80 YSEALI members travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam for the YSEALI Economic Engagement in ASEAN Regional Workshop organized by Kenan Foundation Asia, where they learned about the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), intra-ASEAN and US-ASEAN trade as well as strategies to induce sustainable economic development. Beyond only building the YSEALI members knowledge of the AEC and regional economic integration, the workshop featured a number of interactive sessions to develop participants’ 21st Century Skills, such as communication, teamwork and problem solving, that accelerated their leadership journeys.

After the workshop, the participants formed intra-country teams to put their learning from the workshop into practice through activities designed to share their insights about regional economic and social affairs with the broader public. The YSEALI members demonstrated their leadership capabilities by engaging officials from the US Embassy, the United Nations and local government as well as private sector executives and fellow YSEALI alumni, all of whom supported the teams’ post-workshop projects. Leveraging their connections with those key stakeholders, the 10 country teams carried out 15 workshops that attracted more than 1,100 participants. In addition to on-site workshops, the teams crafted innovative social media campaigns, competitions and contests to capture the interest of the wider ASEAN community about ASEAN economic policies and issues.