It can be a challenge to arrange for over 30 YES alumni leaders to be in the same place at the same time. Visas can be problematic, flights are delayed, and schedules just don’t align. So what’s one way to work around it? Virtual workshops! In July, the YES program hosted their first ever Virtual Alumni Leaders Training (VALT). The two-week virtual event was a series of online trainings that enhanced and developed participants’ skills and knowledge in leadership and project management. Alumni attended sessions to improve their project management strategies and sharpened their skills in topics such monitoring and evaluation, grant writing, social media, program design, among others. It was also a great opportunity for YES alumni to cultivate a shared sense of identity, discuss issues, brainstorm solutions, and exchange dialogue among fellow YES alumni leaders. A participant shared: “This training has not only trained us, but also gave me a family that I can share ideas and suggestions with in the future.” Another participant added, “I love that I can learn together with alumni from other countries. It makes me feel like I'm a part of the global community.”

Each active recruiting YES country was invited to nominate one alumnus/a to attend the training. Almost every active YES country was represented, resulting in 31 participants from 31 countries. 

VALT was almost set up like a mini-university. A course catalogue was sent to all the participants, who then selected sessions that they found most interesting and aligned with their interests. Alumni could choose from sessions that were discussion driven, such as how to increase cross-country collaboration among YES alumni networks; theoretical topics, such as how to practice culturally responsive leadership; and skill driven sessions, like managing a project, writing a grant, or monitoring and evaluating a project. In order for participants to receive their certificate of completion, they had to attend a minimum of seven sessions.

Each session was led by an expert guest speaker. From CEOs, to professors, to UN specialists, to YES program staff, the VALT participants had the opportunity to learn and share ideas with a wide range of experienced individuals. Some of the discussion-based sessions were also facilitated by YES alumni. They had the responsibility of preparing discussion questions and guiding the conversation.

All sessions were held in the interactive video conferencing platform called Zoom. Participants had access to their microphones and cameras, which encouraged full participation and allowed them to share more with one another. Zoom has a fun feature that even allows participants to move from one large meeting into smaller breakout rooms, which meant that alumni could have one-on-one conversations with each other to brainstorm ideas together. 

In the Closing Ceremony, YES alumni had the honor of presenting some of their post-VALT action steps to officials from the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Branch Chief Michele Peters, Program Officer Kevin Baker, and Program Officer Katja David-Fox all attended the Closing Ceremony to share words of encouragement with YES alumni leaders and listen as they detailed their experiences at VALT.

It was an exciting two weeks of sharing, strategizing, collaborating, and learning with and from one another. If this sounds like something you are interested in, reach out to your local YES office to learn who represented your country and try setting up a training with them!