evaluate projects.
Jul 15, 2024
Simon Norton
Apr 20, 2023
Scott Ganske
United States
Joylin Kombe
Tanzania
Esther Isah Bila
Nigeria
Daniel Newton Valai
Liberia
Jan 24, 2023
Christine Odera
Kenya
Heba Alsaidi
Gaza
Kevin Baker
United States
Angena Grove
United States
Sep 06, 2022
Alena Savitskaya
Mar Smaili
Morocco
Jun 02, 2022
Aris Hines
United States
Mohamed Ben Fredj
Tunisia
Apr 14, 2022
Dao Nguyen
Raisona Alam
Bangladesh
Fily Coulibaly
Mali
Joseph Lambe
Cameroon
Nov 17, 2021
Britta Bjornlund
United States
Ayah Besaiso
Gaza
Katie Wells
United States
Zana Idrizi
Kosovo
Oct 20, 2021
Allan Kakinda
Ishaku Abner
Nigeria
Musa Kabbah
Liberia
May 17, 2021
Tarin Rickett
United States
Dec 08, 2020
Ally Gakweli
Kenya
Jehad Oumer
Libya
Benjamin Thurn
United States
Nov 09, 2020
Wendy Jacques
United States
Austin Haeberle
United States
Irin Chowdhury
Bangladesh
Stella Tiyoy
Kenya
Sarah Jaroush
Lebanon
Jul 30, 2020
Imran Khurshid
Bangladesh
Nov 06, 2019
Heba Alsaidi
Gaza
Aleksis Satka
Albania
Markal Kelly
United States
Daize Njounkeng
Cameroon
Moiz Rehan
Pakistan
Jul 30, 2019
Craig Zelizer
United States
May 14, 2019
Anna Wright
Bakari Mtili
Tanzania
John Tumaini
Kenya
Mar 19, 2019
Leen Al Yaman
Lebanon
Anooj Bhandari
Dec 18, 2018
Rachel Markowitz
Nov 15, 2018
David Imani
United States
Sep 18, 2018
Angela Lagat
Kenya
Sanda Hanjalic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Jul 31, 2018
Merima Muhic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mahamadou Lamine Bagayoko
Mali
Shine Santos
Philippines
Amna Bhutta
Pakistan
Mar 29, 2018
Mohammed Kiawu
Liberia
Emily McGlone
United States
Jan 31, 2018
Natalie Rehberger
Jeni St John
United States
Sleiman Sleiman
Dec 13, 2017
Jeni St John
United States
Nov 30, 2017
Susan Sygall
United States
Olivia Hardin
United States
Celine Lin
Malaysia
Sep 19, 2017
Tasneem Kibria
Bangladesh
Portia
Ghana
Jul 11, 2017
Rachel Markowitz
Geraldine Go-Bernardo
Philippines
Nasir Ahmad
Ghana
Jun 01, 2017
Hela Nafti
Tunisia
Shebnem Niazi
Bulgaria
Jennifer Russell
United States
Mar 30, 2017
Yutthakrit Chalermthai
Thailand
Nov 02, 2016
Davor Tunjic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Will Smith
Liberia
Jul 25, 2016
Joyce Kilikpo Jarwalo
Liberia
Ashfaq Hussain
Pakistan
Apr 01, 2016
Simona Ristovska
North Macedonia
Hassan Saeed
Pakistan
Dima Helou
West Bank
Feb 12, 2016
Samiur Rahman
Bangladesh
Nov 12, 2015
Dawoud Zahran
West Bank
Oct 25, 2015
Jimi Tewe
Nigeria
Sep 15, 2015
Olga Elisa
Indonesia
Hanan Anwar
Malaysia
Nazrin Ariffin
Malaysia
Mar 17, 2015
Katherine Gerber
United States
Mar 04, 2015
Marouane Smaili
Morocco
Agha Ajma
Pakistan
Jul 15, 2024
Simon Norton
Apr 20, 2023
Scott Ganske
United States
Joylin Kombe
Tanzania
Esther Isah Bila
Nigeria
Daniel Newton Valai
Liberia
Jan 24, 2023
Christine Odera
Kenya
Heba Alsaidi
Gaza
Kevin Baker
United States
Angena Grove
United States
Sep 06, 2022
Alena Savitskaya
Mar Smaili
Morocco
Jun 02, 2022
Aris Hines
United States
Mohamed Ben Fredj
Tunisia
Apr 14, 2022
Dao Nguyen
Raisona Alam
Bangladesh
Fily Coulibaly
Mali
Joseph Lambe
Cameroon
Nov 17, 2021
Britta Bjornlund
United States
Ayah Besaiso
Gaza
Katie Wells
United States
Zana Idrizi
Kosovo
Oct 20, 2021
Allan Kakinda
Ishaku Abner
Nigeria
Musa Kabbah
Liberia
May 17, 2021
Tarin Rickett
United States
Dec 08, 2020
Ally Gakweli
Kenya
Jehad Oumer
Libya
Benjamin Thurn
United States
Nov 09, 2020
Wendy Jacques
United States
Austin Haeberle
United States
Irin Chowdhury
Bangladesh
Stella Tiyoy
Kenya
Sarah Jaroush
Lebanon
Jul 30, 2020
Imran Khurshid
Bangladesh
Nov 06, 2019
Heba Alsaidi
Gaza
Aleksis Satka
Albania
Markal Kelly
United States
Daize Njounkeng
Cameroon
Moiz Rehan
Pakistan
Jul 30, 2019
Craig Zelizer
United States
May 14, 2019
Anna Wright
Bakari Mtili
Tanzania
John Tumaini
Kenya
Mar 19, 2019
Leen Al Yaman
Lebanon
Anooj Bhandari
Dec 18, 2018
Rachel Markowitz
Nov 15, 2018
David Imani
United States
Sep 18, 2018
Angela Lagat
Kenya
Sanda Hanjalic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Jul 31, 2018
Merima Muhic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mahamadou Lamine Bagayoko
Mali
Shine Santos
Philippines
Amna Bhutta
Pakistan
Mar 29, 2018
Mohammed Kiawu
Liberia
Emily McGlone
United States
Jan 31, 2018
Natalie Rehberger
Jeni St John
United States
Sleiman Sleiman
Dec 13, 2017
Jeni St John
United States
Nov 30, 2017
Susan Sygall
United States
Olivia Hardin
United States
Celine Lin
Malaysia
Sep 19, 2017
Tasneem Kibria
Bangladesh
Portia
Ghana
Jul 11, 2017
Rachel Markowitz
Geraldine Go-Bernardo
Philippines
Nasir Ahmad
Ghana
Jun 01, 2017
Hela Nafti
Tunisia
Shebnem Niazi
Bulgaria
Jennifer Russell
United States
Mar 30, 2017
Yutthakrit Chalermthai
Thailand
Nov 02, 2016
Davor Tunjic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Will Smith
Liberia
Jul 25, 2016
Joyce Kilikpo Jarwalo
Liberia
Ashfaq Hussain
Pakistan
Apr 01, 2016
Simona Ristovska
North Macedonia
Hassan Saeed
Pakistan
Dima Helou
West Bank
Feb 12, 2016
Samiur Rahman
Bangladesh
Nov 12, 2015
Dawoud Zahran
West Bank
Oct 25, 2015
Jimi Tewe
Nigeria
Sep 15, 2015
Olga Elisa
Indonesia
Hanan Anwar
Malaysia
Nazrin Ariffin
Malaysia
Mar 17, 2015
Katherine Gerber
United States
Mar 04, 2015
Marouane Smaili
Morocco
Agha Ajma
Pakistan
Presentation powerpoint on how establish a community health project by Joyce Kilikpo Jarwalo.
DownloadPowerpoint on increasing the sustainability of project by Simona Ristovska.
DownloadPowerpoint on the three stages of project management by Hassan Saeed.
DownloadPowerpoint on best practices for building partnerships by Dima Helou.
DownloadPowerpoint presentation on how to be a competitive candidate in the job market by Jimi Tewe.
