WiSTMI

Women in strategic trade mentorship Initiative

Women in Strategic Trade Mentorship Initiative

The Women in Strategic Trade Mentorship Initiative (WiSTMI) is a U.S. Department of State’s Export Control and Border Security Program (EXBS) sponsored program designed for early-to-mid-career women from Southeast Asia, who are working in strategic trade or adjacent professional fields.

Mentees spanning the public and private sectors of Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand have participated in this initiative. During six-month programs, mentees work with a global/regional mentor team to design capstone projects that, once implemented, advance some overall aspect of strategic trade knowledge or some functional area of the strategic trade system within their home nations.

WiSTMI is part of a broader U.S. government, Women in Strategic Trade (WiST) effort to promote the advancement, leadership, and meaningful participation of women in all areas of strategic trade controls. Please read below for more information about our latest cohort of mentees!

Manila, September 2024: Coalescion graduated WiSTMI Cohort I and inducted Cohort II on the margins of the Philippine Strategic Trade Management Summit

The WiST initiative

The Women in Strategic Trade (WiST) Initiative was launched in 2022 by the Department of State’s Export Control and Related Border Security Program (EXBS) in Singapore at the Southeast Asia Forum on Export Controls. It is now a joint venture with the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Export Controls (ONEC). This Initiative aims to promote the advancement, leadership, and meaningful participation of women in all areas of Strategic Trade Management (STM) to address challenges in international peace and security.

The WiST Initiative is organized into three pillars: Empowerment, Capacity Building, and Community Engagement. Under Empowerment, WiST highlights women’s contributions in the STM field and promotes representation of women in key leadership positions. Capacity building activities develop the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed as an STM professional. Community engagement activities provide a global forum for mentorship, peer learning, and information sharing.

WiSTMI Mentor Advisors, Jyldyz Sydygalieva, Anne Harrington, and Andrea Viski, and Coalescion CEO Shawn Baker-Garcia

"WiSTMI’s contribution is to offer critical and focused mentorship to women in STC so they are equipped to identify and address professional challenges; set, pursue, and achieve individual and organizational goals; and contribute to establishing and expanding STC networks. The goal is to achieve more robust application of STCs and diversify career possibilities for women working within national, regional, and global security."

- Anne Harrington, WiSTMI Mentor Advisor and former Deputy Administrator at the U.S. Government's Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration

WiSTMI

The Women in Strategic Trade Mentorship Initiative (WISTMI) program is part of the WiST initiative's capacity-building pillar. The program's objective is to create a mutually reinforcing and endurable community of practice for women in strategic trade that is built upon a foundation of global expertise, a unique female understanding and empowerment strategy, critical and diverse professional connectivity, and tailored-to-the-mentee, educational exchanges. These objectives are reached through: