Last month, the San Diego Diplomacy Council hosted our third Global Youth Collaborative session, furthering local student experience and knowledge of global engagement! This pilot program, designed to empower youth as global citizens and leaders to make a positive impact on the world, comes to a close in April. Throughout the lead-up to our final session, students continue to meet with local resources and spend additional time working hard to complete their Community Action Projects.
Site visit to the University of San Diego
On February 17th, students began their morning with a site visit and discussion at the University of San Diego Joan B. Kroc School for Peace and Justice. Kroc School Graduate Student and Changemaker HUB staff Jessica Schwartz and USD Product Marketing Specialist, Tony Campos, led an interactive presentation and discussion with students about USD social innovation initiatives – Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge, USD Teaching Cases Connect, and the recently launched SPARK @ USD global accelerator. Through participating in open discussion and a pitch activity themed after the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), students planned and led their own pitch on an SDG of their choice. This activity, designed and led by Jessica Schwartz, taught students how to make an impactful pitch and provided students with a new perspective and guidance on how they will choose to present their Community Action Project during the fourth and final GYC session.
Following a tour of the Kroc School, students enjoyed lunch on one of the campus’s many outdoor patios. Guided by SDDC staff Jessica Frank, Julia Masias, and Programs Intern Aidan Steel, lunch proceeded with time for students to work on their Community Action Projects in their respective groups: Climate Action, Human Rights, and Borders & Migration.
Climate Action and Accountability
From there, students traveled to the San Diego Diplomacy Council in City Heights to meet and discuss with Climate Action Campaign Policy Advocate Madison Coleman. Madison’s interactive presentation focused on grass root initiatives that involve youth participation in the local democratic process to create meaningful change. Madison energetically inspired GYC students to call for direct-change by advocating for youth leadership in local government and encouraged students to attend local city council meetings and express their desires to drive climate action to greater lengths.
To close the session, students met with Mark Rochester, Managing Editor and an investigative journalist at inewsource. This discussion included talks on the importance of accountability in government and the crucial and often unrecognized power that local media has to incite change. Mark also shared insight into his investigative process and experience in writing groundbreaking stories which have enacted change in San Diego and beyond – all the way up to Congress.
What’s it all leading to?
Meetings throughout session three helped support GYC students’ work toward their final Community Action Project presentations. From learning how to make a pitch with USD students and staff to receiving tools for research and learning how they can directly advocate for change in local government with inewsource and Climate Action Campaign, our staff and students concluded the day equipped with new experiences and knowledge to fuel their leadership development and global engagement!
Find out more
Are you interested in learning more about this program and additional youth opportunities hosted by the San Diego Diplomacy Council? We recently launched registration for the Summer 2023 Global Leadership Youth Program, open to high school students entering grades 9-12! Click here for more information on GLYP 2023, and click here, to learn more about the Global Youth Collaborative.
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