DownloadExample template for the evaluation process of the Water School project by Marouane Smaili.
DownloadPowerpoint presentation on monitoring and evaluation projects by Dr. Agha Ajmal
DownloadPowerpoint presentation on two examples of evaluation in service projects by Marouane Smaili.
DownloadSimon Norton
On Monday, July 15 at 10am EDT, the YES program hosted the Practical Facilitation Skills Webinar for YES and YES Abroad alumni. In this interactive session, webinar attendees learned and engaged in exercises for some best practices for facilitating large or small groups. Key topics included active listening, conflict resolution, consensus-building, and the use of facilitation tools. Participants gained insights into how to create a supportive environment for discussions and meetings, encourage diverse perspectives, and drive decision-making processes.
The Practical Facilitation Skills Webinar featured an expert guest speaker. This webinar had attendees be engaged with the guest speaker throughout various activities and breakout rooms. ASL interpretation and live captioning were available at the event.
Meet the guest speaker:
Simon ‘Si’ Norton
Si is a Global Educator, Facilitator, Trainer, Coach and Guide with more than 30 years of experience directing global education programs and building and leading effective teams. He has successfully facilitated more than 1,000 experiential programs and workshops with adults and youth from over 175 countries and all 50 U.S. States. He has worked in 60 countries. He currently works on many freelance training & mentoring projects for NGO, Educational and Corporate clients around the world. Si is an accomplished teacher, trainer and facilitator of leadership & teambuilding, facilitation & training skills, project design & delivery, global issues & civics, mentoring and coaching, risk management, peacebuilding & dialogue, communication skills, emotional intelligence, positive psychology, and outdoor education. Si has a Masters in Global Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s in World Issues from the School for International Training. Si is also a professional kayak & paddleboard instructor, and a landscaper, specializing in stonework. His home base is at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and his interests include skiing, snowshoeing, curling, baking, and designing & building Tiny Homes & Cabins.
Thank you to those who joined the Practical Facilitation Skills Webinar!
Scott Ganske
United States
Joylin Kombe
Tanzania
Esther Isah Bila
Nigeria
Daniel Newton Valai
Liberia
In recognition of Global Youth Service Day (April 28-30, 2023) YES hosted a virtual webinar on Thursday, April 20 at 9:00am EDT with the goal of encouraging YES alumni and students to implement GYSD projects in their communities. Guest speakers included YES alumni and guests, including Scott Ganske, the VP of Partnerships at Youth Service America, who had the opportunity to describe their work, why GYSD is important, and how participants can get involved. There was also a facilitated audience Q&A session.
Global Youth Service Day, powered by Youth Service America, is the largest youth service and civic action event in the world and the only one that celebrates and builds the capacity of all youth ages 5-25 to help our communities and democracy thrive by working together for the common good. YES students and alumni implement hundreds of GYSD projects in the U.S. and around the world each year. Interested in learning more about GYSD projects? Check out GYSD stories on the YES website!
Thank you for joining us in celebration of Global Youth Service Day 2023!
Meet the guest speakers:
Scott Ganske is the Vice President of Partnerships at Youth Service America. As an international expert in leadership and volunteerism, he has trained and coached over 10,000 students, educators, and administrators from 115 countries. Scott brings 20+ years of experience as a classroom educator (K-12 and college), education consultant, and non-profit administrator who has worked with over 1,000 global organizations.
Joylin Kombe (YES 2016–2017, Tanzania, placed by IRIS in Larrabee, IA) has worked on projects based on poverty in Arusha, Tanzania. She serves as the Managing Director of a project known as the Little Angel Foundation, which deals with educating people about hygiene management and making reusable pads available to girls. She has five years of experience on the field. She also focuses on project implementation, management, and planning.
Esther Isah Bila (YES 2014-2015, Nigeria, placed by IRIS in Hills, IA) has served as the National Treasurer KL-YES Alumni Association of Nigeria KL-YAAN. She is the CEO/Founder of the Esther Isah Bila Foundation where she has led the Pad A Girl project for three consecutive years. Esther is also the National Treasurer for the Gombe State Medical Student Association and a volunteer Medical Outreach and Humanitarian Aide at the Nigeria Medical Association. She has worked closely with the Special Education Centre for six years in projects pertaining to hygiene and sex education. She continues to be involved in youth organizations and various associations in Nigeria. Esther is highly motivated in advocating for girl’s education as a tool for economic development in Nigeria.
Daniel Newton Valai (YES 2017-2018, Liberia, placed by IRIS in Altoona, IA) has been involved with a lot of volunteer activities since his return, due to his increasing passion for volunteerism and community services. He has served as the former Secretary General and current President for the YES Alumni Association of Liberia. As a volunteer at iEARN-Liberia he’s deeply involved with YES student recruitment, preparations, and alumni events planning and implementations. Daniel is also the Administrative Director at Partners for Education — a YES alumni organization that supports quality and transparent education, leadership, and entrepreneurship. He has led an awareness campaign against education malpractices in high schools in almost three different counties in Liberia through the YES alumni grant.
Christine Odera
Kenya
Heba Alsaidi
Gaza
Kevin Baker
United States
Angena Grove
United States
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the YES program, YES hosted a virtual panel discussion on Tuesday, January 24, at 10:00am ET, featuring alumni from different cohorts to reflect on their time on the YES program and how it has impacted their career and personal lives. In addition to these reflections, alumni and invited guests, including YES Program Officer Kevin Baker from the U.S. Department of State, had the opportunity to consider the importance of the YES program and international exchange and diplomacy more broadly.
This event featured an announcement of the 20th anniversary social media campaign–specifically the alumni spotlight series set to launch in early February–as well as opportunities for the YES community to participate in the campaign throughout the year.
Thank you for joining us in celebration of international exchange, diplomacy, and connection through 20 years of the YES program. The webinar was open to all.
Christine Odera, who moderated the discussion, is a Kenyan, advocate for Youth Mainstreaming, Peace and Security and Human Rights. She has gathered over 7 years’ experience in youth work, networks and alliance building, programing, advocacy, policy, negotiation, intercultural and experimental learning. Her understanding of Youth issues has propelled her into active engagement with organizations and governments in designing and influencing policy, programming and documentation of various youth issues including peace and security and education that has influenced more than 1.5 Billion Youth across the Commonwealth and the world. She has presented youth in over 5 high-level decision-making platforms speaking to Heads of Government and different stakeholders. She is a YES Alumni 2010/11 and also the program manager for School for International Training (SIT) Kenya program that focuses on Global health and human rights. SIT is a study abroad program that hosts Students from American universities to Kenya.
Heba Alsaidi is from Gaza, and in 2013 she was placed in Lake Stevens, Washington, where she spent the most life-changing 10 months of her life. The YES program left such an impact on her that for four years, she dedicated most of her free time to promoting exchange programs and helping international students around campus. She was also part of the committee that met with the Board of Trustees to request more funding towards exchange programs.
Heba majored in English Literature as part of the MEPI Tomorrow's Leaders Undergraduate scholarship at the Lebanese American University in Lebanon, and interned at the Office of International Students OIS of the Lebanese American University to help promote cultural exchange and study abroad opportunities. She graduated in 2020 and is now a freelance researcher/translator for an information company. She is currently working towards a career in International and Global Education, which is why she is part of a diverse number of programs that focus on cultural exchange.
Adam Streeter participated in the inaugural cohort of YES Abroad in 2009-2010, spending the year in Tema, Ghana. After returning from Ghana, he studied International Affairs at George Washington University, specializing in Middle East Studies. Upon graduation, he received GW's Shapiro Traveling Fellowship which he used to travel to the Occupied West Bank for the two years following graduation -- while in the West Bank, he studied Arabic at Birzeit University and filmed an informational video for Palestinian applicants to the YES Program. He pursued a Masters in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge in 2016 and spent several months in Djerba, Tunisia, where he wrote grant applications on behalf of Cozi, a Tunisian coworking space and startup incubator, before returning to the San Francisco Bay Area where he was born and raised. Adam now sells software for a tech startup in San Francisco and he loves staying connected with the YES community -- most recently at his host sister's graduation this year from pharmacy school.
