(Aug. 11, 2016) Berlin Town Administrator Laura Allen is about to become, essentially, an exchange student.
In May, Zalikha Wan Zaharuddin, an environmental education program officer for the Malaysian Nature Society and Crisanta Rodriguez, the assistant regional director at the department of the environment and natural resources in the Philippines, visited Berlin as part of a joint program between the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the U.S. State Department.
The program was designed to support emerging leaders between the ages of 25 and 35 in Southeast Asia. As an extension of that, ICMA and the state department are sending leaders from the U.S. overseas to allow for additional communication and sharing of knowledge.
Allen was one of only a dozen people selected from a small pool of applicants.
“The program included the opportunity for an exchange, so I put my name in back when we applied to host and they reviewed the application and interviewed me,” she said. “Part of the vetting process is your working relationship with the people from the program – the fellows that you’re hosting – whether or not they felt that your professional expertise and your working relationship with them would be beneficial in terms of a longer-term working relationship.
“I do feel like it’s an honor,” she added. “I’m sort of a naturally competitive person, so it was nice to get selected. To get one of those 12 spots makes me feel good.”
While there, Allen said she is expected to give six or seven presentations.
“They’re partially about myself and partially about the community and things we’re working on,” she said. “I’m also supposed to be lending technical expertise while I’m there.”
Allen will spend part of her time traveling with an official from Albany, Oregon who will also visit the Philippines.
“She’s traveling to work with one of [Rodriguez’s] colleagues who lives in another part of the country, so we’re going to be going to two fairly remote parts of the Philippines as well as having some time in Manila.”
She is unsure whether she will be able to see Zaharuddin in Malaysia.
“Where she’s going to be and where I’m going to be is about five hours away, and I’m not going to have much time in Malaysia,” she said. “Her and I are still working those details out, but I’m hoping to see her as well.”
While Zaharuddin and Rodriguez were in Berlin, photos of the pair often popped up on the town’s Facebook page while they were taking in a number of different art and culture events. Allen, after speaking with others who have traveled from the U.S. under the program, said the expectation was that she would be “pretty much on the whole time,” meaning there will likely not be much time for sightseeing.
“I’m hoping to come back not exhausted, but I really like to travel and I like learning other cultures,” she said. “I’m excited about learning a lot about their culture and I know a little bit about their history. Unfortunately, we are going in heavy monsoon season, so I don’t think the weather is going to be all that conducive to some of the things that I like to do, like scuba dive and snorkel.”
Still, Allen said she was “thrilled” to be selected to go on behalf of Berlin.
“I haven’t done anything like this before, so it’s a real honor to represent the United States and then the town of Berlin,” she said. “I think [the town] is doing some really cool work, and it’s important to me to be able to show other small communities that they can accomplish great things too – they just need to be focused and create good partnerships. You’re not going to be able to do it all by yourself, but if you create those good partnerships then you should be able to accomplish pretty much anything you want to.”
Allen will leave on Aug. 12 and, because she plans on taking some personal vacation time at the end of the visit to get in some additional travel, will not be back until after Labor Day. Managing Director Jeff Fleetwood will take on some of her responsibilities while she is away.
“Other than the time periods when I’m going to be in an area without electricity, I’ll be emailing [the town]. I’ll be in pseudo-regular contact,” she said. “The employees seem excited for me. It’s a pretty unique experience. They really enjoyed [Zaharuddin and Rodriguez] and they’re looking forward to having the town reconnect with them, so that will be fun.
“To me, that’s one of the exciting things about this program – the connections that you make with people and the ability to have these long-term relationships, not only a personal level, but on a professional level to help them grow and mature and do great things in their own country,” Allen added.
For anyone wishing to follow along on Allen’s travels, she will contribute regular blog posts about the experience for ICMA. Those posts will be shared on the official “Town of Berlin Maryland” Facebook page.
In May, Zalikha Wan Zaharuddin, an environmental education program officer for the Malaysian Nature Society and Crisanta Rodriguez, the assistant regional director at the department of the environment and natural resources in the Philippines, visited Berlin as part of a joint program between the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the U.S. State Department.
The program was designed to support emerging leaders between the ages of 25 and 35 in Southeast Asia. As an extension of that, ICMA and the state department are sending leaders from the U.S. overseas to allow for additional communication and sharing of knowledge.
Allen was one of only a dozen people selected from a small pool of applicants.
“The program included the opportunity for an exchange, so I put my name in back when we applied to host and they reviewed the application and interviewed me,” she said. “Part of the vetting process is your working relationship with the people from the program – the fellows that you’re hosting – whether or not they felt that your professional expertise and your working relationship with them would be beneficial in terms of a longer-term working relationship.
“I do feel like it’s an honor,” she added. “I’m sort of a naturally competitive person, so it was nice to get selected. To get one of those 12 spots makes me feel good.”
While there, Allen said she is expected to give six or seven presentations.
“They’re partially about myself and partially about the community and things we’re working on,” she said. “I’m also supposed to be lending technical expertise while I’m there.”
Allen will spend part of her time traveling with an official from Albany, Oregon who will also visit the Philippines.
“She’s traveling to work with one of [Rodriguez’s] colleagues who lives in another part of the country, so we’re going to be going to two fairly remote parts of the Philippines as well as having some time in Manila.”
She is unsure whether she will be able to see Zaharuddin in Malaysia.
“Where she’s going to be and where I’m going to be is about five hours away, and I’m not going to have much time in Malaysia,” she said. “Her and I are still working those details out, but I’m hoping to see her as well.”
While Zaharuddin and Rodriguez were in Berlin, photos of the pair often popped up on the town’s Facebook page while they were taking in a number of different art and culture events. Allen, after speaking with others who have traveled from the U.S. under the program, said the expectation was that she would be “pretty much on the whole time,” meaning there will likely not be much time for sightseeing.
“I’m hoping to come back not exhausted, but I really like to travel and I like learning other cultures,” she said. “I’m excited about learning a lot about their culture and I know a little bit about their history. Unfortunately, we are going in heavy monsoon season, so I don’t think the weather is going to be all that conducive to some of the things that I like to do, like scuba dive and snorkel.”
Still, Allen said she was “thrilled” to be selected to go on behalf of Berlin.
“I haven’t done anything like this before, so it’s a real honor to represent the United States and then the town of Berlin,” she said. “I think [the town] is doing some really cool work, and it’s important to me to be able to show other small communities that they can accomplish great things too – they just need to be focused and create good partnerships. You’re not going to be able to do it all by yourself, but if you create those good partnerships then you should be able to accomplish pretty much anything you want to.”
Allen will leave on Aug. 12 and, because she plans on taking some personal vacation time at the end of the visit to get in some additional travel, will not be back until after Labor Day. Managing Director Jeff Fleetwood will take on some of her responsibilities while she is away.
“Other than the time periods when I’m going to be in an area without electricity, I’ll be emailing [the town]. I’ll be in pseudo-regular contact,” she said. “The employees seem excited for me. It’s a pretty unique experience. They really enjoyed [Zaharuddin and Rodriguez] and they’re looking forward to having the town reconnect with them, so that will be fun.
“To me, that’s one of the exciting things about this program – the connections that you make with people and the ability to have these long-term relationships, not only a personal level, but on a professional level to help them grow and mature and do great things in their own country,” Allen added.
For anyone wishing to follow along on Allen’s travels, she will contribute regular blog posts about the experience for ICMA. Those posts will be shared on the official “Town of Berlin Maryland” Facebook page.