Alumni Resources
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.
Practical Facilitation Skills Webinar
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.
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD): Dream Big, Start Small Webinar
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.
YES Program: A 20th Anniversary Celebration Webinar
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the YES program, YES hosted a virtual panel discussion on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
Leveraging Your Exchange Experience Professionally
On September 6, the YES program hosted a webinar on "Leveraging Your Exchange Experience Professionally."
YES Art for Social Change Webinar
On June 2, the YES program hosted the Art for Social Change webinar featuring an expert guest speaker and YES alumnus.
GYSD Webinar on Developing Partnerships
On April 14, the YES program hosted the GYSD Webinar on Developing Partnerships featuring three expert speakers.
2021 International Education Week Webinar: A Conversation on Citizen Diplomacy
On November 17, the YES program hosted a webinar on citizen diplomacy for International Education Week.
YES Monitoring and Evaluation Webinar
At this free webinar, attendees learned about how to use Monitoring and Evaluation tools to enhance the impact of their community projects.
YES LinkedIn Webinar
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.
YES Media Literacy Webinar
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.
Digital Storytelling Webinar for IEW
On November 9th, the YES program hosted a Digital Storytelling Webinar for International Education Week.
Project Management and Development Webinar
On Thursday, July 30, the YES program held a webinar for YES Alumni on Project Management and Development.
International Education Week 2019 Webinar
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.
Four Key Tips to Developing a High Impact Resume and Career
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.”
YES for the Environment
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.
Lead for Global Youth Service Day
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.
YES Alumni Grants Proposal Writing Webinar
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.
Social Media for Social Good
The YES community learns how to harness social media for social good with a guest speaker from the Ad Council!
Gender Equality for Social Change
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.
Reverse Culture Shock Webinar 2018
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 2018 Webinar
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 15th Anniversary Webinar
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.
2018 Alumni Grants Webinar
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.
A STRONGER COMMUNITY: Engaging YES Alumni and Students with Disabilities
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.
YES SHE CAN: Projects for the Empowerment of Girls and Women
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.
Sports for Development and Peace
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.
Cross-Country Collaboration
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.
GYSD 2017!
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.
Social Media for Social Good
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.
Webinar: Community Health
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.
Global Youth Service Day Panel Discussion
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!
Crowdfunding
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!
Presentation Skills 101
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.
LinkedIn for YES Alumni Jobseekers
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.
Motivating Youth Volunteers
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.
GYSD - Helping Others on a Budget
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.
Project Evaluation
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.
Practical Facilitation Skills Webinar
Jul 15, 2024
Simon Norton
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD): Dream Big, Start Small Webinar
Apr 20, 2023
Scott Ganske
Joylin Kombe
Esther Isah Bila
Daniel Newton Valai
YES Program: A 20th Anniversary Celebration Webinar
Jan 24, 2023
Christine Odera
Heba Alsaidi
Kevin Baker
Angena Grove
Leveraging Your Exchange Experience Professionally
Sep 06, 2022
Alena Savitskaya
Mar Smaili
YES Art for Social Change Webinar
Jun 02, 2022
Aris Hines
Mohamed Ben Fredj
GYSD Webinar on Developing Partnerships
Apr 14, 2022
Dao Nguyen
Raisona Alam
Bangladesh
Fily Coulibaly
Joseph Lambe
2021 International Education Week Webinar: A Conversation on Citizen Diplomacy
Nov 17, 2021
Britta Bjornlund
Ayah Besaiso
Katie Wells
Zana Idrizi
Kosovo
YES Monitoring and Evaluation Webinar
Oct 20, 2021
Allan Kakinda
Ishaku Abner
Musa Kabbah
YES LinkedIn Webinar
May 17, 2021
Tarin Rickett
YES Media Literacy Webinar
Dec 08, 2020
Ally Gakweli
Jehad Oumer
Benjamin Thurn
Digital Storytelling Webinar for IEW
Nov 09, 2020
Wendy Jacques
Austin Haeberle
Irin Chowdhury
Bangladesh
Stella Tiyoy
Sarah Jaroush
Project Management and Development Webinar
Jul 30, 2020
Imran Khurshid
Bangladesh
International Education Week 2019 Webinar
Nov 06, 2019
Heba Alsaidi
Aleksis Satka
Markal Kelly
Daize Njounkeng
Moiz Rehan
Pakistan
Four Key Tips to Developing a High Impact Resume and Career
Jul 30, 2019
Craig Zelizer
YES for the Environment
May 14, 2019
Anna Wright
Bakari Mtili
John Tumaini
Lead for Global Youth Service Day
Mar 19, 2019
Leen Al Yaman
Anooj Bhandari
YES Alumni Grants Proposal Writing Webinar
Dec 18, 2018
Rachel Markowitz
Social Media for Social Good
Nov 15, 2018
David Imani
Gender Equality for Social Change
Sep 18, 2018
Angela Lagat
Sanda Hanjalic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Reverse Culture Shock Webinar 2018
Jul 31, 2018
Merima Muhic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mahamadou Lamine Bagayoko
Shine Santos
Amna Bhutta
Pakistan
Global Youth Service Day 2018 Webinar
Mar 29, 2018
Mohammed Kiawu
Emily McGlone
YES 15th Anniversary Webinar
Jan 31, 2018
Natalie Rehberger
Jeni St John
Sleiman Sleiman
2018 Alumni Grants Webinar
Dec 13, 2017
Jeni St John
A STRONGER COMMUNITY: Engaging YES Alumni and Students with Disabilities
Nov 30, 2017
Susan Sygall
Olivia Hardin
Celine Lin
Malaysia
YES SHE CAN: Projects for the Empowerment of Girls and Women
Sep 19, 2017
Tasneem Kibria
Bangladesh
Portia
Sports for Development and Peace
Jul 11, 2017
Rachel Markowitz
Geraldine Go-Bernardo
Nasir Ahmad
Cross-Country Collaboration
Jun 01, 2017
Hela Nafti
Shebnem Niazi
Jennifer Russell
GYSD 2017!
