Global Youth Leadership Initiative

Opening Sessions: June 27, 28 & 29, 2012

Location: El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144

If you are interested in the GYLI 2012-13 program, please apply here. If you have any questions please contact Laura Adriance at ladriance@world-affairs.org. For photos and a summary of the GYLI 2011-12 opening sessions, take a look at our slideshow presentation.

Please note that the format of GYLI will be somewhat different for 2012-13 as we now have the opportunity to integrate interactions with high school-aged international visitors through our International Visitor Program.

The Global Youth Leadership Initiative (GYLI) is a year-long program designed to encourage and assist high school students in learning about current global issues while developing leadership skills and raising global awareness among their peers.  Participation includes:

  • Three-days of opening sessions to be held June 27, 28, & 29, 2012 (Wed., Thurs., Fri.) in room 307 at El Centro de la Raza.  Students will have the opportunity to hear from expert speakers, explore international career opportunities, participate in workshops, and begin working on leadership skills and goals.
  • Joint workshops and other opportunities to interact with visiting youth from different countries across the summer in 2012.
  • A one-day summer wrap-up session in mid-to-late August (date TBD) in which students will reflect on their experiences with the visiting students over the summer.  Students will also plan for their “Global Awareness Projects.”
  • Individualized support as students implement their “Global Awareness Projects” during the 2012-13 school year.  Global Awareness Projects are student-driven awareness campaigns that may take many different forms and may address any global issue that students feel passionate about.
  • Opportunities to attend World Affairs Council events on a variety of global topics throughout the 2012-13 school year and beyond.

Students generally participate in GYLI as part of a team, with two to four students at one high school working together to implement a shared Global Awareness Project.  To read about examples of Global Awareness Projects, please take a look at these two blog pieces (one and two).  In 2011-12, thirty-four students from fourteen schools in the Greater Seattle area took part in the Global Youth Leadership Initiative.

Highlights from GYLI 2011 include:

  • Expert speakers who made complex issues accessible to youth by offering engaging presentations and answering students’ questions. 2011 speakers included: Tarek Dawoud (The Islamic Speakers’ Bureau of Seattle), Bidisha Biswas (Professor of Political Science at Western Washington University), and Commissioner Robert Holland (Port of Seattle).
  • Meeting and discussion for GYLI students and their families with His Excellency Mr. Mogae, former President of Botswana, who discussed HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • A field trip to Seattle’s International District where students took part in the Refugee Project, a three hour simulation facilitated by World Relief, that transforms groups into refugee families from various countries.
  • An interactive online presentation by Tatyana Prilepina, a journalist, editor, and media and communications professional in Kazakhstan.
  • Workshop activities that promote understanding of international issues. Students are encouraged to use these activities with their peers.
  • Global Awareness Project planning so that GYLI 2011 participants can begin the 2011-12 school year ready to share their passion for global issues with their peers. Examples of past Global Awareness Projects include: starting a global issues club, screening a film on a global issue, fundraising for a favorite charitable organization, implementing “Bring Your Own Water Bottle Day” and other similar school-wide events.

GYLI Resources:

  • Find ideas for organizing events in our Year of Club Activities resource packet. Chapters are arranged around major international days/months of awareness throughout the school year.
  • The GYLI 2011 Student Resource Packet includes links to international news sources and research topics, global awareness project ideas, and information about international films and books.
  • Check out the GYLI Delicious page, where World Affairs Council staff catagorize dozens of interesting webpage bookmarks.
  • For information on an abundance of travel, study, volunteer, and work abroad opportunities, check out our Travel as an Educational Act resource packet developed by Global Classroom staff for a teacher workshop with Rick Steves. This packet provides specific information on just about everything you need to know for traveling abroad, including organizations providing travel opportunities, dates, application processes, fees, eligibility, and more!

GYLI Media:

The Global Youth Leadership Initiative is funded by the University of Washington’s Institute for National Security Education and Research, the Center for Global Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, and by Global Classroom donors.

Questions? Email Laura Adriance or call (206) 441-5910.

 

“The terrorism presentation taught me the most about an issue I’d not been familiar with, and the accompanying simulation gave me valuable and realistic perspective.” – GYLI 2011 student on their most valuable GYLI activity.

“In general, I really liked how the staff always prompted us to ask questions and make comments. This really helped me form my own views on global issues.” – GYLI 2011 student on what helped them learn the most

 

 

“We carpooled quite a distance and spoke every day about the Initiative topics, and found that we learned a lot from our daughter and her friends as they briefed us on their day at GYLI. At home we were challenged to provide additional information by researching topics together and delving deeper into the issues presented. We would talk about some of the opinions of the other students and discuss how people approach problems in different ways, and how much we all have to learn from each other. It was wonderful to see the kids fired up and excited about these issues” – Mother on her student’s experience with GYLI

 

“The Refugee Project will be the most memorable activity for me because we learned so much without being told, and we got to step into the shoes of another culture.” – GYLI 2011 student on their experience with World Relief’s Refugee Project

“[My son and I] had several conversations about issues relating to the Initiative and ways that we all can help solve some of the problems. We actually got out maps for his brother to see where the countries were that he was talking about.” – Mother on her student’s experience with GYLI