Forty American alumni of more than ten U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs came together in Washington, D.C. this month to expand on their experiences disrupting illicit trafficking networks, building resilient institutions and communities, and assisting victims and vulnerable populations. At the Illicit Networks: Preventing and Combating Trafficking seminar, part of the Alumni International Thematic International Exchange Seminar (Alumni TIES) Program, participants collaborated with fellow alumni working within a wide range of fields to combat trafficking in persons, wildlife, antiquities, and other illegal goods and services. 

Through participant-led panels, expert speakers, and other activities, the diverse group of alumni shared their own work, research, and experiences in order to explore new tools and ways of thinking about combating such a complex, multi-faceted issue as trafficking.  The alumni had an opportunity to hear from a number of expert speakers, including three representatives from Polaris, a national and global leader in the fight against modern slavery, and officials from the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law, and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Cultural Heritage Center. 

The multi-generational and multi-disciplinary group walked away from the seminar with new tools and networks to continue engaging in the global effort to combat modern slavery and other illicit trafficking networks. To build on their experience at Alumni TIES, all participants were given the opportunity to apply for up to $10,000 in small grants to implement projects aimed at combating or preventing trafficking in communities across the United States and around the world. 

When asked about the seminar, one Fulbright U.S. Student Program alumna stated, “I learned a great deal from my colleagues and feel newly inspired to delve into ways to better engage with my own community to support potential victims and survivors.”

• Read more about American Exchange Alumni Work Together to Fight Trafficking

From June 18-23, the Summer Work and Travel Regional Entrepreneurship Academy brought together 30 alumni of the Summer Work Travel J-1 Visa Program (SWT) from Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia to learn about how to design and launch businesses. Taking place in the village of Dolna Banya, the participants took part in workshops, team-building activities, role-playing games and networking opportunities over the course of the six day Academy. The goal of the academy was to teach young adults the entire process of starting a business, from idea development to the realization of an actual business. Thanks to the hard work of Stojan Rashkov from SWT-Macedonia, Slobodan Rudic from SWT-Serbia, and Ekaterina Dimitrova, Nikolay Bliznakov and Mariya Sapundzhieva from SWT-Bulgaria, a small seed of an idea grew into a successful multi-national event.

On the first day of the academy, Dr. Solomon Passy, former Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and chair of the American Bulgarian Alumni Association (ABAA), greeted participants and underlined the significance of more intensive communications between the three SWT associations and expanding it to all the Balkan SWT organizations. Over the course of the week, participants had the opportunity to partake in lectures on entrepreneurship, start-ups, small businesses, and funding opportunities. The lecturers, selected from the same three countries as participants, used their own experiences and ideas as entrepreneurs to educate participants through hands-on activities and discussions. Keynote speakers included U.S. political science professor Bob Beatty and his brother James Beatty, an entrepreneur and financial adviser, who offered to participate as part of their private visit to Bulgaria.  Professor Beatty captured the audience’s attention from the very first, speaking passionately about ongoing trends in the United States and the Balkans.  Mr. James Beatty shared professionally-valuable information concerning general investment principles for investors and small business owners. 

Another aspect of the Academy was devoted to social causes and networking skills and how to expand the Summer Work and Travel alumni associations in the participating countries. To discuss these skills, the Academy brought in three speakers: Yana Milosheva from Bulgaria, a public relations specialist, who discussed the topic of the social networks and the image of the start-up business; Mariya Bozhilova from Net1, who talked about social entrepreneurship, explaining the differences between being an entrepreneur and a social entrepreneur, as well as how to help society with sustainable businesses; and Slobodan Rudic from Serbia, who presented the Serbian web-based platform Work and Travel Iskustvo (“experience”) sharing  how it helps young people  find information about the Summer Work and Travel Program. After each speaker, participants had interactive group work and role-playing games followed by presentations of newly developed ideas

In the fall, a follow-up  1-day conference will take place that is designed to bring together representatives from universities, NGOs, business start-ups, and government to discuss how to better support youth entrepreneurs. During the conference they will also brainstorm and collaborate on future plans for cooperation among the regional SWT associations.    

• Read more about Summer Work Travel Academy Cultivates Entrepreneurship

As an active member of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in St. Cloud, Minnesota, alumnus Amy Tran has committed herself to designing the tools essential to providing a substantive education on sexual health and violence to the demographic most afflicted by a lack thereof – young Asian American women. Amy began her involvement with racial justice activism focusing on economic and labor inequality issues during her undergraduate career; however, it was not until her participation in the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program in Beijing, China that she was introduced to the intersection between public health and social justice by a colleague with a similar focus. Since her time with CLS in the summer of 2015, Amy has dedicated herself to addressing the cultural stigma of sex and sex education, harmful stereotypes, and mental health issues associated with sexual violence in her community. Not only is Amy an alumna of the CLS program, she also participated in an exchange program to Chongqing, China for a full academic year through the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship Program.

Although Amy has been the driving force behind the effort to increase sexual health education and awareness of sexual violence in her local AAPI community, it wasn’t until she met Fulbright alumna Kim Walsh-Childers at the Alumni Thematic International Exchange Seminar (TIES) in Atlanta, Georgia on “The New Frontiers of Global Health” that she was able to bridge the gap between research and action. The Alumni TIES that Amy participated in is one of 3 seminars that have taken place in the United States. Other U.S. Alumni TIES include the “Intersections: Climate Change, Global Affairs, and the Digital Age” in Silicon Valley, California and “Education for All: Inclusion and Access as Pathways to Peace” in Portland, Oregon. Alumni TIES also take place regionally across the globe on a variety of topics from “Preparing for a 21st Century Economy” in Casablanca, Morocco to “Energy for All” in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. These seminars provide exchange alumni the opportunity to network and collaborate with one another, to become educated on key issues affecting their region, and to receive training on tools useful to implementing community engagement projects that they have developed.  As part of their participation in these seminars, alumni have the opportunity to apply for small grants of up to 10,000 dollars to fund projects like Amy’s. which make a positive impact on communities. These small grants are designed to encourage creative thinking and collaboration of alumni to implement lasting change in their communities through unique projects and initiatives.

 Amy’s project was inspired by a study conducted by her local chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), which found that 100% of Asian women who had been sexually assaulted on college campuses felt they were targeted due to race, whereas 0% of white women surveyed felt that their race was a factor in their assault. These statistics motivated her to address the serious problem of sexual violence in her local AAPI community through organizing a weekend retreat focused on equipping Asian American girls aged 14-18 with the skills necessary to address sexual violence and to engage in the effort to de-stigmatize sex in the AAPI community. In partnership with Kim, who has background in sex in the media and has studied the rise in sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates in high schools in her county of residence in Florida, she was able to add a research study component to the retreat which will provide a means to assess the effectiveness of the retreat through focus groups and pre and post-retreat surveys.

The retreat entitled, “I’m With You: Empowering Young AAPI Women to Stop Sexual Violence” was held in St. Cloud, Minnesota in June 2017 and will be followed by a reunion in September. Beyond the weekend retreat, Amy hopes to inspire change in her community by advocating for safe spaces where girls can express themselves without fear of judgment or punishment and to be challenged to think critically about their actions and words. Amy remarks, “In doing so, we provide these girls with agency – the ability and freedom to let the girls pursue their ambitions and become their best selves.”

 

• Read more about Empowering Young Asian American Pacific Islander Women to Stop Sexual Violence