Kevin Baker has been with the ECA since March of 2003, when he began working with the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program. In the fall of 2004, he transitioned to the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program, where he is the lead Program Officer. He is also the Program Officer for the Workshop for Youth Leaders in English Teaching (WYLET) program for FLEX and YES students. Prior to joining ECA, Kevin worked abroad for 14 years with the United States Peace Corps in Senegal, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Poland, and Mali.
Angena Grove is a Local Coordinator for American Councils and has hosted 15 YES students over the last ten years. Angena and her husband originally became interested in exchange when they were friends with an exchange student from Latvia, their senior year in high school. They always knew when they started a family, they wanted to get involved with hosting and exchange. After hosting a few years and seeing the program, both of their daughters applied to YES Abroad and studied in South Africa and Bosnia & Herzegovina, respectively. "This program has greatly affected the trajectory of our family’s lives. We have family all over the world now."
Alena Savitskaya
Mar Smaili
Morocco
On Tuesday, September 6 from 10 - 11:00am ET, the YES program hosted the YES Webinar on Leveraging Your Exchange Experience Professionally led by Minerva University Regional Outreach Director, Alena Savitskaya, and YES alumnus, Mar Smaili ‘08 from Morocco. Webinar attendees learned how to tailor their resumes and cover letters to highlight the skills they learned on the YES program, as well as how to prepare for university applications and job interviews by sharing relevant examples from their exchange experiences.
Alena Savitskaya (she/her) Alena is Minerva University’s Regional Outreach Director for Europe, Eurasia, Middle East, and Africa. Originally from Kazakhstan, Alena has lived in seven countries both through studying and living abroad. Alena started her career in corporate HR. She later transitioned to education where she ran the country-wide Competitive College Club, a skills development program at EducationUSA, a U.S. State Department organization supporting students in college applications. For the past 4.5 years, Alena has been working to support outreach efforts in seeking, inspiring, and supporting the region's most talented students in their pursuit of unique and extraordinary education at Minerva University.
Mar Smaili (he/him) Mar Smaili is both a YES (2007-2008, placed by AYUSA) and Fulbright (2016-2018) alumnus. Mar is a career coach who is passionate about career counseling and intercultural dynamics in organizations. He enjoys exploring and reflecting on best practices pertaining to career development and immigrants’ experience in the labor market. To further his expertise in the field of career counseling, Mar is currently preparing for his Certified Career Development Practitioner (CCDP) designation in Ontario, Canada. Mar received his Master in Business Administration in the United States and is currently coaching newcomers to Canada on navigating the Canadian labor market.
Aris Hines
United States
Mohamed Ben Fredj
Tunisia
Dao Nguyen
Raisona Alam
Bangladesh
Fily Coulibaly
Mali
Joseph Lambe
Cameroon
Britta Bjornlund
United States
Ayah Besaiso
Gaza
Katie Wells
United States
Zana Idrizi
Kosovo
Allan Kakinda
Ishaku Abner
Nigeria
Musa Kabbah
Liberia
On October 20, 2021, the YES program hosted the YES Monitoring and Evaluation Webinar. At this event, webinar attendees learned how to design and implement Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) tools that are useful for implementing successful alumni projects. M&E is used to assess community impact with the goal of improving future management of outcomes and sharing successes with key stakeholders. M&E can be conducted using a wide array of quantitative and qualitative tools, methods, and approaches, including surveys, evaluations, performance monitoring indicators, and interviews.
The YES M&E webinar was facilitated by an expert guest speaker and two YES alumni who have implemented M&E in their community development work. Following the panelists' presentations, attendees had the chance to ask questions in the Q&A portion of the event. ASL interpretation and live captioning were available at the event.
Meet the guest speakers:
Allan Kakinda currently serves as the Senior Manager of Innovation, Monitoring and Evaluation at Compassion International. He has over 10 years of experience in providing M&E design, technical assistance and advice in a variety of sectors including WaSH (Water, Hygiene and Sanitation), Reproductive Health, Livelihoods programming, Education and eLearning, Poverty and Public Health. He provided M&E Support and guidance in a variety of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and is passionate about using data and statistical methods to generate evidence to inform and improve programming. He has also been a member of iEARN since 2002, when he joined as a student and he is currently a country coordinator for iEARN in Uganda.
Ishaku “Shak” Abner (YES 2009-2010, Nigeria, placed with IRIS in Coon Rapids, IA) holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Mathematics from University of Technology, Minna and is currently pursuing his post graduate studies in Developmental Education from Gombe State University. He was hosted in Iowa from 2009–2010 for the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (KL-YES) program. He served as the National President of the KL-YES Alumni in Nigeria—an association that he helped start in 2014—from 2017 to 2019, where he led over 300 alumni across 12 participating states and managed over 17 community response projects. Ishaku Abner is also a Peace Promotion Fellow with Equal Access International and led the team of volunteers in 2018 and 2020 during the #Football4Peace project to counter violent extremism narratives in Gombe State, which was featured on Arewa24 Satellite channel. Ishaku is the current Project Officer for the United States Government-sponsored Exchange Alumni Association, Gombe State chapter, where he is in charge of managing and scheduling deadlines of projects while monitoring and identifying potential issues or risks that may hinder project progress. He has over 2000 hours volunteering in community service across eight states in Nigeria. He is also a creative writer.
Musa A. Kabbah (YES 2015-2016, Liberia, placed by YFU in Alpena City, MI) is the founder and Executive Director of Better Understanding for a Better Liberia (BUBL). He oversees the organization's daily operations. Musa is studying Electrical System Technology at Alpena Community College (ACC) in Alpena City, Michigan. He has considerable experience in computer programming, fiber optics, Programmable Logic Controllers, and web design. He is a youth leader and advocate with extensive experience in youth initiatives and volunteering, including peacebuilding and interfaith and intercultural dialogue. Musa is a member of the Language Society at ACC and a peer tutor. He is a member of the Student Leadership Committee at ACC, where he helps plan activities and organize events for students. Musa was an intern at Youth for Understanding USA (YFU), Digital Diplomacy for West Africa. He helped moderate the Digital Diplomacy training during his internship with YFU. Musa holds a professional certificate in Cross-cultural Competence from the (YFU) virtual exchange program. He is an alumnus and former youth ambassador of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study programs in Liberia and the United States.
Tarin Rickett
United States
On Monday, May 17, the YES program hosted the YES LinkedIn Webinar. At the webinar, attendees learned about how to build their professional brand, form connections with professionals over LinkedIn, and make their profile stand out from the millions of others. Webinar participants also learned about connecting with the YES community through LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools available to network and connect with experts and professionals around the world. LinkedIn provides a platform to showcase work experience, educational background, recommendations, and awards; make professional connections; and build a personal brand. There are over 740 million members in more than 200 countries, which means not only are users advertising themselves, but they are also creating connections with thousands of people. LinkedIn provides an avenue for members to explore potential career paths, find mentors, and pursue job opportunities. That's why the company calls itself "the world's largest professional network."
According to LinkedIn, 93% of recruiters use LinkedIn to recruit and research candidates, so this webinar provided the perfect opportunity for YES students and alumni to rework their LinkedIn profiles! Attendees learned from guest speaker Tarin Rickett, a Senior UI Engineer on LinkedIn's Growth team and a LinkedIn Coach, about the various ways in which they could leverage the LinkedIn platform to pursue career opportunities. Following the webinar, interested YES alumni signed up for one-on-one sessions to receive personal consultation on how to develop a strong LinkedIn profile from Tarin and her team at LinkedIn.
Tarin Rickett is a Senior UI Engineer on LinkedIn's Growth team in San Francisco. When not coding, she spends time as a LinkedIn Coach, introducing newcomers to the platform in an effort to close the network gap. Before joining LinkedIn, she spent time in France, working with start-up non-profit Konexio . She is a strong believer in the power of mentorship and volunteers with TechWomen as a professional mentor to uplift people in tech worldwide.
