The alumni website is currently undergoing changes, and we hope to back up soon. In the meantime, if you’re an exchange alumni, check out exchangealumni.state.gov to connect with fellow alumni, join groups and events, search for job opportunities, and more! And check out eca.state.gov to find out more about our exchange program opportunities.
Exchange Alumna and educator Bianca Alvarado inspires and trains youth in digital media and technology through her Alumni TIES-funded program, La Casa Azul.
Bianca Alvarado was ahead of the COVID online education rush. In September 2019 the AlumniTIES and Gilman scholar launched La Casa Azul Productions, a program designed to train Hispanic youth in digital media and technology in the border town of Chula Vista, California, and she quickly realized that the in-person workshops weren’t working for her students.
So Bianca moved the program online and credits the AlumniTIES seminar, “Stronger American Cities: Closing the Skills Gap and Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems,” for giving her the ideas for the work she’s doing now, as well as for the funding for the project.
“Thinking back, the seminar was making me think three steps ahead of the world we’re living now,” Bianca says, reflecting on how she and her team started building an online platform and adding on components to the lessons offered through La Casa Azul to optimize the online learning through trial and error.
But that wasn’t what surprised Bianca most during the pandemic as she’s been giving Hispanic youth the chance to learn skills for 21st century careers. Her program is popular with adults as well, with those learners using the courses to do everything from building restaurant websites to receive online orders during the pandemic to moving their businesses online for greater visibility. The program also been popular in Mexico and Latin America -proof that the aims of La Casa Azul have a more widespread impact and are in greater need than imagined.
Currently the program has 160 students officially registered, but Bianca estimates that her actual students, based on the views of the Spanish and English language videos on the program’s YouTube channel, number much more than that.
Local students who are in the community are vetted and are then given scholarships to cover their website costs after they’ve gone through the course, while also answering why they want to be in the program.
“The responses that we get are very powerful,” Bianca says. “Right now with COVID, their parents are losing their jobs. Students that come from low-income communities were already in struggling households, so that is the most powerful part for me, that they get templates of the websites they want to create and why they want to create it. They’re so passionate.”
Team Razvan experiments with visual effects, sound and biometrics as a part of Art-a-Hack's Special Edition 2020 COVID19, "Dancedemic."
The positive impact that artists are having on communities during this pandemic is nothing short of extraordinary. This is true for the U.S. alumni who participated in the December 2019 Alumni TIES on “Art, Culture, and Transforming Conflict” whose innovative work continues to build community resilience in lockdown.
Dancedemic, the creation of Ellen Pearlman (American Arts Incubator to Ukraine, Fulbright Specialist to Latvia) and Jonathan Hollander (Arts Envoy, Fulbright Specialist and Scholar), is using lockdown and isolation as catalysts to imagine interactive live performance in new ways. Funded by an Alumni TIES grant, Dancedemic will showcase two immigrant dancers in collaboration with 30 technologists exploring the intersection between dance and the latest technological advances. Watch the resulting performance live on August 21 at the 39th Annual Virtual Battery Dance Festival.
Learn more about the Alumni TIES participants and their stories in their own words. Check out Laurie Eldridge's story on her Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching exchange program, where she shared her Cherokee arts and culture with Sámi students in northern Finland. Watch our #ExchangeAlumni social media space for more of these inspiring videos over the next weeks!
Sheila showcases her designs on Austin, Texas television channel KXAN’s Studio 512 segment. (Photo courtesy Sheila Hawkins-Bucklew)
When COVID-19 brought the world economy to a standstill in early 2020, every business around the globe was affected in some way. After prolonged lockdowns in many countries, the world has entered a recession that has the potential to shrink the global economy by more than 5%, the worst recession since World War II.
While many businesses have shuttered in recent months due to decreased profits and an inability to make ends meet, it doesn’t have to be that way, advises Sheila Hawkins-Bucklew, 2017 Reciprocal Exchange Awardee, serial entrepreneur, and owner of Hawkins-Bucklew Jewelry Designs in Austin, Texas. Though this is a challenging time to be a business owner, companies can use opportunities presented by the pandemic—and any other downturn or crisis—to realign themselves to the new market and come out on top.
From Austin to Lagos
When Sheila met 2016 Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumna Hauwa Liman during Hauwa's Leadership in Business Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, they immediately connected over a mutual love of fashion and empowering women. Later, they applied for a Reciprocal Exchange Award, through which Sheila traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, to run creative women’s entrepreneurship bootcamps with Hauwa.
