Riyani Heads to Montana for the YSEALI Fellowship Program

by Riyani Sidek

I recently completed my fellowship in the United States under the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellowship Programme from 13 June 2022 to 24 July 2022. The program is a fully funded leadership program sponsored by the U.S Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. 

The YSEALI Professional Fellows Program provided an opportunity for young professionals to learn leadership skills, build professional networks and gain practical experience in and exposure to United States private businesses, government offices and non-profit organisations. Joining 100 fellows from Southeast Asia, I was accepted as a finalist for the Cycle 1 June-July 2022 of the Civic Engagement Institute under U.S host institution, Manfields Centre of the University of Montana.  

Upon arriving in my placement city, Missoula Montana, I was surprised to learn about the small town. Montana, with just over one million population in a fourth-largest US state filled with mountain ranges, river streams and deer,  this was not what I had in mind about the U.S. Some of the misconceptions I had before coming to the U.S were; all U.S cities look like New York City, all states have the same culture and weather was the same across all states. 

Many people in Missoula love outdoor activities. This year, the weather was in my favour between 22 to 30 degrees Celsius. I was also blessed with a host family who introduced me to a whole new experience of the American culture. Conversations about American and Southeast Asian politics over home cooked American and Asian food while watching the chickens in the backyard was completely normal. 

I spent my four weeks fellowship at the Missoula Project Beacon, a grant-funded initiative that aims to create a network of trauma-informed providers and services available to American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) survivors of human trafficking. Missoula Project Beacon provides couselling, trauma informed care, housing assistance, survivor kits and emergency resources for their clients. I worked with a team of Native women in assisting with the logistics and administrative work ensuring clients receive quality and quantity care services. Along with this, I was also involved in discussions with colleagues and partner organisations on culturally-appropriate ways to address human trafficking in the community. 

My placement here aligned with my professional interest back home as a research associate at GAIA and my work in advocating for anti-human trafficking in the community. This was an opportunity for me to have a two-way learning experience with the team.  

I am excited to continuously work with the Missoula Project Beacon and I feel fortunate to have this experience – It is definitely a life changing experience for me. 

In the last week of the programme, I was reunited with the rest of fellows in Washington DC, USA to participate in workshops and dialogues organized by the American Councils for International Education. The workshops included reflecting experiences in our work placement organisations and we had the opportunity to be involved in a persuasive pitch workshop. We attended a panel discussion on maximizing potential through diversity and inclusion with expert finalists in immigrants’ rights, disability rights and gender equality. 

On the final evening before departure to our home countries, all fellows attended a farewell reception hosted by the U.S Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S Department of State for dinner and a networking session.