Ally Gakweli
Kenya
Jehad Oumer
Libya
Benjamin Thurn
United States
Wendy Jacques
United States
Austin Haeberle
United States
Irin Chowdhury
Bangladesh
Stella Tiyoy
Kenya
Sarah Jaroush
Lebanon
Each year during the week before Thanksgiving, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education jointly host International Education Week (IEW), a national effort to promote programs that prepare youth with 21st century skills in today’s globalized world and to attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange life experiences with Americans.
In honor of International Education Week this year (November 16-20), the YES program hosted a Digital Storytelling Webinar on November 9 at 9am ET, facilitated by award-winning film experts Wendy Jacques and Austin Haeberle. During this 90-minute webinar, participants learned about creating impact videos and telling their own impact story about cultural exchange to an international audience. Watch the recording of the Digital Storytelling Webinar here!
Following the webinar, YES alumni have the chance to share their impact videos with the world by participating in the Video Your World Challenge! Using the skills they learned from the Digital Storytelling Webinar, YES alumni will create and submit their own impact videos about cultural exchange, to be shared out on the YES program website and social media platforms during International Education Week. Submissions for the Video Your World Challenge will be open from November 9–19.The video challenge is open to all YES alumni.
Read more about the Video Your World Challenge and submit your videos for International Education Week at bit.ly/IEWvideos2020 by November 19th.
Read more about the webinar facilitators:
Austin Haeberle is a Peabody Award-winning journalist, educator and new media producer. As a New York-based digital journalist for the United Nations, his work has appeared on PBS, the Independent Film Channel, CNN, Current TV, Link TV and broadcasts worldwide. He founded the Listen Up! Youth Media Network, which provided support and created media projects with youth filmmakers around the world, including a Peabody Award for “Beyond Borders: Personal Stories from a Small Planet.” He has conducted media workshops in Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America and North America.
Wendy Jacques is a journalist and multimedia producer, focusing on human rights and the environment. In Guatemala, she co-founded Centro Ixim, providing media training for Mayan communities. With The Fund for Peace, she managed training projects in Central America, publishing materials on media strategies for human rights groups. From 2004–2008 she edited Amnesty International's “Fourth R” journal on human rights education and developed curricula for the City University of New York (CUNY) Research Foundation. At the United Nations, Wendy designs and facilitates multimedia trainings for visiting Mideast journalists. Recent projects have taken her to Costa Rica, where she trained groups in documentary production and co-produced Green vs. Gold, a television report about the environmental cost of gold mining in Costa Rica.
Irin Chowdhury went on the YES program during the school year 2016-2017 and was hosted in Mequon, Wisconsin by an amazing family and an exceptionally supportive AFS chapter. Irin is from Sylhet, Bangladesh and is currently pursuing a BSc degree in Marine Biology in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. In her free time, Irin watches a lot of documentaries. Her favorite genre is true crime. Irin wants to eventually pursue a career in either Documentary or wildlife filmmaking, along with being a marine biologist. Her other interests and passions involve advocacy and development work for girls' and women's education, advancement, health and well-being. From an early age, digital storytelling became one of her favorite ways of expressing her creativity and telling stories of her community. Irin believes we are able to live different lives, experience cultures & places, and bring changes in the world through storytelling.
Stella Tiyoy is a YES alumna (2012-2013), a disability rights advocate, and a global citizen. She is the founder of Accessible Kenya Campaign, an initiative that aims at advocating for accessibility rights in Kenya. She is also a student of Journalism and Media studies. Stella believes in a world of equal opportunities regardless of disability. Besides traveling, she loves playing wheelchair basketball.
Sarah Jaroush works in policy research at the UN ESCWA in Beirut, Lebanon. The team’s focus is on Governance in Syria in the post-conflict phase. Thanks to the YES Program, she was exposed to a wide array of social issues and found a passion for activism. Recently, she has been researching Arabic Sign Language and the Rights of Disabled Persons in Lebanon to try and find solutions to the lack of accessibility of the Deaf in Lebanon. In her free time, she finds herself watching wildlife documentaries and volunteering with related NGOs. She also practices archery and enjoys playing and watching sports.
Imran Khurshid
Bangladesh
Heba Alsaidi
Gaza
Aleksis Satka
Albania
Markal Kelly
United States
Daize Njounkeng
Cameroon
Moiz Rehan
Pakistan
Craig Zelizer
United States
What makes a strong resume? How do you impress a potential employer in an interview? How can you grow your professional brand and expand your network? The YES program was recently joined by Dr. Craig Zelizer, a leader in the social impact career advisory field, for his presentation called “Four Key Tips to Developing a High Impact Resume & Career.”
We know that study abroad can significantly add to the competitiveness of an application for a fellowship, job, university, or other future opportunities. But, you need to be able to market your study abroad experience in a way that highlights specific skills that are relevant to future opportunities.
Many YES alumni describe their year on YES program or YES Abroad as “life-changing” or “amazing,” and while these may be genuine and honest answers, they do not fully describe the scope of a YES year. The video below helps alumni identify experiences that led to a gain or improvement in transferable skills, and identify examples that demonstrate skills in a unique way. Dr. Zelizer shared tips for writing an effective and high impact resume, discuss strategies to transfer study abroad experiences onto a resume or job interview, and highlight other ways to professionally network and build a brand.
Watch the above video to learn how YOU can stand out in a field of applicants.
Dr. Craig Zelizer is the Founder of PCDN, which connects a global community of changemakers to the tools, community and opportunities to build careers of impact and scale change. He has strong experience in the development sector, academia, and social entrepreneurship. From 2005 to 2016, he served as a professor in the Conflict Resolution program at Georgetown University (where he still serves as Conflict Resolution Faculty Fellow). He has led trainings, workshops and consultancies in over 20 countries organizations including with USIP, USAID, CRS, Rotary International and others. Craig is a recognized leader in the social sector field. He has received several awards including George Mason’s School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution’s alumni of the year award and an alumni career achievement award from Central European University. Dr. Zelizer spent two years in Hungary as a Fulbright Scholar and was a Boren Fellow in Bosnia. He has published widely on peacebuilding, entrepreneurship, and innovation in higher education.
Anna Wright
Bakari Mtili
Tanzania
John Tumaini
Kenya
Leen Al Yaman
Lebanon
Anooj Bhandari
It’s that time of year again, Global Youth Service Day (GYSD)! GYSD celebrates and encourages young people around the world to make a positive global impact by giving their time and efforts to improve their communities. This year, GYSD is happening April 12 - 14 and YES program wants to help YES students and alumni around the world prepare for GYSD. That’s why we hosted the YES program Lead for GYSD Webinar on March 19, 2019 at 9am EDT. The webinar shared strategies and advice on leadership skills, volunteer management, and advancing community involvement.
Webinar attendees worked on strengthening their project leadership skills and learned strategies to recruit, retain, and manage volunteers to have a bigger impact with GYSD projects. Throughout the webinar, we provided information on previous YES GYSD projects, how to register your own GYSD projects, and facts about this very exciting day.
This year’s GYSD is also focused on encouraging young people to become activists and advocates to address root causes of problems through policy change. Webinar attendees learned from our guest speakers about how they can encourage youth to advocate for policy change in their own communities.
To read more about GYSD please visit the Youth Service America website, and register your GYSD project. GYSD is the largest service event in the world and YES students and alumni have been involved every year!
