Hear it from the source: Voices of Generation Study Abroad

Study Abroad alumni add their voices to the IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad. Listen to inspiring impact stories and engage with them in a debate about how to increase and diversify study abroad participation. Register now to attend the first Summit on Generation Study Abroad!

Ashley Brooke Blackmon studied at ESEI Business School in Barcelona with the support of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. She is now a brand enthusiast & marketing professional at PespiCo. Ashley finds that her study abroad experience not only transformed her personally, but also gave her an edge that she can take advantage of in any professional conversation, whether in casual networking or in the boardroom.

Giuseppe Céspedes is a Fulbright Alumni Ambassador who taught English grammar and conversation classes at the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz in Brazil and is currently working as a supervising immigration paralegal at Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese of New York, providing direct legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children.

Leah Goodridge was awarded the Fulbright Specialist grant to teach social entrepreneurship in Malta and is the founder of the Community Economic Development Project at Medgar Evers College (City University of New York). She first studied abroad with the support of a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program to the United Kingdom. Immediately after college, Leah traveled to the Dominican Republic, where she started Project LIDER to mentor teen girls. Leah, a graduate of Vassar College and UCLA School of Law also practices law in New York to preserve affordable housing.

Philmon Haile’s participation in OneWorld Now!, a global leadership program for underserved high school students, has fueled his passion to increase access to international education. He has lived and conducted research overseas in China and most recently in Jordan on a Fulbright Scholarship. First Lady Michelle Obama quoted Philmon in a major speech in Beijing about the importance of studying abroad. Philmon is currently completing his MA in Global Affairs at Yale University.