New Toolkit to Support Growing Chapters

On the cover: Christian Flores (’19 ETA to Brazil) and his colleagues.

On the cover: Christian Flores (’19 ETA to Brazil) and his colleagues.

Fulbright Prism is pleased to confirm the release of a toolkit for Fulbrighters and program alumni to develop Prism chapters both in their host cities and home communities. It is available here. With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to impact the Fulbright Association and community-building at both a micro- and macro-level, a need for safe spaces and forums for the queer community is ever-more important.

Lilli Hime, a 2019 Fulbright ETA and a leader of the first international chapter in Taiwan, lead the toolkit’s curation in partnership with Fulbright Prism. 

“We wanted to make a community for LGBTQ Fulbrighters in Taiwan,” Hime says of her work with the chapter’s founding President Lily O’Clery. “To be together, to learn together, and to celebrate each other.”

While hosting events and meetups, including one at Taiwan’s Pride in Taipei, Hime notes that “most of our community building was online.” The Fulbright cohort was spread across Taiwan, in cities and small towns, she explains; “we set up a Facebook group, and we just started spreading the word.  People starting joining our group and we received such great feedback.”

“We were able to talk about issues we were experiencing in our schools — we all had very different classroom situations,” Hime says. “Some people never came out at their schools,” she continues, having been misgendered or become aware of discriminatory or other problematic attitudes. “Other people came out and were still disrespected… the community was there to support you after you’d worked a 40-hour week in a potentially challenging environment.”

The chapter also worked to center LGBTQ identities and education in its members’ schools, Hime says, “whether having an overt lesson on queerness if that was allowed, or including a graphic in, say, vocabulary lessons on families that showed different, diverse families.”

Lilli Hime (‘19 ETA to Taiwan) researched and drafted Fulbright Prism’s first Chapter Development Toolkit.

Lilli Hime (‘19 ETA to Taiwan) researched and drafted Fulbright Prism’s first Chapter Development Toolkit.

Fulbright Prism’s toolkit aims to offer a scalable, easily-customizable template for future chapters’ network growth and advocacy, allowing Fulbrighters to primarily channel their energy both into their classrooms and community-building. “The toolkit will offer help with running an organization, what it looks like to serve an LGBTQ population specifically, and offer ideas and guidance for how you can choose and fulfil your purpose.” Fulbright Prism hopes this will afford spaces for queer Fulbrighters to connect in their host countries, as well as to connect with LGBTQ organizations and the queer population.

Intersectionality must be a core component of any given chapter’s growth. “The toolkit makes sure future chapters lead with inclusivity and uplift diverse voices — trans voices, bisexual voices, two sprit voices,” Hime says. “We want to center Black and brown and indigenous Fulbrighters, and lead with a mindset that recognizes Fulbrighters in all the identities they embody.”

Leila Hoffpauir, Prism’s Communication’s Coordinator, was integral in designing and formatting the toolkit. Prism’s new Chapter Development Coordinator, Heidrun Bien, will shepherd the toolkit through its application, including the support of Prism’s two newest chapters Fulbright Prism U.S. West Coast and Fulbright Prism Ireland.

Fulbright Prism