Nureen Faiza Anisha, Research Associate from C3ER, BRAC University has been conferred the highly prestigious Asia Foundation Development Fellowship 2017 as one of the 12 emerging future leaders of Asia from a competitive application pool of about 900 applicants across Asia. Coming together for the first time as a community of young change makers representing 12 Asian countries, the 2017 Development Fellows participated in a customized Leadership Training Program held in Korea, held with the Korea Development Institute (KDI) School of Public Policy and Management, and with generous support from the Hansae Yes24 Foundation from 9 to 22 April 2017. In Korea, the Development Fellows participated in an intensive Leadership Development Workshop program with the larger objective of enhancing leadership skills and potential. The training focuses on strategic thinking and decision-making, working with participants on developing critical perspectives, solving complicated problems, managing change, and introducing innovative approaches in leadership and management. The Fellows then continued to Vietnam for an applied Workshop on Asian Development, where development challenges and innovations will serve as a contextual backdrop for applying theories and concepts in international development. The Workshop on Asian Development is held each year in a different Asian nation, where development challenges and innovations will serve as a contextual backdrop for applying theories and concepts in international development.
Now on its fourth year, the Development Fellows program recognizes and empowers a dynamic community of rising young Asian leaders – NGO and civil society leaders, government officials and policymakers, social entrepreneurs, journalists, environmentalists, and academics – in their pursuit of creative solutions to the region’s most critical development challenges. The members of the 2017 class represent Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The Asia Foundation website mentions about Ms. Anisha: “Nureen Anisha is a researcher and activist in the field of climate change, environment, and water resources in Bangladesh. An engineer by training, she is also an award-winning public speaker, debate coach, and TV show host of “Projonmo Agami,” which raises awareness on religious tolerance, communal harmony, civic responsibility, and other contemporary social issues impacting youth in Bangladesh.”