Shabnam Valiyeva ’15 (Barda, Azerbaijan/Swansea, IL) was hosted by a ‘soccer family’ during her exchange year. She and her host family would practice in the backyard near the corn field.  She enjoyed the tempo of life and the activities...

Alumni Coordinator Shabnam Valiyeva ‘15 (Barda, Azerbaijan/ Swansea, IL) interviewed FLEX alumnus Mahammad Kekalov ‘18 (Zagatala, Azerbaijan/ Boonsboro, MD) about his project KEKALOVE, an adaptive fashion brand with the goal of making fashion accessible for people with disabilities. Shabnam: Tell...

Gulnar Gurbanova ’14 (Baku, Azerbaijan/Iron, MN) teamed up with her fellow FLEX alumnae to conduct “The Future is Female” training as a follow-on project after attending the Eurasia FLEX Ability workshop.  The training took place in Khachmaz and at...

FLEX Alumni became more independent and grew as they lived, and learned during an academic year in the U.S.  Many returned home to share the skills and lessons that they learned while abroad, some focusing on youth empowerment. This...

From May 29 to June 2, 58 alumni from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine gathered in Irpin, Ukraine for the first ever AlumniWorkshop for Youth Leaders in English Teaching (WYLET)! Following the success from six years of WYLET...