Greetings all Kectil Colleague Cohort 2020!
I’m Huong Nguyen – Kectil Colleague 2018, Local Coordinator of Kectil South-East Asia Regional Conference 2019 and I am so happy to coordinate Kectil Program 2020 for the next three months! I come from a country where our grandparents’ and parents’ lives were shaped by war, but we the young generation are striving for a new national identity and want to push it forward! With this acknowledgement, I would say educational opportunities like Kectil are truly worthy for us. Two years with the Kectil Program have allowed me to grow so much as a person. Kectil teaches me that the greatest change comes from the smallest actions, and actions must start with the right attitude. The diverse Kectil community in terms of nationality, religion and profession is something I am truly grateful for. We are from different backgrounds but working on universal issues and thus become a blended group of youth. Graduating from cohort 2018, I have been pursuing my main job as a growth marketing consultant and with my team members back home running F-Group Vietnam – a non-profit organization supporting free market in the country.
To welcome you to The Kectil Program 2020, I would like to share three main Kectil highlights that have meant a lot to me since I first joined!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY TWO-YEARS WITH KECTIL PROGRAM
#1 Kectil Program – January 2018
After experience with a magazine launched and operated by Africans, a Japanese start-up and Indian firms, I was still awestruck by how diverse my Kectil cohort was! I must say that I am one of very first Asians in general, and Vietnamese in particular, to join the Kectil program. I am proud to be a part of this multi-cultural community. Both global and national issues are welcomed to be brought into the table with honest discussion. I started to have hours-long talks with friends from Colombia and the Middle East about the economy and entrepreneurship, which I’m always interested in.
#2 Kectil South-East Asia Regional Conference in Hanoi – May 2019
Ms. Sherry Knowles flew all the way from the States to Hanoi to meet the young generation of my country Vietnam, and I couldn’t thank her more properly than bring this rewarding opportunity to potential Kectil colleagues! Some participants later sent me private message to express their interest to join the program as they were impressed with the story of Uganda (presented by my colleague Joel Odota) and want to learn from more countries like that. I then had a define ambition of expanding Vietnamese Kectil Community!
#3 Atlanta Leadership Conference – July 2020
Eventually, I had the great opportunity to meet my colleagues in person! As one of the about 25 Kectil youth selected from 700 youth in 2018 program, we were all so excited to visit Atlanta for the first time in our lives. This experience is totally different from virtual conversations that we had during the past months, as we could sit around, talk in depth and enrich our knowledge and give each other meaningful recommendations. My knowledge horizon was broadened with the wisdom shared by my colleagues. My spirit was inspired by their hopefulness of future: “I want to help the people with nothing become something and then one day they will rise up and help make a better future” and “We believe change can happen through us and not just to us.” After 10 days, I went back home with a strong determination of continue joining Kectil in the journey of making the world a better place. Since then, we still keep inspiring and motivating each other and I was even able to connect some Vietnamese young minds with brilliant projects/busniess my colleagues are running in their own countries.
Now I have come back to Atlanta to contribute more to the Kectil Program 2020 – a most rewarding opportunity that I am so fortunate to have in my life. I hope you all will enjoy as learn as much as I did! Welcome to the Kectil Generation!