Director of the Creative Department Juliet Licaros Joins YSEALI Fellowship in the United States

Juliet C. Licaros, Creative Director of Foundation University and Festival Director of the Lutas Film Festival, is currently in Montana, United States, as part of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Professional Fellows Program (YSEALI-PFP). The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and brings together emerging leaders from across Southeast Asia for a six-week fellowship in the United States.

The YSEALI-PFP is a fully funded exchange program that places fellows in non-profit, public, and private sector organizations where they can gain hands-on experience relevant to their professional work and leadership practice. It is largely collaborative, centered on long-term partnerships and the broadened engagement between Southeast Asian countries and the United States.

Licaros' selection under the Civic Engagement theme affirms her ongoing contributions to culture and community organizing in the Philippines. In her role as Creative Director at Foundation University, she has worked to expand the university’s engagement with local and regional creative industries, using the arts as a bridge for education and social involvement. As a Visayas representative of the National Committee on Cinema, and in her capacity as one of the pioneering filmmakers of the Lutas Film Festival, which she continues to lead as its Festival Director, she has supported independent filmmakers and storytellers across the archipelago. Through these efforts, she has created a space for regional filmmakers and artists whose perspectives shape a more plural account of the Philippine experience.

In Montana, Licaros will be working with various organizations that specialize in community service and public engagement. The fellows’ placement in specific regions and host institutions is deliberately curated by the program administrators to provide an opportunity in understanding the civic landscape, and to study how U.S. organizations design and sustain initiatives that bring together diverse groups of people through shared cultural experiences. 

The YSEALI Professional Fellows Program is part of a larger initiative launched by the U.S. government to support young leaders aged 25 to 35 from all ten ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste.

Fellows in the program undergo a combination of professional placements, academic and cultural orientations, leadership development sessions, and community service activities. The program culminates in the YSEALI Professional Fellows Congress in Washington, D.C., where participants from across the United States gather to share their experiences, reflect on lessons learned, and discuss how they plan to apply their new insights upon returning home.

Through her time in this fellowship, Licaros joins a network of Southeast Asian leaders who are actively shaping civic and cultural initiatives across the region. The fellowship offers her a chance to observe how communities in the United States sustain participatory models of leadership and cultural work, as well as how those models might inspire local adaptation in her own context.

As her six-week program unfolds, Licaros is expected to contribute to collaborative projects, meet with U.S. counterparts, and take part in local community initiatives in Montana. The experience will culminate in her return to the Philippines, where she will continue her work with renewed insights and expanded networks that bridge cultural and civic practice between the two countries.

Foundation University continues to support its faculty and staff in pursuing international opportunities that strengthen their academic and professional practice. Through partnerships and fellowships such as YSEALI, the university encourages global engagement and cross-cultural collaboration that enrich local teaching, research, and community work.