From Kenya to Career: How Service Shaped My Path

By: Josh Anderson

In 2022, I had the opportunity to go on my first Youthlinc Service Year program to Kenya. 

When I first signed up, I felt hesitant and unsure about my place in the program and the impact it would have on either me or the communities we worked with. Humanitarian work broadly was something I was not familiar with, and I had doubts about what would come out of the experience. 

Little did I understand at the time just how incredibly transformational the experience would turn out to be for me. As I’m sure is the case with many of you reading this article, Youthlinc’s Service Year program was incredible in ways I never could have foreseen. It broadened my horizons, taught me empathy in a deep and meaningful way, showed me how to make connections across cultures and language barriers, and above all, showed me the overwhelming kindness and spirit of humanity that I was not in tune with before. A tune I felt I’ve been in touch with ever sense. 

Something I could never have expected though was the impact it would have on me and my choices I’ve made in my professional career, many years after I stopped participating in programs. Many of the most important decisions I’ve made in my early career, just out of college, have been heavily influenced and affected by my experiences I had all the way back in 2022 in Kenya. 

Shortly after graduating from college, I chose to work at Utah Global Diplomacy, an organization focused on global diplomatic relations between Utah and the rest of the world. Utah Global Diplomacy hosted groups of professionals from across the world to share their knowledge and culture with people right here in Utah.

 After that, I eventually landed a job at the International Rescue Committee, a global refugee resettlement organization committed to rebuilding the lives of refugees whose lives have been shattered by conflict and disaster. In that role, I focused on helping refugee entrepreneurs start and grow their small businesses here in Utah, helping them achieve economic empowerment and their own version of the American Dream. 

These are decisions I’ve made as a direct result of the experiences I had with Youthlinc in Kenya in 2022. Youthlinc showed me what it meant to be a global citizen, it gave me a guidebook of how I wanted to model the rest of my life, with the values of compassion, understanding, diplomacy, and a global humanitarian framework. 

For me, the local service and impact built into Youthlinc’s service year program extended way beyond the required 80 hours I had as a humanitarian. It has extended itself into a lifetime and professional career dedicated to bettering my community, both locally and abroad. 

Youthlinc built a lifetime humanitarian out of me.