On Culture and Community
As a 50+ year old organization, culture and community are some of our defining attributes. Our participants typically start at VIA as strangers but leave our programs with a lifelong connection to our organization and our community. Each year, VIA welcomes over 400 participants from the U.S. and Asia to our programs to explore a new place, learn about leadership, social innovation, language and culture, and most importantly, about themselves. Our staff have learned that intentionally designing a culture is a foundational step in creating a strong community.
Our Global Community Fellowship program is the current iteration of VIA’s longest running program. We place recent graduates and professionals in schools and community development organizations across Asia. They contribute their educational experience and professional skills for the opportunity to immerse themselves in a new part of the world. Each summer, we spend two weeks together in Chiang Mai, Thailand as part of our training to prepare the fellows for their time in Asia. Our staff work hard to create a strong and enduring community before the fellows depart for their posts as diverse as a school on silts above a lake in Myanmar, a USAID-funded position in bustling Ho Chi Minh City, and a school for Asia’s next generation of leaders in the bucolic mountains outside of Tokyo. At their posts the fellowship cohort will be one of their primary support systems..
At first glance, this year’s cohort of 15 fellows had much in common. After all, each of them had sought out an intentionally small nonprofit that specializes in connecting the U.S. and Asia through experiential learning. Most of them had traveled, some widely, and all of them had four year degrees from U.S. universities. However, there were also key differences. There were many language and cultural traditions represented. Some of the fellows had graduated just days before training and others had more than a decade of work experience. A few had traveled extensively in Asia and others were experiencing it for the first time. Perspectives on power and privilege and the ethics of “international development” varied widely.
Our process for creating a culture is simple but requires care. We introduce the concept of collective ownership and empower the fellows to shape a culture that resonates with their values. Defining the norms, rituals, and talking points is an active process of discussion and debate. By being explicit in what our culture is, the framework has the necessary buy-in to live beyond the short time that we’re together. And our shared vocabulary allows everyone to have a starting place for when inevitable conflict arises.
Each group creates a unique culture which tends to match some of VIA’s enduring values, but also connects directly to the individual creators. This year’s group focused on creating an open space for communication and shared learning. Check out their “VIA Vida” culture manifesto in the photo.