Meet the Speakers:
Leen Al Yaman, YES program specialist in Lebanon will share best practices to manage volunteers. Leen has been working on the YES program since August 2016. She is the YES Senior Program Specialist at AMIDEAST Lebanon. She has been part of the YES family for 10 years having went on the YES program in 2008 – 2009 where she attended Saint Andrew’s Priory School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Upon her return to Lebanon in June 2009, she joined the YES alumni network. She pursued her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with emphasis in Human Resources Management at Haigazian University in Beirut on a fully-funded scholarship. During university, she held several internships at the Lebanese Central Bank, the Nawaya Network (a local NGO), AMIDEAST office and at Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (USAID-funded project). Upon graduation, she started her career as an Administrative and HR Coordinator at Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (USAID-funded project) for a full year before joining AMIDEAST to work on the YES program. Leen is very passionate about her work with the alumni network. Having been part of the YES experience, Leen knows firsthand the life-changing impact this program has on the alumni who successfully return home. For her, the YES experience does not end upon returning home. Becoming a YES alumnus/a marks the start of a mission towards community engagement and service.
Anooj Bhandari is a community builder, youth engagement activist, and artist. He facilitates youth organizing programs in the United States and abroad. His main focus is to help youth make changes in their immediate communities and have a positive impact on their future. He works with many curriculum development and community facilitation projects, working with dialogue and facilitation on leadership development and intersectionality of social identity, primarily with youth, working with organizations including the Moth, Rustic Pathways, and Make the Road NY. Anooj is currently working with youth of color to build community based alternatives to punitive discipline in schools and communities. On the Lead for GYSD Webinar, Anooj will be leading an activity for webinar participants to identify their strengths as leaders in different circles of their communities. Anooj is also a performer in the company, the New York Neo-Futurists and is a teaching artist, bringing the art and craft of storytelling to communities. He believes in kindness, above all.
Rachel Markowitz
It's that time of year again for YES Alumni Grants! The YES Alumni Grants application will be open from December 14, 2018 through February 11, 2019. The competition is open to all alumni of the YES and YES Abroad programs. You can access the application here.
To help YES and YES Abroad alumni put their best application forward the YES program offered a YES Alumni Grants Proposal Writing Webinar on Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 9am EST.
The webinar focuses on professional writing skills that will help you clearly articulate your ideas in your grant application. The webinar covers all the essential elements of a compelling proposal and gives you a chance to brainstorm ideas and practice your skills in real time. You receive templates and are encouraged to come up with innovative ways to address the who, what, where, when, why, and how of potential projects.
Meet the Presenter
Rachel Markowitz – Program Manager, AMIDEAST Headquarters
Originally from Kansas, Rachel began her journey in international education as a high school student at the United World College. She now has an MA in Global Policy and a BA in Political Science and has published work on Sports for Development and Peace (SDP). Rachel moved to Morocco in 2008 as a Fulbright Student Research Grantee, and she loved it so much that she stayed for five years and learned French and Colloquial Moroccan Arabic. Rachel enjoys playing and coaching Ultimate, and facilitating dynamic youth workshops on a broad range of topics such as interfaith community-building.
If you're interested in learning more about the YES Alumni Grant, check out this YES Alumni Grants Overview Webinar.
David Imani
United States
Social media has a huge influence on our rapidly developing multimedia environment. As our fast moving and inter-connected multimedia society develops, so must our communication and media skill sets, especially in the world of activism and community service. This is particularly relevant for YES students and alumni who serve as changemakers and cultural ambassadors in both physical communities and multimedia environments.
To make sure YES alumni and students stay up to date on the newest advances and opportunities social media presents, the YES program hosted a Social Media for Social Good Webinar on Thursday, November 15th 2018. During the webinar we discussed how social media can be a powerful tool to help advance project planning, networking, implementation, and sharing impact of projects. The Social Media for Social Good Webinar gave YES alumni the tools to use social media to effectively promote and support their projects. Webinar participants learned how to creatively present their project/program evaluation statistics and impact stories on social media to promote their work, build momentum for their causes, and strengthen partnerships. Finally, the webinar pushed YES alumni to think how they can take their social media presence from awareness to action.
Excitingly, the Social Media for Social Good Webinar fell at the end of International Education Week - an initiative that encourages YES alumni and on-program students to share their culture and the benefits of international education and exchange. The Social Media for Social Good Webinar encouraged students and alumni to expand the goals of International Education Week to a larger international audience through social media.
Online and in real life, David Imani loves a great story – especially when it has a great purpose. At the Ad Council, he tells the stories of the nation’s largest social good campaigns through social media and public relations. Before that, he ran social media channels for Broadway shows and live experiences. And even before that, he studied Public Relations at Boston University. Throughout it all, he loves helping nonprofits and niche arts organizations find their story and tell it in a powerful way. He’s also always singing.
The Ad Council is the largest producer of public service advertisements. They create campaigns through different communication methods, such as social media, in order to increase awareness of public issues and have a measurable impact on society. The Ad Council produces service announcements sponsored by both non-profits and federal government agencies. Their campaigns are divided into four categories: education, family and community, health, and safety. Recently, the Ad Council has been involved in campaigns surrounding cyberbullying, childhood obesity, and energy efficiency. You may have heard of some of their more famous campaigns like Smokey Bear and promotions for the Peace Corps and USAID!
Angela Lagat
Kenya
Sanda Hanjalic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Merima Muhic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mahamadou Lamine Bagayoko
Mali
Shine Santos
Philippines
Amna Bhutta
Pakistan
Mohammed Kiawu
Liberia
Emily McGlone
United States
Natalie Rehberger
Jeni St John
United States
Sleiman Sleiman
YES is celebrating its 15th Anniversary! To kick off the celebration the YES program hosted a webinar on January 31, 2018. The webinar shared information on the various events that will be taking place throughout the year and opportunities for the YES community to participate no matter where they are in the world. Webinar participants listened to YES alumni from the first generation of YES to learn about the impact of the program over the past 15 years.
This webinar was open to all YES and YES Abroad alumni as well as on-program students.
Natalie Rehberger is driven by her desire to increase cross-cultural understanding throughout the world, one human connection at a time. She is a 2012 YES Abroad alumna to Indonesia which led her to pursue a BA in Business and International Studies with a focus on Asia Studies from the Evergreen State College. While living in India, she was an International Marketing intern for an Indian tech company. Her first job after college was as the head of an editorial department at a Chinese company overseeing writers from around the world. Natalie proceeded to create a Chinese study abroad program under the guidance of a Chinese study abroad company, which taught her invaluable cross-cultural skills and exposed her to the world of international education as a career path. She currently lives in New York City as a Participant Support Specialist at AFS-USA and plans to get her MA in International Education to further her career at AFS and later for the Department of State where she wants to further cross-cultural understanding through encouraging international education as a Foreign Service Officer.
Sleiman Sleiman participated in the first cohort of the YES program in Lebanon (YES '04) and was placed by ASSE in Toledo, Ohio. Upon finishing high school in Lebanon, he returned to the U.S. where he studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Toledo, staying connected with his host community and family. He later returned to Lebanon to lead the technical department at Advanced Plastic Industries, a plastic piping company, while finishing a Master's in Engineering at the American University of Beirut. Sleiman is currently pursuing his MBA at McGill University in Montreal. Sleiman is a founding member of Lebanon's YES Alumni Chapter and remains involved in a mentoring and advisory capacity.
Don't forget to use hashtag #KLYES15 on social media to show us how you'll be celebrating!
Jeni St John
United States
Susan Sygall
United States
Olivia Hardin
United States
Celine Lin
Malaysia
In preparation of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, A STRONGER COMMUNITY - Engaging YES Alumni and Students with Disabilities (YES Alumni Webinar) focused on helping the YES community create a more inclusive, engaging experience for students and alumni with disabilities. Attendees joined the webinar on Thursday, November 30 at 9AM EDT to:
This webinar was also equipped with tools and opportunities to help students and alumni be as active as possible in their communities.
This webinar was open to all YES and YES Abroad alumni as well as on-program students.
If you missed the webinar, you can still learn more about increasing inclusivity for all by watching the recording of this webinar on the YES YouTube channel and Vimeo!
Meet The Panel:
Susan Sygall, CEO and Co-founder of MIUSA
As CEO and co-founder of Mobility International USA, Susan is an internationally recognized expert in the area of international educational exchange and leadership programs for persons with disabilities. Susan, a wheelchair rider, has had a personal and professional commitment to disability rights and women's issues for more than 30 years. She has co-authored numerous publications in the area of international exchange and international development opportunities for persons with disabilities and co-produced several award winning videos. Susan has lectured throughout the world on a variety of topics related to inclusive development, international exchange and disability rights.
