Hello, everyone! My name is Nandar Win. Just call me Nandar. I am from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which is in Southeast Asia. I am 30. I applied to the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Professional Fellowship Program last year and was selected to participate in 2022. I applied for the Governance and Society theme because the program is directly related to my current work, and I am also highly interested in learning more about it. YSEALI’s institute partner, the American Council for Young Political Leaders (ACYPL), assigned me to work with Civic Nebraska.
My education
I graduated in 2013 with a major in Bachelor of Commerce from the Yangon Institute of Economics. Then I studied for a one-year research diploma program organized by the Yangon University of Economics in 2016.
My work
I have been working for one of the INGOs in Myanmar called Oxfam in Myanmar since 2018. I work for a strengthening local governance project in Myanmar at one of the ethnic locations, Mon State, which is situated in the southeast part of Myanmar. I am a senior program officer and our project focuses on strengthening civil society organizations’ capacity, supporting grassroots women’s leaders’ capacity to voice out more confidently at the decision-making level, and have better engagement with government departments at the township level in order to be more responsive in public services.
Expectations for the fellowship
I will focus on how civil society organizations support democracy in the United States and what forms of implementation democracy needs. I will prioritize integrating the inputs from my fellowship experience into my proposed follow-on action plan as much as I can throughout my fellowship with Civic Nebraska. Additionally, I will dive into learning about U.S. politics during the fellowship.
What I believe
“As a human, I am sympathetic to the suffering of others and willing to help in any manner I can.”
Sincere gratitude
Thank you to Jeff Cole and Patrice McMahon, my host family in Lincoln; Oxfam in Myanmar; the U.S. Department of State; the YSEALI PFP; ACYPL; and Civic Nebraska’s team members for having me here and providing me with all I need throughout the fellowship.