Get the rest of the story behind these two exchange alumni's partnership on the MWF Success Stories page.
This story was written by Meredith Lopez, with contributions by Alison Boland-Reeves, Abbie Wade, and Trace Olson. It was originally published on the Mandela Washington Fellowship site.
Tackling misinformation surrounding the coronavirus isn’t easy, but alumna Piyashat Sinpimonboon (2017 YSEALI Professional Fellows Program) of Thailand has created a solution. In collaboration with members of the Makhampom Theatre group - and in partnership with Chiang Dao hospitals, Chiang Dao Public Health Offices, specialists, and local translators- inpimonboon has produced a series of printed and video media to help raise awareness and understanding of COVID-19.
Her campaign uses local languages and approaches in a way that is digestible to the local ethnic communities. As a result of her work, local Chiang Dao residents are able to access and understand current, accurate, and reliable guidance on how to prevent COVID-19 in their communities, leading to improved community resiliency and decreased misinformation.
From purchasing medicine and groceries for those age 65 and over who can't go out at this time, to distributing masks and gloves on the street, Hana and her fellow volunteers have been helping their community stay safe, while respecting social distancing and wearing protective gear.
Nelson Mandela in Philadelphia in 1993, waiting to receive the Liberty Medal. Source: Library of Congress
Nelson Mandela believed in spreading social justice and freedom, embodying service leadership. In honor of Mandela’s birthday on July 18, we’re sharing stories of service and leadership by our Exchange Alumni from the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (MWF) and YALI Regional Leadership Centers (RLC), as well as members of the YALI Network, in celebration of Mandela’s spirit and principles.
In Liberia, Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) alumna Thelma Teetee Ahamba leveraged her fashion brand, Ahamba Clothing, to address a need for access to more comfortable, well-designed face masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Drawing on her entrepreneurship, leadership, and business experience, Thelma came up with a more fitted and comfortable mask design that allows people to talk and breathe freely. Through partnerships with Mandela Washington Fellows and others in both Liberia and the United States, Thelma’s team of six have supplied more than 2,000 masks to individuals, institutions, and communities – helping to combat the spread of the virus while promoting brand awareness.
Elsewhere in Liberia, 2019 YALI alumnus, Abdurahman I.A. Fofana, has been increasing career opportunities for Liberian youth through free computer training, encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, providing support and supplies to underprivileged students through his organization, Liberian Youth Foundation, which has helped 4,000 students with his tech program alone. He says his work would not have been a success without his international exchange experience.
“I strive for quality education for all children and young people and promoting justice, freedom, peace and equality in this community and country at large,” Fofana says. “Nelson Mandela’s legacy means a volcano of hope, courage, compassion and motivation to me as a young man from a slum community and a victim of the brutal Liberian Civil war.”
Mandela Washington Fellowship alumnus Brian “B-Flow” Bwembya is a Zambian hip-hop phenomenon, promoting peaceful elections and increased HIV/AIDS funding. Selected for the program due to his activism through music on anti-sex-based violence, anti-child marriage, and HIV/AIDS prevention, B-Flow continues to spread his message in Zambia and South Africa.
During his 2016 trip to Durban, South Africa, he partnered with Queen Latifah and AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) to lead 5,000 marchers advocating for more HIV/AIDS program funding. B-Flow performed alongside other artists at the “Keep the Promise Concert” to remind world leaders to continue funding HIV prevention and treatment.
2017 YALI alumnus Goto Cooper promotes hand washing in his efforts to combat COVID-19 in his community through his organization, Educate the Future -ETF Liberia.
Goto Cooper, a 2017 YALI alumnus, has been promoting good education and sex equity through his organization Educate The Future Liberia - ETF Liberia, particularly by empowering adolescent girls through high-quality tutoring and social entrepreneurship training, as well as through mentorship, testing prep, and other opportunities. Mandela’s legacy, with its establishment of “common values” and interconnectedness has inspired that work, he says.
“We should forgive, serve, and lead the change we want to see in our country and Africa,” Cooper adds. “The international exchange experience has given me the opportunity, platform and network to serve my country and inspire young Liberian leaders to realize their potential and achieve their dreams.”