Olivia Hardin, Program Specialist for MIUSA
Olivia has worked in the field of international education for over ten years. At MIUSA, her primary responsibilities include providing technical assistance to support students with disabilities on U.S. Department of State exchange programs and being part of the core team that hosts exchange students with disabilities for disability-related orientations in Eugene, OR. Olivia’s articles have appeared in many publications such as EducationUSA Connections and Global Study Magazine.
Celine Lean Yew Lin (YES 2013-2014, Malaysia, hosted by AFS in Nashville, TN) a visually impaired YES alumna, launched The Gift of Sight Community Project to produce holistic and accessible educational materials for students at the Setapak Special School for the Blind in Kuala Lumpur and to raise awareness about persons with disabilities. Celine is also committed to strengthening her alumni community by volunteering at YES Alumni Malaysia and participating in several alumni projects.
Tasneem Kibria
Bangladesh
Portia
Ghana
Rachel Markowitz
Geraldine Go-Bernardo
Philippines
Nasir Ahmad
Ghana
What if you could foster peace, promote mutual understanding, and empower a community through a game of football or ultimate frisbee?
Guess what?....You can!
Sports are universal bridges to overcome differences in culture and develop cross-cultural communication. The YES Alumni Sports for Development and Peace webinar took place on Tuesday, July 11 at 9AM EDT to educate the alumni community about projects and activities that use sports to promote development and peace. Experts in the field provided knowledge, tools, and resources for all attendees. Alumni, on-program students, and organizations learned how to effectively utilize sports to influence change in their communities.
This webinar was open to all YES and YES Abroad alumni as well as on-program students.
If you missed the webinar, you can still be inspired to utilize sports to make a positive change in your community by watching the recording of this webinar on the YES YouTube channel and Vimeo! You can also watch it again on Facebook Live!
Meet The Panel:
Rachel Markowitz, YES Senior Program Officer at AMIDEAST
Originally from Kansas, Rachel spent five years in Morocco where she conducted research as a Fulbright Scholar and worked in international education. At the University of Texas at Austin, Rachel earned a Master’s in Global Policy Studies and focused on international development and conflict. Rachel’s thesis was on sports for development and peace based on her experiences facilitating sports programs in Morocco, Rwanda, and Israel/Palestine. She now serves as the YES Senior Program Officer at AMIDEAST in Washington, DC. Her favorite sport is Ultimate and she plays on a competitive women’s club team called Suffrage.
Geraldine “Dina” Go-Bernardo holds a B.S. in Physical Therapy from the University of the Philippines and a Master’s Degree in Business Management at the Asian Institute of Management (A.I.M). A recipient of various training seminars from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce, International Labor Organization and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Dina became the first Filipina, in 2012, to be accepted into the inaugural class of the Global Sports Mentoring Program for emerging women sports leaders -- under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State and espnW.
Nasir Adu Ahmad (YES '09) is the President of the YES Ghana Alumni Association, a board member of AFS Ghana, and organizer of the YES Peace Games in Ghana. Nasir executed the YES Peace Games in order to promote an atmosphere of peace in his community and to empower youth to be agents of change in their communities.
Hela Nafti
Tunisia
Shebnem Niazi
Bulgaria
Jennifer Russell
United States
Every day YES alumni work together to implement sustainable projects impacting their communities. But what if alumni wanted to support a project organized by alumni in another country? Is this possible?...YES! There are so many ways YES alumni can support their peers all over the globe and many of them found out how on the Cross-Country Collaboration webinar!
The Cross-Country Collaboration webinar on Thursday, June 1 at 9AM EDT focused on how to support the projects of other alumni in YES countries around the globe. The panel of speakers included Jennifer Russell, Director of Education at iEARN-USA, Héla Nafti, TEARN Country Coordinator, and Shebnem Niazi,YES 2013-2014 and YES Alumni Coordinator of Bulgaria. The speakers provided tips for remote participation in projects happening in other YES countries and tools to use to collaborate with alumni from other countries.
If you missed the webinar, you can still learn be inspired to engage in cross country collaboration by watching the recording of this webinar on the YES YouTube channel and Vimeo!
Meet the Panel:
Jennifer Russell, Director of Education at iEARN-USA
As Director of Education, Jennifer provides expertise, leadership, and coordination in the development and promotion of iEARN-USA's virtual exchange program strategies, tools, and network. In this role, she designs projects, resources, trainings, and online courses for teachers and youth to increase their technology and cross-cultural collaboration skills. Prior to joining iEARN-USA, Jennifer was a Peace Corps volunteer in Albania and China where she was a teacher trainer and taught English as a foreign language at the primary and secondary level.
Héla Nafti, TEARN Country Coordinator
Héla Nafti is the Country Coordinator for TEARN, iEARN Tunisia, and is also the Senior Inspector for English Language Teaching in Tunis, Tunisia. She trains teachers and works for the development and implementation of the educational reform in Tunisia. She has been the iEARN Country Coordinator in Tunisia since 2004 and formally launched TEARN as an association in 2011. She has trained many teachers across the country in online project-based learning and leads citizenship activities for teachers and youth, focusing on improving understanding between communities and empowering youth with 21st Century skills to help them build a better world.
Shebnem Niazi, YES 2013-2014 and YES Alumni Coordinator of Bulgaria
After returning from her YES exchange year in the U.S., Shebnem's passion to understand the multifaceted interconnectedness among nation-states, international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and ethnic, cultural, and religious groups never faded away. Shebnem joined the members of the YES Alumni Association in Bulgaria and participated in and implemented several projects including the renovation of public spaces, social awareness campaigns, and donation drives. Shebnem decided to broaden her worldview and the scope of her volunteering by teaching English at the Sri Udom orphanage in rural Thailand. Being a part of a group of people who work together cooperatively, communicating and coordinating openly to achieve a shared goal, made Shebnem realize the importance of cross-country collaboration. As Alumni Coordinator, inspired by the Interfaith Harmony Workshop (IHW), Shebi initiated the Letters of Hope for Refugees project. The campaign's goal was to provide messages of support and solidarity from around the world to asylum seekers in Bulgaria. The project ended up having over 1,200 participants from 5 continents and 18 countries. Currently Shebnem is in her gap year. Starting in the fall, she will be attending the New York University in Abu Dhabi where she plans to pursue a degree in Social Research and Public Policy.
Yutthakrit Chalermthai
Thailand
From brainstorming to budgeting, planning a Global Youth Service Day project can be challenging sometimes. That's why we organized the YES Alumni webinar for GYSD on Thursday, March 30, 2017. The webinar was a dynamic, interactive experience that fused together GYSD webinars from the past. It was a complete mashup that focused on the purpose of GYSD, budgeting, and the actual steps for planning a successful GYSD project. The webinar prepared the greater YES community for GYSD weekend in April 2017 and served as a tool for alumni to explore community service ideas and to start their own service projects. Both YES alumni and on-program students were encouraged to attend.
The special guest presenter was YES alumnus, Yutthakrit Chalermthai (YES 2008-2009, Thailand, hosted by AFS in Chesaning, MI). Yutthakrit is the founder and the first President of the YES Thai Alumni Association. After fulfilling his cultural exchange year in the U.S., Yutthakrit initiated and implemented more than 10 community service projects! He also started a social enterprise project called "Mushroom for Much More" which involves cultivating and selling mushrooms in order to financially support families living in poverty. During the webinar, Yutthakrit offered participants strategies, tools, & tips for starting their own GYSD projects.
If you missed the webinar, you can still learn how to plan and implement your GYSD project by watching the recording of this webinar on the YES YouTube channel or Vimeo!
Don't forget to register your project with Youth Service America here!
