U.S. Embassy YSEALI workshop empowers Southeast Asian ..

SIXTY content creators from 11 countries in Southeast Asia gained new skills in storytelling, digital safety, and brand development at the “Creators Co-Lab: Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Bootcamp for Digital Creators” held from May 28 to June 1 in Manila.

 Organized by the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines in partnership with Out of the Box Media Literacy Initiative, the workshop included in-depth discussions on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, brand development, and intellectual property protection.  Speakers included food content creator “Lumpia Queen” Abi Marquez, journalist Jacque Manabat, and cybersecurity expert Carlos Ely Tiongson.

The content creators also visited the Manila offices of leading U.S. technology companies, Microsoft and Meta, to learn about emerging tools in social media analytics and community-building.

Collectively, the 60 content creators have a following of over 15 million across various digital platforms. Ten of the 60 participants are from the Philippines.  Other participants hail from Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam.

In her remarks at the workshop’s closing ceremony on May 31, U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Carlson recognized the importance of engaging audiences online.

“Social media is no longer a nice-to-have item,” Ambassador Carlson said.  “People of all ages are turning to social media for information.  You have an incredibly powerful platform to inform, educate, and positively influence people in your home countries and around the world.”

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for American Affairs Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga, ambassadors and representatives from the embassies of Southeast Asian nations present in the Philippines, and several Filipino social media personalities also attended the closing event.

In his testimonial, Cambodian content creator Pireach Yin, more popularly known as Coco, praised the bootcamp’s sessions and site visits that boosted the group’s digital creation skills, developed leadership potential, and helped create lasting friendships between Southeast Asian digital creators.

“I hope that the connections we’ve made, the insights we’ve gained, and the inspiration we’ve drawn will stay with us long after this program is over,” he said.

YSEALI is the U.S. government’s signature program to strengthen leadership development and networking among Southeast Asians aged between 18 and 35.  Since its launch in 2013, YSEALI has developed the capabilities of Southeast Asian youth to promote civic engagement, protect natural resources, and stimulate entrepreneurship through U.S. educational and cultural exchanges, small grants competitions, and regional workshops like the YSEALI Creators Co-Lab. 

All participants of the YSEALI Creators Co-Lab will become members of the nearly 7,000-person strong YSEALI alumni network and of the U.S. government exchange alumni network, which counts more than 2.2 million members worldwide, including several heads of state and Nobel Prize laureates. (PR)