Mar 30, 2017
Yutthakrit Chalermthai
Social Media for Social Good
Nov 02, 2016
Davor Tunjic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Will Smith
Webinar: Community Health
Jul 25, 2016
Joyce Kilikpo Jarwalo
Ashfaq Hussain
Pakistan
Global Youth Service Day Panel Discussion
Apr 01, 2016
Simona Ristovska
North Macedonia
Hassan Saeed
Pakistan
Dima Helou
Crowdfunding
Feb 12, 2016
Samiur Rahman
Bangladesh
Presentation Skills 101
Nov 12, 2015
Dawoud Zahran
LinkedIn for YES Alumni Jobseekers
Oct 25, 2015
Jimi Tewe
Motivating Youth Volunteers
Sep 15, 2015
Olga Elisa
Indonesia
Hanan Anwar
Malaysia
Nazrin Ariffin
Malaysia
GYSD - Helping Others on a Budget
Mar 17, 2015
Katherine Gerber
Project Evaluation
Mar 04, 2015
Marouane Smaili
Agha Ajma
Pakistan
Presenters
Practical Facilitation Skills Webinar
Simon Norton
Presenters
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD): Dream Big, Start Small Webinar
Scott Ganske
Joylin Kombe
Esther Isah Bila
Daniel Newton Valai
Presenters
YES Program: A 20th Anniversary Celebration Webinar
Christine Odera
Heba Alsaidi
Kevin Baker
Angena Grove
Presenters
Leveraging Your Exchange Experience Professionally
Alena Savitskaya
Mar Smaili
Presenters
YES Art for Social Change Webinar
Aris Hines
Mohamed Ben Fredj
Presenters
GYSD Webinar on Developing Partnerships
Dao Nguyen
Raisona Alam
Bangladesh
Fily Coulibaly
Joseph Lambe
Presenters
2021 International Education Week Webinar: A Conversation on Citizen Diplomacy
Britta Bjornlund
Ayah Besaiso
Katie Wells
Zana Idrizi
Kosovo
Presenters
YES Monitoring and Evaluation Webinar
Allan Kakinda
Ishaku Abner
Musa Kabbah
Presenters
YES LinkedIn Webinar
Tarin Rickett
Presenters
YES Media Literacy Webinar
Ally Gakweli
Jehad Oumer
Benjamin Thurn
Presenters
Digital Storytelling Webinar for IEW
Wendy Jacques
Austin Haeberle
Irin Chowdhury
Bangladesh
Stella Tiyoy
Sarah Jaroush
Presenters
Project Management and Development Webinar
Imran Khurshid
Bangladesh
Presenters
International Education Week 2019 Webinar
Heba Alsaidi
Aleksis Satka
Markal Kelly
Daize Njounkeng
Moiz Rehan
Pakistan
Presenters
Four Key Tips to Developing a High Impact Resume and Career
Craig Zelizer
Presenters
YES for the Environment
Anna Wright
Bakari Mtili
John Tumaini
Presenters
Lead for Global Youth Service Day
Leen Al Yaman
Anooj Bhandari
Presenters
YES Alumni Grants Proposal Writing Webinar
Rachel Markowitz
Presenters
Social Media for Social Good
David Imani
Presenters
Gender Equality for Social Change
Angela Lagat
Sanda Hanjalic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Presenters
Reverse Culture Shock Webinar 2018
Merima Muhic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mahamadou Lamine Bagayoko
Shine Santos
Amna Bhutta
Pakistan
Presenters
Global Youth Service Day 2018 Webinar
Mohammed Kiawu
Emily McGlone
Presenters
YES 15th Anniversary Webinar
Natalie Rehberger
Jeni St John
Sleiman Sleiman
Presenters
2018 Alumni Grants Webinar
Jeni St John
Presenters
A STRONGER COMMUNITY: Engaging YES Alumni and Students with Disabilities
Susan Sygall
Olivia Hardin
Celine Lin
Malaysia
Presenters
YES SHE CAN: Projects for the Empowerment of Girls and Women
Tasneem Kibria
Bangladesh
Portia
Presenters
Sports for Development and Peace
Rachel Markowitz
Geraldine Go-Bernardo
Nasir Ahmad
Presenters
Cross-Country Collaboration
Hela Nafti
Shebnem Niazi
Jennifer Russell
Presenters
GYSD 2017!
Yutthakrit Chalermthai
Presenters
Social Media for Social Good
Davor Tunjic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Will Smith
Presenters
Webinar: Community Health
Joyce Kilikpo Jarwalo
Ashfaq Hussain
Pakistan
Presenters
Global Youth Service Day Panel Discussion
Simona Ristovska
North Macedonia
Hassan Saeed
Pakistan
Dima Helou
Presenters
Crowdfunding
Samiur Rahman
Bangladesh
Presenters
Presentation Skills 101
Dawoud Zahran
Presenters
LinkedIn for YES Alumni Jobseekers
Jimi Tewe
Presenters
Motivating Youth Volunteers
Olga Elisa
Indonesia
Hanan Anwar
Malaysia
Nazrin Ariffin
Malaysia
Presenters
GYSD - Helping Others on a Budget
Katherine Gerber
Presenters
Project Evaluation
Marouane Smaili
Agha Ajma
Pakistan