Davor Tunjic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Will Smith
Liberia
It's so important to know how to use social media to mobilize your IEW projects and activities. #IEW is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide from November 14-18, 2016! That's why we organized the Social Media for Social Good YES alumni webinar on Wednesday, November 2, 2016. During the webinar, YES alumni learned tips and tricks for using social media to share their culture and activities during IEW! Both YES alumni and on-program students were encouraged to attend.
The panel of speakers included Will Smith (Not the actor!), President & Director of the Monrovia Football Academy in Liberia and Davor Tunjic, YES 2012-2013 and YES Alumni Coordinator of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both speakers offered participants of the webinar strategies and tools for using social media platforms to promote and propel their IEW projects and activities while gaining support from their peers.
If you missed the webinar, you can still learn how to use social media to get the word out about your projects and activities by watching the recording of this webinar on the YES YouTube and Vimeo channels!
Meet the Panel:
Will Smith (Not the actor!), President & Director of the Monrovia Football Academy in Liberia
Inspired by his participation in the 2013 Liberian Peace & Reconciliation soccer match and President Sirleaf’s acknowledgment that Liberia’s education system needed reconstruction, Will co-founded Liberia’s first soccer school to create new opportunities for Liberia’s talented boys and girls. Monrovia Football Academy (MFA) is the first school in Liberia to combine formal education with professional soccer development. As the Director of the Academy, Will oversees the school’s operations in Liberia, manages all fundraising and outreach activities, and establishes partnerships with academic and soccer institutions both in Liberia and abroad. He uses social media to create awareness about education issues in Liberia and empowers his peers to make a difference. Will holds an MS in African Studies from the University of Oxford and a BA in Government and French from the College of William & Mary. He is currently completing a graduate course on social entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University and splits his time between Liberia and the United States.
Davor Tunjic, YES 2012-2013, Bosnia and Herzegovina
After completing his YES year, Davor became the YES Alumni Coordinator of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As Alumni Coordinator, he has organized and executed several projects including the renovation of public places, donation drives, and social good campaigns. After completing a YES Alumni Digital Storytelling Workshop, Davor facilitated his own Digital Storytelling Workshops for YES and FLEX alumni in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was also a part of an alumni project called, "A sto ne bi mogle?", a video documentary about women who perform jobs that are reserved for men in Bosnian society. Davor participated in the StartQube Social Entrepreneurship Workshop in Macedonia as a Social Media Trainee and shared his expertise with social media for social awareness with attendees of the webinar.
Joyce Kilikpo Jarwalo
Liberia
Ashfaq Hussain
Pakistan
The YES Alumni Community Health webinar took place on July 25, 2016, and featured Joyce Kilikpo Jarwolo and YES alumnus Ashfaq Hussain. Joyce is the Founder and Executive Director of Public Health Initiative Liberia (PHIL), a national public health organization that works to improve and increase access to quality health care for Liberians. PHIL works with communities to educate and empower them to protect themselves and their families, and played a major role in helping Liberia manage the Ebola crisis. In addition to starting PHIL, Joyce was also a 2015 Mandela Washington Fellow, which is a fellowship started by Barack Obama for young African leaders. She has also worked in many capacities within community health, including as the Senior Malaria Officer and Health Coordinator at the Liberian Red Cross and the Health Delegate (advisor) at the Norwegian Red Cross in Haiti.
During the webinar, Joyce used her vast experience in community health to give alumni ideas for different ways they can help their communities. In addition to that, YES alumnus Ashfaq Hussain (YES 2014-2015, hosted by PAX in Blair, WI) shared about the three community health projects this year. Since returning home from the U.S. in 2015, Ashfaq has worked with other YES alumni and medical professionals to bring health services to people living in rural Pakistan. During each of the three Medical Camps he has implemented, Ashfaq and his team gave free check-ups to people who live in remote areas and generally do not receive health care. After their check-ups, the patients who needed it also received free medicine from the Medical Camp team. Ashfaq gave step-by-step instructions on how he organized and ran the camps so that other alumni can organize similar projects in their home communities.
Even if you missed the webinar, you can still learn from this expert panel by watching the recording on YouTube or Vimeo. You can also see their presentations on the YES Alumni Resources page!
Simona Ristovska
North Macedonia
Hassan Saeed
Pakistan
Dima Helou
West Bank
Global Youth Service Day is coming up soon! Do you already know what community service you will do for GYSD from April 15-17? If you are still looking for new and exciting project ideas, or if you have a project in mind but want to know how to make it more successful, clear your calendar for the next YES alumni webinar!
On April 1, 2016, a panel of alumni, featuring Simona Ristovska, Hassan Saeed, and Dima Helou will each share top Global Youth Service Day projects from their respective alumni associations. Not only will they share project ideas, but each panelist will also discuss a key to success from his/her project. Join the webinar to hear their tips on brainstorming project ideas, developing partnerships, and creating sustainable projects!
See you on April 1 at 10am EST! (Don't miss the event because of the time difference, check what time it will be in your community!)
Meet the Panel
Simona Ristovska, YES 2009-2010, Macedonia, hosted by World Link in Washington, Iowa
After returning from the YES program, Simona became the YES Alumni Coordinator in Macedonia. During her 4 years in this position, she organized over 50 alumni projects, and has also worked closely with the alumni to mentor them on how to start their own projects. She earned a bachelor's degree in Economics with a focus on Financial Management. When asked about volunteering, she said, "Our YES community tries to engage as many people as we can in our projects, not just alumni. Our goal each year is to have as many projects as possible, especially for GYSD."
Hassan Saeed, YES 2008-2009, Pakistan, hosted by ASSE in Topeka, KS
Since returning to Pakistan in 2009, Hassan has been engaged in many community service projects, and has especially focused on developing capacity buillding for students and teachers through social media activism. Hassan completed his Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences at the Institute of Management Sciences in Peshawar, and has had the opportunity to grow professionally by attending a number of global trainings, including the Training of Trainers Workshop in Indonesia, International Conference and Youth Summit in Qatar, YES Alumni Leadership Training in Jordan, and Team Leader for National Citizen Service Program in England. He has worked as a Program Officer for the Society for International Education for the past 4 years, and was named one of the 44 most influential youth in the world in 2013 by Youth Leader Magazine and UNESCO. He is also part of the organizing team for the Madina Leadership Program, which will take place in Turkey in June 2016. Hassan loves to initiate and engage in community service activities and is passionate about helping his fellow alumni develop.
Dima Helou, YES 2013-2014, West Bank, hosted by AYA in Houston, TX
In 2014, after completing her YES year, Dima returned to Palestine to finish her senior year of high school, and got involved with doing community service with her YES Alumni Association. She is currently majoring in International Business at the Lebanese American University in Lebanon, and has applied for the Tomorrow's Leaders Scholarship through the MEPI Program. In addition to that, Dima is the Vice President of the Public Relations Committee of the AIESEC, which is the largest youth-run organization in the world.
Samiur Rahman
Bangladesh
Do you wish you had more funding for your community service projects? Do you have ideas for volunteering projects that you have never been able to implement because you do not have enough financial capital? The YES alumni webinar on February 12, 2016 addressed these issues by teaching alumni how to raise money through a new source: crowdfunding! The webinar also provided step-by-step instructions on how to start a crowdfunding campaign and shared best practices for successful campaigns!
YES '14 alumnus Samiur Rahman from Bangladesh led the webinar and shared his crowdfunding expertise. After Samiur returned from Rush Springs, OK, where he was hosted by CIEE, he began volunteering with the YES Alumni Association in Bangladesh. However, when the association wanted to help the children at the Shongraish Shishu Poribar Orphanage celebrate Ramadan in 2014, they realized they needed to more money in order to make the event as impactful as possible. Seeing this, Samiur began looking into alternative funding options, which is how he discovered crowdfuning. He created a crowdfunding campaign for the project, and in the end, was able to raise $1500 USD for the orphans!
Even if you missed the webinar, you can still learn all of his tips by watching the recording of this webinar on the YES YouTube and Vimeo channels!
