By Jacqueline Aguirre De La O, Citizen Diplomacy Action Diplomacy Fund (CDAF) Intern
The Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund (CDAF) is a grants competition for teams of ExchangeAlumni to carry out public service projects that make an impact on communities here in the United States and around the world. This month, we’re highlighting a 2024 CDAF project focused on international education.
The Pathways to Global Leadership Youth Summit was a one-day event that introduced high school students from the greater Washington, DC area to international exchange opportunities and careers in international affairs. The project built on the success of the 2023 Global Denver Youth Summit, which was designed to inspire and prepare youth from low income and / or underrepresented communities to engage globally. This year’s Youth Summit was led by Claire Jagla and Leland Lazarus, both alumni of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program.
More than 30 students joined volunteers from the Fulbright Alumni Association and globally focused professionals at the Grand Hyatt on October 25, 2024. The conference began with an introductory panel, featuring early and mid-career professionals from underrepresented backgrounds, who talked to students about their study abroad experiences and how that led them to pursue a career in international affairs. Panelists touched on topics including homesickness, how their Black and Latinx identities shaped their experiences abroad, and their favorite memories interacting with local communities while on their exchange programs.
Following the panel, students engaged in a dream building activity to inspire conversations on community engagement for local and global impact. Each table of students explored four themes: security and diplomacy; education and technology; climate and the environment; and elections and politics, and how these themes related to social issues in their communities. The interactive activity ended with each table debriefing the audience on their learnings, and a discussion of how to actualize these ideas and create change.
The second half of the conference focused on networking at an international exchange fair. Representatives from U.S. Department of State-sponsored exchange programs such as the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) and Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), introduced students to the wide arrange of fully funded exchange programs available to them, including some that they can apply starting from high school.
ExchangeAlumni talk with students at the Youth Summit in Washington, DC.
At the close of the conference, students were asked to share something they had learned during the day.
Leah Williams, a tenth-grade student at McKinley Technology High School shared how she was inspired to pursue international exchange opportunities in the future. “I learned that you can get new college opportunities to go abroad. I’m interested in studying abroad in Singapore and London.”
Zen Bryant, an eighth-grade student at Washington Latin Public Charter School who was interested in studying abroad in Japan, said that after attending the tabling fair, he learned about all the fully-funded study abroad opportunities available to students, including the Boren Fellowship – which he was introduced to for the first time. Zen stated that he would continue to pursue his goal of studying in Japan.
Claire and Leland wish to continue their project and host another Youth Summit in Washington, DC or another U.S. city, to inspire more underrepresented high school students to participate in international exchange opportunities.
The project leads thank the local educators and speakers from the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia area; Global Ties U.S.; and the U.S. Department of State for making this conference possible. Learn more about the Summit HERE.