YSEALI PFP: An Iowan Professional Placement's Perspective
- Brenda Gao
- 23 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Global Ties Iowa works to facilitate international exchanges beyond the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Since spring 2024, we have welcomed participants from the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Professional Fellows Program (YSEALI PFP). This exchange program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It is designed to promote mutual understanding, enhance Fellows’ leadership and professional skills, and build lasting and sustainable partnerships between emerging leaders in Southeast Asia and the United States.
The program is a professional development program where finalists are placed with a U.S. organization relevant to their professional experiences and interests. Fellowship placements are individually tailored and take place over the course of four business weeks.
For the fall 2025 program from September 29 to October 24, with a thematic focus on Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment, Global Ties Iowa helped place four fellows in eastern Iowa. One professional placement was with Dr. Tara Allen, Marketing Management Director at Kirkwood Community College. Phu “Edward” Bui, Chief of Operations & Global Partnerships for FPT Education, an innovation hub.
Edward was interested in best practices for engaging with the entrepreneurial community to achieve growth and scalability, building public-private partnerships, developing mentorship models, and leveraging technology.
Tara was referred to the program by an acquaintance. Previous to this, she was unaware of Global Ties Iowa and YSEALI PFP. After talking to our Executive Director, Amy Alice Chastain, and reading Edward’s goals, Tara felt that the professional match would be perfect as Edward would have many opportunities to work with students on projects, connect with industry partners, network, and conduct workshops at conferences. Edward was also excited to learn from Kirkwood's hands-on, project-based approach and gain a deeper understanding of how to build effective university-industry partnerships and community networks.
Tara said, “I felt like I needed to step out of my comfort zone and challenge us to connect as much as we could to many people. I connected [with] my fellow weeks before coming to my world. He came and felt a part of the community.”
A favorite memory of Tara’s was of them going to the conference Iowa STEM Summit 2025: Accelerating Innovation, together in Des Moines, and spending the day with peers. Edward also went on stage during the keynote speech and received their autograph.
Tara recalls a point of cultural difference in regard to the workplace. In Tara’s industry, breaks are short-lived, and long hours are the norm. She noticed that what she is used to was not sustainable for Edward, and learned to pivot, communicate, and stop to take more meaningful moments.
Since the end of YSEALI, Tara has learned to step out of her comfort zone and take the tools she learned from Edward and incorporate them into her profession.
Tara recommends the experience to others, “I think that learning and being a global community member is important for every person and community. It expands your perspective, broadens your mind, and creates curiosity instead of judgement.”
Tara feels that she has made a lifelong connection that could lead to partnerships in her industry. She said, “I feel like the connection was meaningful and authentic, and that both of our experiences will be lasting.”
