Professional Fellowship Program: You Have to Experience it Yourself

It has been a few months since I came back from Oklahoma. Many friends and family members have been enquiring about my experiences during the visit. So this blog.

I consider it to be a privilege to experience life in a different country, giving an opportunity to interact with professionals from different countries. To learn from each other, sharing knowledge about people, culture and business.

The Professional Fellows Program (PFP) is a two-way, global thought exchange program designed to promote mutual understanding, enhance leadership and professional skills, as well as building lasting, sustainable relationships between mid-level emerging leaders from foreign countries and the United States.

PFP participants are placed in intensive 5-6 week fellowships in non-profit organizations, private sector businesses, and government offices across the United States for an individually tailored professional development experience.

This initiative aims to enhance the professional expertise of individuals by enabling leadership development and networking among key entrepreneurs in diverse fields. The program is fully funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’, Professional Fellows Division.

Our hosts – Oklahoma University

Being in the south of the U.S., Oklahoma, a Republican state is situated in the heart of America, with the majority of white and prominently Christian residents. While people from India get a little sceptical about the social environment in a region like Oklahoma, I wanted to see the real America as they say it back in Norman. I think I can say for all our colleagues, that we were really taken care off and wherever we went or the people we met, we were welcomed and enjoyed our conversations.

Oklahoma University campus welcomed us grandly. The beautiful green campus consists of over 32,000 students and 2,800 faculty members. The university not only serves as an educational institution but also as a public research centre. Seeing students and researchers hustling around, trying to come up with something productive, was indeed a big booster to the whole experience.

Our Group – BBI Fall 2017 Participants

We were a group of 10 individuals, selected from Bangladesh, Myanmar and India for the fall program of October 2017. What was most interesting was how diverse the selection was. And to top it up how our hosts had closely matched all the participants with businesses in Oklahoma.

Trupti Doshi, a sustainability architect from Pondicherry was matched with Mitscher & Associates Architects. Her motive to enhance sustainability & eco-friendly construction design not only inspired us but also gave her a substantial recognition in the U.S.

Arjun Mishra, the director of NABET India runs a skill development and employment generation program for differently abled individuals in Gurgaon. He was matched with New View, a non-profit which works with blind people in the US, employing them in their factories and call centres.

Abdul Rouf Khan worked as a trainer with Entrepreneurship Development Institute in Srinagar. He was matched to an incubation centre at the University of Oklahoma.

Shah Paran, Founder, Handymama, a tech startup offering handyman services in Dhaka, was working with WeGoLook, a high growth startup, providing the on-demand workforce for validating information anywhere.

Khin, a Burmese entrepreneur operates a community-based firm which produces hand-made wax statues, candles, gift items. She was matched with “A Date With Iris”, a unique firm in the Oklahoma city that provides gifting products & services.

Affan Mahmud, the founder of Boomerang Digital from Bangladesh, was matched with Trifecta Communications. Trifecta focuses on leveraging data to provide digital solutions to its clients. Affan to acquired considerable knowledge about building AR & VR solutions for his customers.

Naseema from Chittagong runs the first-day care facility in her region. She was placed with Captulsa and Educare in Tulsa region of Oklahoma. Unlike daycare facilities in our region, the one in Tulsa focused a lot on the development of the children.

Htut from Myanmar finds that there are not enough proofreaders in the Burmese language. She is trying to solve that problem. She was matched with Resolute PR, a public relations firm in Tulsa, which does tonnes of proofreading for their clients.

Sai, from Myanmar, has interests in forming farmers cooperatives back home. He is already working with Ginger farmers in his region. In Oklahoma, he got to work with the department of agriculture. Every day early in the morning he would dash off to look at new farms or attend a farmers market.

The firms that I got matched for the fellowship were – Mcmahon Marketing and Benali Marketing. Both the companies are offering digital marketing services which is one of my areas of interest.

Professional placements experience

Mcmahon Marketing

I spent 3 weeks with Mcmahon Marketing and had never thought that in just 3 weeks I would be able to explore a lot. Mcmahon Marketing is a digital marketing firm based out of Norman. Their office is walking distance from the university campus. A small team of 7 people were handling 30 clients of the firm offering inbound marketing services.

They had a smooth & well-organized system of working. Because of the pre-assigned tasks, everyone knew their responsibilities. They used Asana, a task management tool to get things done. After sitting with the clients to discuss their quarterly plans, they would prepare a month’s content and then schedule it for posting. Kalie, the Content Director, was especially good with this specialization.

Everyone at Mcmahon Marketing was open to sharing their experience with me. The level of transparency that they provided was a great gesture towards a trustworthy & long-lasting partnership. Even during their tight schedules, they took out time to help me experience the professional life in the US to the fullest. Not only did they welcome me at the office, but also for lunches, coffee, and office gatherings. The work environment was quite welcoming.

