20th Anniversary

With a minor in French, Gabreelynn studied abroad in Pau, France, in the spring and summer of 2013. During her time abroad, she gained essential skills that benefited her personal growth and professional life, and strengthened her sense of independence. She became more adventurous in the food she ate, the activities she participated in, and the professional opportunities she pursued.

After her Gilman experience, Gabreelynn went to graduate school, studying community mental health. Being a Gilman Scholar “open[ed] the door for many other scholarship opportunities” during her academic career, such as the School of Education Scholarship, South Bay Business Women’s Association Scholarship, and Gilman Scholarship. She was also accepted into two honor societies— Kappa Delta Pi, Honors in Education and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars— and the knowledge, skills, and attitudes she took away from France continued to influence her post-Gilman life.

Her leadership ability was one gained skill that stood out from the rest. In May 2016, Gabreelynn participated in a mission trip to Managua, Nicaragua, as a graduate student through Loyola Marymount’s Alternative Breaks program. “Being associated with Gilman provided the opportunity to help assist co-leading the trip,” and her experience in Pau also better prepared her to interact with the Adelita community, promote mental health awareness, and learn and embrace the culture in Nicaragua.

She also leveraged her leadership skills in her current work at Covenant House California (CHC), a nonprofit youth homeless shelter where she works in a dual role a case manager and therapist. At CHC, Gabreelynn also runs a Women’s Empowerment group, which focuses on sisterhood, positive self-image, maintaining healthy relationships, and helping shape young women into all they are called to be. Outside her professional life, Gabreelynn took upon another active leadership role mentoring girls at her church.

In addition to leadership, Gabreelynn also improved her public speaking skills via weekly class presentations in a foreign language while in Pau. These skills proved to be of great value when she shared her stories and inspired others in her post-Gilman life. After she returned from France, she used her developed speaking skills and ability to influence to help people from underserved communities of color study abroad via her work and her engagement with her home community.

“The world is so vast and beautiful, and travel can be achieved with proper planning and budgeting. Most minorities shy away from travel because they think it’s too expensive, that it’s unattainable, and that’s not true.”

EduMate NYC is an online tutoring organization that pairs college student volunteers with New York City public school students in need of tutoring. EduMate NYC focuses on serving K–12 public school students from low-income households, homeless students, undocumented students, English language learners, students with special educational needs, and others who face disproportionate barriers to accessing education in this time of need.

Beyond the positive impacts on their professional life, most Gilman Scholars (89%) indicated that they have a more successful personal life because of their experience studying abroad. Gilman Scholars returned to the United States with improved skills, increased independence and self-awareness, heightened global competencies, and clear visions of their identity and aspirations. The professional and personal growth of being a Gilman Scholar transmitted beyond the program duration, and for many, the Gilman experience was the turning point that triggered transformations in their lives for years to come.

Jessica’s time in Namibia elevated her original advocacy of studying abroad from a perceived Gilman Scholar responsibility into a lifelong passion. She began promoting her Gilman experience and presenting her Gilman project to other students after her return home, and this led to her leadership role on school-related trips to Namibia, Qatar, and Uganda in 2019, as well as a COVID-transformed virtual study abroad trip to Africa for U.S. students in 2020.

Her 2016 Namibia trip also contributed to increased self-confidence and a global competency that allowed her to work independently in 2019/20 in Uganda, where she photographed for a local non-governmental organization, collected her master’s thesis data, and eventually obtained a Field of Hope Fellowship.

Inspired by her Gilman experience, Jessica shifted her career pursuit to international development over the years, and she is now the program coordinator for the Borlaug Institute’s International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program. She will spend 2021/22 in Ghana with nine future fellows in a manager capacity.

Rainbow Street is an all-volunteer, grassroots-funded organization that engages directly with LGBTQ activist communities in the Middle East and North Africa to provide a lifeline to exceptionally vulnerable LGBTQ people throughout the region. Rainbow Street works with local activists and partner organizations to provide shelter, food, clothing, healthcare, migration services, community support, and other essential resources to people facing forced displacement and persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender expression.

As a first-generation Mexican American and the first person in his family to graduate from college, Manuel studied and interned abroad at the University of Bristol in 2015. His Gilman experience greatly influenced his academic trajectory and professional life, as he was motivated to pursue doctoral studies after working with his British peers. Manuel was also rewarded for his Gilman experience when he was hired at NASA, then quickly received a raise based on his experience with the University of Bristol and Airbus Corporation while abroad.

More importantly, it was the increased global competency and gained skills that he returned home with that continued to benefit his professional life and drove him to make a greater impact at NASA. For example, while working with international partners from Russia, Canada, the European Union, and England, Manuel’s Gilman experience enabled him to effectively approach and interact with his international partners. Manuel was also committed to expanding the global reach of NASA by pushing the organization “to work with nontraditional partners in both Latin America and possibly Africa.”

In addition to his efforts to improve NASA’s global mission, Manuel devoted his time in a volunteer capacity, supporting diversity recruitment for NASA and Stanford University, where he obtained his doctoral degree. Manuel was actively involved in recruiting minority and female students for the internship program at NASA and Ph.D. programs at Stanford. The desire to help his organization and university better support diversity and inclusion originated from his early observations of the lack of minorities and women in the engineering field. Ever since then, he has been passionate about changing the representation of the field.

Manuel has also volunteered his time to improve access to resources at NASA by translating materials into Spanish, which has helped increase Hispanic communities’ understanding of space.

“I do it on my own, but I’m happy because I see the impact. I see people being able to be more engaged, and I think that’s part of our mission. I’m a civil servant and I work for the government, so part of our job is to serve the public.”

