On October 21st, Global UGRAD alum Ping Ann Oung of Cambodia was presented with his project grant award at the Advancing Leaders Fellowship Award Ceremony in San Francisco, California. Ping Ann Oung was one of seven World Learning alumni selected for this prestigious honor, along with recipients from the following World Learning programs: International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), Malawi Scholarship Program, SIT TESOL Certificate, Experiment in International Living, SIT Study Abroad, SIT CONTACT Program and the SIT Graduate Institute.
At the award ceremony, Ping Ann Oung gave a presentation about his project, “Media & Ethics,” to an audience of World Learning alumni, donors, board members and staff. During the day, he spent time getting to know his Advancing Leaders Fellowship mentor, Ben Dalton, who is World Learning’s Director of Digital Communications. Ben produced a documentary film series for the International Crisis Group and has several years of experience working as a journalist.
With guidance from his mentor, Ping Ann will implement his media literacy project over the next six months. Using documentary films and educational workshops, the project will raise awareness and minimize the potential harm caused by unethical and manipulative content shown on television and social media by covering topics such as online bullying, body image, gender inequality, and violence against women. The five documentary films created through this project will be broadcast on social media websites and National Television of Cambodia. After the five documentary films are produced in consultation with senior journalists, five workshops featuring these films will be conducted in the provinces of Pursat, Battambong, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, reaching 300 to 500 high school and university students.
All of the Fellows will share blog posts and photos to World Learning’s Advancing Leaders Fellowship webpage. We hope you will follow the progression of Ping Ann’s project!
The Advancing Leaders Fellowship program recognizes the ideas, talent, and vision of World Learning alumni by providing comprehensive training in social innovation, project management and leadership; and by supporting selected high-achieving fellows with grants and a network of mentors and peers to help them implement an original social innovation project in their community. The fellowship program is privately funded by World Learning donors and is only open to alumni of World Learning programs. The timeline for the 2016 program will be posted on the web page in January 2016.