Key-takeaways from Mcmahon Marketing:

• Importance of having a well-organized and smooth work system.
• Timely execution & completion of operations through team-work.
• Emphasis given to research & planning for enhanced business growth.
• Focus on automation and making templates for services which are repeatable.

Korey Mcmahon, the director of Mcmahon Marketing, became more than just a professional partner for me. From taking me to client meetings to his daughter’s preschool, he made sure that I get to see and experience life in the U.S. as it really is. And as generous as he was, he welcomed me to his home as well.

We also went for a meeting at the Rotary Club, which happens to be the home club of Ron D. Burton, the president of Rotary International. In another meeting, Korey introduced me to Martin Holland, who was his business coach. After meeting Martin, I realised that business coaching is huge in the US and how effective it is in bringing focus and growth to a business.

Welcome message at McMahon’s office

Team lunch with McMahon’s team.

McMahon team debating on a marketing strategy for their client

Team discussing weekly plans at the start of the week.

In conversation with Josh, marketing strategist at McMahon

A client project review meeting

Korey McMahon with Megan on a Friday afternoon.

Aliens in McMahon’s office

Mcmahon office, preparing for Boundless 2017, an event with Dan Tyre, Director of Sales at Hubspot

Visiting Korey’s house

Attending the Rotary club lunch in Norman

Farewell lunch with McMahon’s team

Benali Marketing

Benali Marketing is another digital marketing agency in Oklahoma where I spent a week working with Khalil, the founder of the business. Benali Marketing focuses on bespoke marketing services that include marketing consulting, digital marketing as well as project management training. I had to say, The meticulous planning and documentation before executing a marketing strategy was what I loved about this firm.

Khalil Benalioulhaj, the founder, loves to share! His trust over people, constant zeal to explore business associations, and most importantly, his warm-hearted nature; certainly has helped forge a long-lasting relationship. Khalil, would pick me up every morning and take me to different co-working spaces, restaurants, cafes and bistros, just to help me experience life in Oklahoma.

Key-takeaways from Benali Marketing:

• Importance of meticulous execution of all operations.
• Well-defined documentation of strategy, plans & processes.
• Emphasis is given to personalization in every step of customer acquisition.

The debriefings & the weekends

So from Monday to Thursday, we all used to be working at our respective placements. On Friday, we would all come together for debriefings session at the OU campus. The sessions would comprise of two components. One was to bring an industry expert to talk to our group and then follow up with the group meeting about that weeks’ experience. Since everyone was sharing information about their placements, it was kind of helpful to see how people were gaining from their individual placements experience.

The weekends were always an outdoor activity. We travelled to various places of interest across Oklahoma city and state. One of the weekends was well spent as a homestay experience. I and Shah got to stay with a senior lawyer and now judge, Ken Stoner. I will be writing another blog about all the fun stuff we did together sometime soon.

The final week

The PFP program had about 260 participants from 45 countries, spread across the US. In the final week, we all came together for a conference. It was a good opportunity to interact with our hosts and other fellows, building a global network of participants. The then National Security Advisor of US, Lt. General H.R. Mcmaster was one of the keynote speakers at the event.

Attending the Professional Fellows Congress

BBI participants attending the Professional Fellows Congress

BBI group participants at the Professional Fellows Congress in Washington DC

People who made the experience possible for us

The overall experience would not have been such, without the efforts put in by the staff at OU. Dr Elanie Steyn, the program coordinator, Jeff Moore, Kathy Adams and Imran Hasnat, went out of the way to ensure, our stay was comfortable and yet enriching both professionally and personally.

In the end, would like to thank, Prof Joe Foote, Dean Emeritus, Gaylord College of Journalism at Oklahoma University and his wife Jody Foote, who hosted us on a number of occasions, sharing insights from their days spent in South Asia, especially Bangladesh and India in the 80’s and 90’s. It was his foresight and perseverance that such programs are conducted by Oklahoma University in association with the US state department for last many years.

Along with Elanie and Jeff after the farewell dinner.

Farewell dinner at Jeff’s house for BBI participants.

Discussion with Jeff Moore

With Joe Foot in OU campus

After a sumptuous Indian dinner with Joe Foote

BBI participants during a field visit around OU campus

DC metro ride

Meeting with Karin Brandenburg, Program Officer, Professional Fellows Program

Bowling at Hey Day, Norman

Outing to Travertine creek in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area

BBI group out for lunch with Dr Elanie Steyn.

Out to Lake Thunderbird near Norman, Oklahoma

Sooner Suites, cottages, which we made home for 5 weeks.

Meeting officials at the department of agriculture

Relaxing after a long day at the incubation centre

Preprations for dinner

Data centre in OU campus

Graffiti sponsored by the Norman city council

I will be writing more blogs about my experience in the US. Some of the titles to follow are:

1. Challenges faced by entrepreneurs across the ocean
2. Fun stuff to do in Oklahoma
3. What did I learn the most living an American life?
4. Insights about the program from my fellow participants