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Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative

An initiative launched in 2013 by the U.S. Department of State, the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) aims to strengthen leadership development in Southeast Asia.

Beginning in the fall of 2015, and spanning over the course of each academic year, YSEALI Academic Fellows will take part in the YSEALI student exchange program across the United States. Supported by U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative participants are among over 40,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year.

 

UConn is proud to administer this remarkable program of the U.S. Department of State.  For more than sixty years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) has funded and supported programs that seek to strengthen people-to-people ties by promoting mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Other ECA programs include the Fulbright Program and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. For more information about ECA programs, visit here.

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About YSEALI

The five-week Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative for Student Leaders on Innovation and Entrepreneurship provides university student leaders residing in the ASEAN region; with a transformative learning experience that deepens their knowledge and understanding of the United States while equipping them with entrepreneurial skills and knowledge to create innovative solutions to problems in their communities and country.

These programs are designed for participants to:

  • learn how to use business techniques and entrepreneurial skills to address global and local challenges
  • develop their leadership and collective problem-solving skills and learn how to creatively apply these skills
  • deepen their understanding of the United States by exploring fundamental American values such as individual rights, freedom of expression, and volunteerism.

What is required of YSEALI participants?

Participants coming to UConn’s YSEALI program should have a strong interest in innovation and entrepreneurship. During the program, they will be expected to identify a problem in their community or country, particularly one that they are passionate about solving, and develop a business plan for an enterprise to address the problem. After identifying the problem during the first week at UConn, participants will turn to developing a mission statement, a marketing plan, a list of potential partners, a financial plan/budget, and lastly, a detailed explanation for scaling up their enterprise. The Academic Director will work closely with participants in developing business plans for their ventures during their time at UConn.  During the final week of the UConn, participants will be expected to incorporate all aspects of their business plans into a unified document. Each small group will prepare and deliver a 10-minute presentation on their project venture idea to their peers and members of the UConn community. This activity provides an opportunity for participants to receive feedback and develop their public speaking skills.  Upon returning to their home countries, participants will have a chance to update aspects of their business plans that require local knowledge. Approximately one-to-three months after leaving the U.S., they will have an opportunity to apply for project funding to kick-start their enterprise.

 

 

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Connecticut.