In Madagascar, alumni are carrying out a range of activities in service of Mandela’s legacy, and to support the dreams and futures of people in their communities, like Fulbright Program alumnus Hoby Randrianimanana, YALI-RLC-Cohort 9 alumnus Ando Razafiaritsara, and YALI RLC alumna Ony Andriamarofara Andriamasinoro.
YALI alumnus Tsiry Randrianavelo's non-profit, Move Up Madagascar, has brought together over 250 young people in a recent project for sustainable development projects in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar.
Fabien Randriamananjara takes this part of Mandela’s legacy to heart: wisdom and humanity. The cartoonist promotes education and equality through his drawings to those who are illiterate. He credits his international experience for influencing the youth of his community to develop their skills and talents with an eye to the future.
Youth-empowerment is at the center of Ando Razafiaritsara’s work as well. She believes Mandela’s legacy is caring for others and, as the co-founder of the youth organization, African Leaders for Africa (ALFA), along with other YALI alumni, she addressees concerns like education, health, and youth empowerment.
“I feel so glad and honored to work with different alumni I met during my international exchange program,” Razafiaritsara says. “Together, we are aiming to bring positive change to our community.”
Ony Andriamasinoro established Cercle de Mo, a donation platform benefitting orphans and sick children, as well as a local fokontany, or sharing box, to distribute clothes, books and other items to those in need, inspired by the empathy of Mandela’s legacy. She looks up to Mandela’s resilience and humility, but she also stresses that his example was embodied and able to inform her work through international exchange.
“Mandela’s legacy reinforces mutual understanding for a mutual development and common peace,” Andriamasinoro says. “Every single people I have met during my exchange experience was a treasure because from them I have become better in every part of my life.”
With COVID-19 leaving a lasting impact across the world, the role that exchange alumni play in helping to rebuild their communities has taken a critical turn. Through grants from the U.S. Department of State’s Alumni Rapid Response Fund (ARRF), alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center (RLC), and Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) program are making an impact. Find out more through 10 of these inspiring stories. (hyperlink: https://alumni.state.gov/highlight/rebuilding-communities-wake-pandemic)
Notable work by other #ExchangeAlumni
2016 Fulbright alumna Sitraka Rabemanjakasoa cooks and serves lunches at a local primary school and disburses HIV/AIDS information and advice in her community to combat the rise in HIV/AIDS cases.
SUSI 2016 alumna Vatosoa Raharinosy has been the volunteer school counselor and advisor for students at Lafayette Initiative for Malagasy Education (LIME), enabling underprivileged students to study in the United States, abroad, and at local universities.
2019 Mandela Washington Fellow Christallin Lydovick Rakotoasy collaborates with the Peace Corps not only to teach English and promote literacy to the youth in Vavatenina, but also to encourage them to continue to higher education.
2012 Fulbright Alumna Aristide Emmanuelle Tinahy is a coach and mentor for young people and communities with a risk for poor health through the One Way for Change (OwC) association, among other activities.
YALI alumnus Tsiry Randrianavelo founded the non-profit, Move Up Madagascar, for youth empowerment through sustainable development projects, bringing together over 250 young people in a recent project in Fianarantsoa and impacting over 20,000 people in four regions.
Finally, YALI-RLC-Cohort 1 Alumna and non-profit co-founder Vony Randrianonenana, celebrates Mandela Day by making a positive impact on community development with her non-profit Clair de Lune Madagascar by organizing sustainable development-focused volunteering, donating, workshops, and capacity-building events, and has impacted 3,000 individuals with the organization’s projects.
In April 2020, the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs invited U.S. citizen alumni of all U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs, including the Fulbright Program, the Gilman Scholarship, and Cultural and Sports Envoys, to apply for small grants of up to $10,000 as part of the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund Rapid Response funding opportunity. Exchange alumni from across the United States submitted proposals for public service projects that addressed issues related to the COVID-19 crisis and helped build community resilience.
Since April, the U.S. Department of State has funded over 25 projects that address the current global health crisis in cities and towns across the United States and virtually with international partners in Botswana, Japan, Kosovo, Mexico, and other communities around the world. Exchange alumni are contributing to their communities in meaningful ways by sharing media literacy best practices that help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, increasing access to virtual and at-home education for youth and their families, providing artistic and creative outlets for local and global audiences, and responding to other community needs.
“We are thrilled that our U.S. alumni are using the skills and knowledge they gained during their exchange programs overseas to join the worldwide effort against COVID-19,” said Marie Royce, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. “These Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund public service projects uplift communities and provide them with resources and education needed to fight the pandemic.”
The Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and implemented in partnership with the Partners of the Americas. Visit https://alumni.state.gov for more information.
We're celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), groundbreaking legislation that has inspired exchange alumni the world over! Two such alumni include Faizan Raza and his brother, Jawad, of Pakistan, who had an opportunity to visit the U.S. as exchange participants of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).
In their family of five, only Faizan's sister, Ayesha, can hear; Faizan, Jawad, and their parents all have degrees of hearing impediments. Faizan, who was in and out of school growing up, due to his hearing disability, set up his own food cart business, Abey KHAO, in 2016, with help from his sister. "A guide on how to communicate and place the order using the sign language was pasted with the menu," and it became a surprise success! However, as noted by DICE Fellowship Pakistan, government policies led to the shutdown of Abey Khao.
Faizan and Jawad's IVLP turned that all around. During their exchange, the brothers got a chance to interact with multiple businesses run by deaf people and see ADA legislation in action in the U.S.
Abey KHAO is now a successful deaf-friendly restaurant in Pakistan where anyone can place orders using sign language. Through Abey KHAO, Faizan and his brother are bridging the gap between the deaf and hearing communities.
Now, Faizan teaches us how to make Chicken Karahi at home, in this video. Ready to get cooking?
Dr. Collins Santhanasamy from Malaysia and Dr. Ye Min Htet of Myanmar joined for MentorTalks on July 29, 2020 to talk about their efforts to address the ripple effect of the pandemic for at-risk and disadvantaged communities. These two exchange alumni shared how they have managed to help people outside the hospital in a way that keeps everyone safe and healthy, both physically and mentally.
Watch Dr. Collins and Dr. Ye Min's interview to learn about their work in Malaysia and Myanmar, and even Bangladesh - and find out how you can do the same in your community.
Dr. Collins Santhanasamy Founder, M Exchange
Dr. Collins Santhanasamy is a medical doctor and the founder of the M Exchange, a pilot project that works with vulnerable communities by hosting free medical camps and building sustainable schools. He is also country director for the Magical Light Foundation, which builds schools and provides educational resources for disadvantaged children in Myanmar.
Dr. Collins also serves as the Donor Engagement Manager for Cancer Research Malaysia. He has volunteered in countries across Asia including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and is passionate about empowering communities through the development of innovative healthcare solutions to build community resilience.
Dr. Ye Min Htet Founder, Moe Thauk Yaung Chi ("Dawn")
Dr. Ye Min Htet is a medical doctor with a Masters of Science in International Health and is the founder of “Moe Thauk Yaung Chi” (Dawn), a community-based organization in Myanmar that promotes quality education at orphanages and other non-governmental informal education institutions for disadvantaged children. He currently works as a National Program Officer for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency located in Yangon, Myanmar.
Dr. Ye Min is devoted to improving the mental health and well-being of Myanmar’s disadvantaged youth, as well as providing them with key social and educational skill sets.
Recently, Binta Moustapha, a 2014 TechWomen fellow of Nigeria, and Dr. Jeannice Fairrer Samani, a TechWomen mentor, teamed up for Hack the Crisis Nigeria, a three-day hackathon for COVID-19 innovation.The effort was a part of Hack the Crisis, a network of global hackathons that aim to harness the power of technology to solve leading crises. Binta’s campaign, 100 Women in Tech Nigeria -- which amplifies women leaders in Nigeria -- organized the event.
Over the course of the hackathon, 50 teams addressed four challenge areas, applying their innovations to healthcare, communications and more. In addition to sourcing tech solutions to COVID-19 challenges, Binta prioritized creating awareness in indigenous languages such as Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.
Dr. Jeannice, the chair and founder of Fifth Wave STEaM Education initiative, delivered a virtual session on best practices in pitching. In her presentation, Dr. Jeannice took the hackathon teams step-by-step through a successful pitching process, beginning with identifying a problem and pitching how their idea plans to solve it. “Introduce your company’s product or service as the ultimate solution to these problems,” she said. Dr. Jeannice also spoke about the importance of identifying a target market, finding an advantage over competitors and laying out a future roadmap.
At the conclusion of the hackathon, three teams were given a cash award sponsored by NITDA, Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency, as well as access to consulting services to further develop their ideas.
This story comes courtesy of our TechWomen colleagues. It was originally posted on the TechWomen blog.
