Morocco is excited to celebrate the 20th anniversary of YES! From May 5-7, 53 Moroccan YES alumni spanning ten different cohorts attended a special celebration and training event in Rabat. The oldest alum in attendance represented the 2009-2010 program year, and the most recent came from the 2021-2022 group. Five current YES Abroad students also came, so it was a wide range of YES experiences! 

The event started with an opening reception and dinner on Friday, May 5. U.S. Ambassador to Morocco, Puneet Talwar, attended the reception and shared inspiring remarks with the alumni about the goals of the YES program and the long history of U.S.-Moroccan friendship. He reminded everyone of the special fact that Morocco was the first country to formally recognize with the United States as a country! The YES alumni in attendance had a chance to network with the Ambassador and share their YES experiences. Additional Embassy staff also came to mingle with the alumni, including Jerome Sherman, Information Officer, Nitza Sola-Rotger, Cultural Affairs Officer, and Loubna Arrach, Alumni Relations and Engagement Specialist. Amideast/Morocco Country Director Chris Shinn provided opening remarks as well, and several Amideast staff who have supported YES and YES Abroad students over the years were there to join in the special occasion. 

After the opening ceremonies on Friday, Saturday was a full day of training and networking. The alumni participated in activities to reflect on their exchange experiences, connect with their fellow alumni, and brainstorm the future of the YES alumni community in Morocco. They kicked off with a discussion on how to articulate and market their exchange experience in job applications and interviews, in which alumni reflected on the skills they learned as a YES participant and how they can highlight those skills for job and university applications. Ghizlane Akourim ‘16 then hosted a session on Growth Mindset, where she motivated alumni to develop a mindset for success.  

After a delicious lunch, the alumni participated in a dialogue, empathy, and conflict resolution workshop, where they considered how their values play into conflict. They reflected on the conflicts they experienced during their YES year and the dialogue tools they learned from it. Finally, Mohammed El Ghamry ‘20 shared his takeaways from participating in the YES Africa Region Changemaker Workshop, including identifying a community’s strengths and assets and leveraging those to develop solutions in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. After a long day of training, the alumni were excited to socialize at the reception and enjoy some 20th anniversary cake! 

To wrap up the workshop on Sunday, Loubna Arrach, Alumni Relations and Engagement Specialist at the U.S. Embassy in Morocco, hosted a training on how to engage with the U.S. Embassy for YES alumni. She shared opportunities for project funding, such as the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund, and funding schemes for graduate or undergraduate study. Meryem Hammam ‘15, who is the Community Engagement Officer at the Moroccan Fulbright Commission, also shared her tips for applying to the Fulbright Scholarship for graduate study in the U.S. 

The content of the sessions and reconnecting with alumni across cohorts was an inspiring experience. We can’t wait to see the amazing activities the Moroccan YES alumni do in the future!