Dawoud Zahran
West Bank
People consistently rank public speaking as one of their top phobias, so YES alumnus Dawoud Zahran thought it would be helpful to offer a webinar training on how to give a great presentation.
Dawoud, a YES 2011-2012 alumnus from West Bank, led the webinar on November 12, just in time for International Education Week 2015! As a matter of fact, Dawoud himself learned how to give presentations during his exchange year, but since then, he has begun training others in public speaking and presenting. He has participated in leadership and development workshops around the world, including ISFIT and ActionAid, and has served as Palestine's YES Alumni Project Coordinator. He is currently a Research Fellow at King's College in London, working with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Presentation Skills 101 webinar was attended by current YES and YES Abroad students, as well as alumni of both programs. Everyone agreed that the strategies Dawoud gave for how to structure a presentation, prepare for speaking in public, and keep an audience engaged were extremely helpful. As an added bonus, YES alumni who attended the webinar shared their own tips for how to give a quality presentation in the chat box!
If you missed the webinar, you can watch a recording of it on YouTube or Vimeo!
Jimi Tewe
Nigeria
The YES Alumni network has over 7,800 passionate, dedicated, and energetic students and young professionals from 46 different countries. Around the world, YES Alumni Associations and their members are actively engaged in community development projects, leadership initiatives and inventive new ways to use technology.
YES Pakistan alumni Komal Hira and Ali Zen participated in technology workshops this year.
October marked the launch of the YES Alumni LinkedIn Group page, which made it the perfect time to take a closer look at LinkedIn as a career and networking tool for YES alumni. Alumni learned how to use the LinkedIn website to enhance their professional lives at the YES Alumni Webinar: LinkedIn for YES Alumni Job Seekers. The alumni also learned how LinkedIn can be used as a tool to jumpstart their careers and stay connected with other YES Alumni.
The webinar was led by Abeer D. Abu Ghaith, Chairperson and CEO of StayLinked, Career Guidance Supervisor at the Center of Entrepreneurship and Career Development in Palestine Polytechnic University, “Best Technology Enabler and Facilitator” at the 2014 MEA Women in Technology Awards, one of CEO Middle East magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women and the personality of month for Innovation in the January 2014 edition of “This Week in Palestine Magazine.” She leads trainings for youth on social media, employment and entrepreneurship, and has presented at multiple international and regional conferences. Born in Jordan in 1984, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron, Palestine.
With over 70 million members in 200 countries worldwide, LinkedIn is a tool that is able to jumpstart and enhance the professional development and interconnectedness of YES alumni. Since YES alumni are already active on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, imagine the incredible potential for this group on a platform to that is used solely to communicate and share professional experiences, contacts and opportunities! If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording and download the materials here: www.yesprograms.org/alumni-resources!
Olga Elisa
Indonesia
Hanan Anwar
Malaysia
Nazrin Ariffin
Malaysia
The alumni webinar held on September 16, 2015 discussed strategies for how to motivate others to start volunteering, how to keep current volunteers engaged, and how to use technology to mobilize volunteers!
The webinar was run by Olga Elisa, the program manager for Do Something Indonesia, which is part of the global social action organization, DoSomething.org. So far, over 4 million youth volunteers have joined the global movement, which calls on young people to use digital platforms to work on a wide range of current issues, including education, violence and poverty. Olga has always believed that the Internet and social media have the power to influence positive change in the world. Through Do Something Indonesia, she has found a way to harness that power by utilizing technology to mobilize youth to volunteer. During the webinar, she discussed her motivational strategies and offered tips for how they can implemented by YES alumni in their local communities.
Nazrin Ariffin (YES '10) and Hanan Anwar (YES '10) from Malaysia provided an alumni perspective on how they have motivate youth in their area to volunteer. They discussed the SoundsGood concert they organized this year, which was free for youth to enter and which aimed to motivate others to volunteer. Nazrin and Hanan shared how they planned the event, how they reached out to other organizations and developed partnerships, and what the results of the concert have been.
The alumni who attended the webinar said that it was very helpful and that they learned new strategies for how to motivate others. If you missed the webinar, you can watch a recording of it on YouTube or Vimeo!
YES Alumni Participants:
Nazrin Ariffin, YES 2009-2010, Malaysia, hosted by AFS in Wassau, WI
Hanan Anwar, YES 2009-2010, Malaysia, hosted by AFS in St. Louis, MO
Katherine Gerber
United States
Global Youth Service Day is just around the corner! Many YES alumni are dedicated to service and giving back to their communities; however, it can also be difficult to find funding for projects and events. The YES Alumni Webinar, “GYSD: Helping Others on a Budget” that took place on March 17, 2015, addressed those difficulties and gave alumni strategies for how to plan and implement great projects on a budget.
The webinar was hosted by Katherine Gerber, the Director of Outreach at Youth Service America. Katherine oversees the staff and programs that build capacity of local, national and international groups to create and scale high-impact youth service projects. This includes YSA’s signature campaign, Global Youth Service Day, and the Global Youth Service Network, an international coalition of organizations committed to positive youth development. She also serves as an advisor to YSA’s Youth Council. Katherine joined YSA in June 2012 as Manager of Outreach for National and Global Partnerships.
During the webinar, Katherine gave the alumni ideas for service projects that require very little funding, and taught them how to help others on a budget. She also discussed how to plan a project and register for GYSD, and helped alumni set up a timeline for their projects. In addition to that, Katherine highlighted new sources of funding for the alumni that they many had not have thought of before, such as crowdsourcing and creating partnerships with local businesses.
After attending the webinar, 78% of participants reported that they felt confident about running their own GYSD project! If you missed the webinar, you can get all of Katherine's advice and boost your own confidence by watching the recording of it on YouTube or Vimeo.
Marouane Smaili
Morocco
Agha Ajma
Pakistan
Marouane Smaili, a YES 2007-2008 alumnus from Morocco, hosted by Ayusa in Tucson, AZ was one of the presenters of the YES Alumni Webinar.
How do you measure the success of your alumni projects? Are they as effective as they could be? Evaluating projects is an easy way to help improve your work in the future and clearly show the impact your projects have, which can help you gain support from funders and your community.
The YES Alumni Webinar: Project Evaluation, held on March 4, 2015 at 9:00am EST, focused on the above questions, as well as the benefits of evaluation and professional strategies and tips for how to evaluate projects. The webinar was led by Dr. Agha Ajmal, who is a Fulbright scholar, currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Health Services Policy and Management from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Ajmal, originally from Karachi, Pakistan, has specialized in Health Program Monitoring and Evaluation, meaning that he develops evaluation frameworks and conducts cutting edge work in the area of health evaluation. He has done such work on his many publications and reports, including the Tawana Pakistan Project, for which he served as the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research Coordinator. The project served 500,000 primary school girls in poor rural provinces of Pakistan. Throughout his career, he has also served as the Head of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Tawana Project and the Acting Head of the Community Health Integrator of the Department of Community Health Sciences at Aga Khan University.
Marouane Smaili, YES ’08, also presented on the webinar, and provided a YES Alumni perspective to evaluation. Since he has returned form his year in the U.S., Marouane has earned a Masters in Marketing and Sales Operations at ENCG Business School in Agadir and is currently working as a Communication Officer and Project Coordinator at an NGO called Dar Si Hmad. Through his professional projects and community service initiatives, Marouane has developed various skills related to project evaluation, and has tips on how to apply them to your YES Small Grant projects. Together, Dr. Ajmal and Marouane discussed the benefits of evaluation, methods for evaluation and how to best utilize your results.
The alumni who attended the webinar learned a lot and were very excited to start utilizing their new knowledge in their future projects. Amadu from Sierra Leone said, "Now I know that Evaluation and Monitoring are necessary for a sucessful project, and this webinar will serve as a great tool for my current project as well as for the YES alumni Sierra Leone." Another alumnus who attended said, "We have experienced a lot from this webinar, it is time to start putting it into practice!" If you missed the webinar, you can watch a recording of it on YouTube or Vimeo.