Once a Gilman Ambassador, Manuel continued to share his story and his passion through outreach events in both Mexico and the United States, with the hope to encourage more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to go to college and study abroad.

Studying abroad as a Gilman Scholar fundamentally changed Max’s academic trajectory from chemistry toward language sciences. His time at the Complutense University of Madrid exposed him to a different academic culture where students who majored in chemistry were solely focused on becoming chemists and any academic exploration outside chemistry was rare. The full immersion in a chemistry-only environment helped Max realize that the field was not his passion despite his interest in science.

Meanwhile, his interests in languages thrived in Spain. Max was not only able to further advance his Spanish but also take Portuguese classes and start his journey of learning Chinese. Being in a foreign country for the first time solidified his desire to pursue an international career where he would be able to work in multiple languages and continue to live abroad.

Influenced by his time in Madrid, Max returned to San Sebastián, Spain, to pursue a master’s degree. He studied cognitive neuroscience of language, a field that combined his love for languages and his interest in science.

“It was something brand new, and I wouldn’t have thought of applying if I hadn’t already had some experience with Spain. And then it was really at that program, my second time in Spain, when I realized that this is the field, this is what I want to do with my life.”

Max is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, to continue his research in cognitive neuroscience. His connection to the Gilman Program also introduced him to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, a grant he obtained at the early stage of his Ph.D. Through that opportunity, he traveled in 2018 to Nanjing, China, where he collected data that later served as a great asset for his doctoral studies. As a scientist and researcher, Max works toward creating mutual understanding where his work can “be an apolitical bridge” to connect people and nations.

Beyond shifting his professional trajectory, Max’s experience as a Gilman Scholar “shattered my comfort zone and previous worldview and taught me about myself and the world. I had to confront my personal relationships and my identity in fundamental ways.” After six years of living outside the United States, Max has continued his journey as a “perpetual foreigner,” sharing American values, learning about other cultures, and ultimately fostering mutual understanding between nations.

In 2005, Michelle decided to challenge herself and study abroad in a country where she did not share any cultural ties. She arrived in Egypt four years after 9/11 with misconceptions that were soon to be dispelled.

“When I first got off the plane in Egypt, I laughed at how divergent my stereotyped view was of the vibrant and developed country before my eyes. There, I learned so much about kindness, generosity, hospitality, and humor. Egyptians I encountered made space for me and helped me grow into a kinder, more generous person.”

Influenced by her Gilman experience, Michelle returned to Egypt for her graduate studies, pursuing a master’s degree in human rights and completing a human rights-focused internship. Michelle, who comes from a low-income family, is now an experienced international advocate, manager, and policy professional focusing on humanitarian and development issues.

“It was a life-changing experience that catalyzed all my future jobs. I wouldn’t be doing anything I’m doing now without that scholarship.”

Studying abroad as a Gilman Scholar allowed Michelle to learn “what it meant to be seen as American,” to learn and think about the stakes that other people face, and to learn about the nuances of a different culture. She returned to the United States with a strong desire to be an ally to people around the world and with heightened self-awareness, political sensitivity, and cultural sensitivity that she was able to apply in her work at Islamic Relief USA and Oxfam America. Her competency also contributed to improved organizational partnerships for Islamic Relief USA and support for Oxfam America to break down silos around the role of faith-based actors in humanitarian leadership.

Michelle says that her life since going to Egypt as a Gilman Scholar has been a “cross-cultural life” and that she was able to change from a person from New Jersey with little knowledge about the world to a global ambassador for her family and community. She has found her calling in bridging cultures and understanding her role as an ally to underrepresented communities.

“I’ve spent much of my life and career representing and amplifying positive contributions from diverse communities in the Middle East and across the world, and a big part of that stems directly from the lessons I learned as a Gilman Scholar, the hospitality I experienced, and the deeper insights I gained about our interconnected humanity.”

CAC was founded in 2014 to build momentum for climate action through international cooperation leading up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris. Since its inception, CAC has continued to build a global cooperation platform designed to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement through volunteer-led programming. The organization also strives to create pathways for global youth to contextualize their local and individualized experiences within the climate crisis, and use those experiences to advocate at the national and international level.

For many Gilman Scholars, studying abroad ignited a passion for public service. It was this growing desire to give back to the country that drove them to pursue further education and other international or federal fellowships, and eventually to proceed into public service. When considering the profile of Gilman Scholars, this impact study highlights the value of the Gilman Program not only in nurturing further ambassadors for the United States but also in diversifying the pool of individuals who serve.

“Being a Gilman Scholar changed my entire life. Before, it was hard to believe in myself, being a first-generation college student with financial need. I felt like I did not have what it took to achieve my dreams, but Gilman opened that door for me. I learned about the State Department because of Gilman. I was invited to the Gilman Regional Career Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, in May 2019 after my study abroad in Spain. There, I learned about the Foreign Service and fellowships like Rangel, Pickering, and Fulbright. I collaborated and shared ideas with a diverse group of hardworking and talented students also interested in international relations! Because of Gilman, I found my passion for public service, the Foreign Service, and won a Fulbright!”

After her Gilman experience, Tatum actively participated in multiple global programs with the intention of strengthening her knowledge of foreign service and giving back to her community. She volunteered with Arizona State University’s Global Launch, an intensive English program for more than 350 international students, and interned with the U.S. Department of State and EducationUSA Albania via the Virtual Student Federal Service Internship, where she virtually mentored and worked with Albanian high school students. Tatum will continue her role as a “representative of the U.S.” and a “future diplomat,” spreading the values and culture of the United States, when she embarks on her journey as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant and a Rangel Fellow in Spain.