Connecting Cultures through Community Service
Julie Hall Williams ’01 prepares for impactful Fulbright Specialist Project in Bulgaria
Colby students participating in a semester abroad program in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in 1997. (Photo courtesy of Julie Hall Williams ’01)
By Travis Lazarczyk
What makes travel exciting for Julie Hall Williams ’01 isn’t seeing sights or trying new foods. That’s part of it, sure, but when Williams travels, it’s the people she meets and gets to know that make every trip worthwhile.
“When I go abroad, I don’t want to just be a visitor. I want to be around the people as well. See what they’re doing in their own communities. Nothing is more invigorating than to get to see people making a difference in their own hometown,” said Williams, a philanthropy consultant. “And it really shows you that culture. It really shows you how they care for each other. And I want to be a part of it.”
Williams’s next trip could be one of her most impactful. Williams recently received a Fulbright Specialist Program award and will travel to Varna, Bulgaria, on Oct. 31 for a two-week trip during which she’ll work with the Karin Dom Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports children with special needs and their families.
Williams will work with the foundation’s staff on its fundraising efforts, but hopes to meet and get to know some of the families Karin Dom supports as well. She calls this her opportunity for an adult version of study abroad.
Founded in 1946 in the wake of World War II, the Fulbright program promotes peace by sending American experts in numerous fields to foreign countries and building relationships. Fulbright recipients are selected based on their professional and academic achievements, as well as their demonstrated leadership and potential to foster long-term connections.
A perfect candidate
In that regard, Williams was a perfect candidate. Fundraising for nonprofit organizations is at the heart of Williams’s business, Hall Williams Consulting. She traces her love of travel and of immersing herself in new cultures back to her time at Colby.
As a first-year student, Williams visited Mexico, where she stayed with a family and volunteered with an after-school program. As a sophomore, Williams did her Jan Plan in St. Petersburg, Russia. There, she learned to read the Cyrillic alphabet, a skill that will come in handy in Bulgaria.
In her junior year at Colby, Williams visited Italy, an experience she considers one of the most profound of her life. While there, she stayed in Florence with Miranda Bonciani, a widow who became a dear friend. The pair often stayed up late, as Bonciani shared stories about the flood in Florence or the Nazi invasion.
Bonciani didn’t speak English, and Williams spoke minimal Italian when she arrived, but their friendship evolved past the language barrier, and Williams said she left Italy “almost fluent.”
“I learned to really get to know the people who live there and to work within the community. That is something I think helped me throughout my career,” said Williams, who earned a degree in art history at Colby and now lives in Hampton Falls, N.H.
Running her consulting firm gives Williams flexibility in her schedule. When she saw a LinkedIn post about the Fulbright Specialist Program, she was intrigued and looked into it.
“What else can I be doing now that I have this time and don’t have a rigid work schedule?” she said.
Learning the language and culture
On the Black Sea coast, Varna is Bulgaria’s third-largest city, with a population of around 320,000. To prepare for her trip, Williams is getting ahead on work at home so she can fully immerse herself when she’s in Varna. The fewer distractions while she’s there, the better.
There’s no Duolingo crash course in Bulgarian, Williams said, but she ordered some books written in Cyrillic to brush up on those reading skills she developed in Russia. She’s studying how philanthropy works in Bulgaria to get a leg up, and watching travel videos of the Varna area.
To Williams, this opportunity extends what she learned during her time at Colby.
“That instinct to get inside a place and its people has stayed with me ever since,” she said. “And I’ve kept seeking out that kind of experience as an adult.”