The Agency for Development of Presidential, Creative and Specialized Schools (PIIMA) under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan is launching a new project to support graduate students of subordinate educational institutions.
The project was developed jointly with the agency’s experts, Anna Rasulova and Alisher Saydalikhodjaev.
Anya Rasulova lives in San Francisco and built her career in Silicon Valley. She is currently a Senior Commercial Lead at Shopify, an innovative Canadian company revolutionizing the world of e-commerce technology. Prior to that, she had spent 6+ years at Google, leading all Google’s commerce deals and negotiations for North America. She also worked in Corporate Strategy for the CEO of eBay/PayPal as well as American Express, and spent 3 years in management consulting before Business school. She received a full scholarship to Brown University after graduating from Tashkent International School in 2004, where she was also a scholarship student. At Brown, she studied International Relations and Economics. She also received a Master of Business and Administrations (MBA) from The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania). At both Brown and Wharton, she worked at the admissions office, and interviewed hundreds of applicants over the years.
Alisher Saydalikhodjayev is a Product Manager at WhatsApp (a Facebook Company) based in London. He spent the last 10 years of his professional career in the consumer technology field at WhatsApp, Zillow, and Microsoft. Prior to that, he was a management consultant, working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and McKinsey and Company. Alisher got his bachelor’s degree in mathematical economics from Pomona College - one of the top-ranking liberal arts colleges in the US. He received a full scholarship to study at Pomona after graduating from Tashkent International School in 2004, where he was also a scholarship student. While at Pomona, he worked at the admissions office and interviewed over 100 applicants.
The project is aimed at developing the skills and knowledge of students of the Agency’s subordinate schools through mentoring and exchange of experience with successful compatriots with deep professional experience.
The project will consist of several components: personal development, admission advice to universities, incubation and acceleration of student projects, a school exchange program, etc.
As part of the first component, the involved mentors will help young people understand themselves and learn to identify their interests and strengths. Students learn to find intrinsic motivation and set personal goals. At the first stage, the project will be implemented in the Presidential Schools.
Within the second component, mentors will assist students in creating a personal roadmap for admission to local and foreign universities. In particular, an infrastructure will be created in the subordinate schools for the timely involvement and support of students in all aspects of preparation for admission.
Another component of the project will be the incubation and acceleration of projects with the participation of representatives of international organizations. Mentors will help school students in the design and development of student start-up projects in social, academic and commercial areas.
In the long term, the project also plans to launch an exchange program with such foreign academies as Andover, Milton, Cranbrook Academy and other prestigious schools abroad. Along the way, the issue of possible financing of education of students of the PIIMA schools in prestigious universities of the world will be discussed with the involvement of funds from patrons.
Alisher Saydalikhodjaev noted: “Having talked with the students of the Presidential school, I saw a new, free and purposeful generation - the future leaders not only of Uzbekistan, but of the whole world. Our goal is to help this generation jump a head (or several heads!) Above us. "
Anna Rasulova said: “I am very pleased with our cooperation with PIIMA. We want to help the outstanding youth of our homeland achieve their goals and fully reveal their potential. Our project will help children gain more self-confidence, learn the modern methods of self-knowledge used in the world’s leading companies. "
- Students of graduation classes make an important step in their lives and at this stage they need help. Our new initiative aims to provide advice to our graduates. Successful people in the project will share their knowledge, ideas and recommendations with our students so that they can find their way in their lives. The agency invites all interested parties to take part in this project and support our youth, PIIMA director Khilola Umarova said.
