Four international fellows are working with Youth Advocate Programs™, Inc. (YAP®) this fall to gain real world experience in ways the national nonprofit sets youth and families facing society’s most complex challenges up for success.
The fellows working with YAP® Cook County, Ill. are Abdul Rahman Bangura from Sierra Leone and Thomas Tamba Bundoo from Liberia. YAP® Harris County, Texas fellows include Ganda Bassie from Sierra Leone and Lillian Selmartin from Papua New Guinea. The 2025 fellows will work with the local YAP® youth justice programs for three months.
YAP® is a national nonprofit in 32 states and Washington, D.C., providing services that reduce the nation’s overreliance on youth incarceration, residential care, group homes and other out-of-home placements. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, YAP® partners with public systems to provide community-based wraparound and behavioral health services as an alternative to residential care and incarceration. Principles of the nonprofit’s evidence-based model are also helping cities reduce violence. YAP has an international footprint with affiliates in Australia, Ireland, Sierra Leone and Guatemala.
“By the fellows being able to see YAP in action and the positive impact the organization has on communities and individuals for half a century, we hope to both inspire and fortify the fellows to return to their home countries with fresh perspectives, skills, and knowledge,” said Diana Matteson YAP® Vice President for International Development. “I am confident that Bassie, Lillian, Thomas, and Abdul will have that experience and I am so excited for what they will teach us as part of the reciprocal learning that hosting global fellows creates.”
This is the fifth cohort of fellows that YAP® is hosting; the second cohort from the Community Solutions Program (CSP) fellows and the third cohort of Community Engagement Exchange (CEE) fellows. Previously, YAP® had hosted 13 fellows as a sponsor organization and has partnered with IREX, to host both CSP and CEE fellows from 11 countries at YAP® at sites in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, and California.
The Community Solutions Program (CSP) strengthens American communities by placing skilled international professionals with U.S. organizations for four months to tackle local challenges in key areas like energy, security, and human rights. The Community Engagement Exchange (CEE) Program is a transformational leadership development experience that equips emerging civil society leaders, ages 21-27, to harness the power of networks and technology to develop multi-sector approaches and build thriving communities in the U.S. and their home countries. CSP and the CEE Program are sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX.
“YAP is fully committed to ensuring a supportive and engaging practicum experience,” said Patrick Young, YAP® Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development who was in Houston to welcome fellows at the beginning of their tenure. “We will make sure fellows feel welcomed, supported and set up for success from day one.”
At the end of their tenure, fellows will also complete a capstone project to present the collective impact the program has had on each of them as well as YAP®.
Below is more information about each fellow:
Ganda Bassie
Bassie focuses on improving educational access for vulnerable children in Bo, Sierra Leone. In 2015, Bassie founded the Child Welfare and Development Project (CWADeP) to address the significant barriers to education faced by local children, including financial constraints related to school fees, books, and basic necessities. Under his leadership, CWADeP has successfully supported 40 children annually with comprehensive educational resources and reached over 100 more through outreach initiatives.
Lillian Selmartin
Selmartin is a community development officer who helps oversee child protection and welfare services, sports for development, women empowerment, youth non-governmental organizations, churches, community governance and more. She has been instrumental in completing outreach programs in rural communities.
Thomas Tamba Bundoo
Bundoo is a youth mentor, developer and activist. He is the founder and executive director of Hope for Young People Inc., in Monrovia, Liberia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping youth unlock opportunities and resources in education, healthcare, civil liberties, and advocacy. His passion is to help communities thrive so that all individuals, especially youth, can have access to opportunities that empower them and contribute to societal progress.
Abdul Rahman Bangura
Rahman is a lawyer and community leader who has worked in legal practice, youth empowerment and grassroots development. He specializes in educational access, drug abuse prevention and mentorship initiatives for youths. Additionally, he has managed projects that tackle critical issues in his community and beyond.
“YAP’s history of working in partnership with the community from a strength-based perspective and the commitment of local YAP teams have made a lasting impression on all the fellows we have hosted,” Matteson added.
For more information on YAP, visit yapinc.org.
Research for this (book, article, video, etc.) was supported in part by the Community Engagement Exchange Program, a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State, implemented by IREX. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not represent the Community Engagement Exchange Program, the U.S. Department of State, or IREX.
