by STEPHEN VILLO
In the comfort of their own homes, overseas Filipino youth learn what it means to be a Filipino through the 2nd Virtual YouLeaD program on September 24th.
The YouLeaD (Youth Leaders in the Diaspora) program is a cultural immersion program by the CFO (Commission on Filipinos Overseas), made to reconnect Filipino youth that migrated or was born abroad with the Philippines’ culture. The program assists them in rediscovering and understanding a part of their identities that most definitely, is not to be sneezed at.
Opening the program was Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman, explaining what the CFO aims to achieve with the YouLeaD program: “we hope to equip you with the abilities necessary to make influential, meaningful, and substantial contributions to the world, …, enable you to articulate your needs and support you in modern strategies and innovations to improve your collective well-being as a youth.” Ms. Mayumi Peralta introduced the listeners to the event, illustrating the program’s and CFO’s history and expanding upon the objectives set forward earlier.
Kicking off the discussion proper, Mr. Lord Pomperada, executive director of the World Youth Alliance, gave his talk about the contemporary styles of leadership in decision-making. He masterfully described what society’s youth needs to be functional leaders. With Sir Lord noting the work of the late Viktor Frankl, he explains that “we should avoid pain and suffering, if possible. But Frankl also says that suffering is unavoidable and fundamental to human experience. …, it (suffering) is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death, and without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.” Also from Frankl, Lord states that love is the highest goal a man can aspire to, and happiness can be found in the most surprising places.
Apart from Frankl’s work, he also touched on several topics related to leadership in the modern world. He says that a leader must have a growth mindset, embrace their failures, and effectively utilize humanity’s greatest resource – creativity.
After a short break, the program returned with Ms. Joie Cruz, CEO, and founder of Limitless Lab, introducing design thinking to the listeners. She stated that “It (design thinking) is a mindset and a methodology to avoid bad designs. It is used to create and innovate, …, it is based on both empirical and qualitative data.”
“We believe that numbers are as important as the lived stories of people.” she continued. Afterward, she gave an example of design thinking in action; the Lucky Iron Fish, MRI machines for kids, and flies on urinals. She then gave an activity to the participants, asking “How might we encourage Filipino Youth Overseas to contribute to Philippine nation-building?”
Inspiring the participants of the program was Mr. Carlson Casenas, a YouLeaD alumnus, who gave a glimpse of his experience with the YouLeaD program. Finishing off the event was Ms. Marie De Rosario-Apattad, who congratulated all the participants. She remained hopeful that the program’s graduates were motivated and learned something throughout the course of the webinar.
The CFO YouLeaD was a mish-mash of ideas about good governance, innovative thinking, and social responsibility that was all tied with the question of “how can we, as youth leaders, be involved in the rich tradition and cultural heritage of the Philippines?” The program showed that Filipino youth from all corners of the world can come together and reconnect with what it means to be a Filipino, while miles apart.