What is the greatest gift you can give a student? It is a two-word concept that is very easy to remember yet very hard to put into practice. It is a mindset that lasts a lifetime – it is global citizenship. The Global Ambassadors Program (GAP) was founded in 2015, as a Global Issues Network youth directed initiative. The GAP was founded on the belief that to solve local-global issues, we must empower students to work collaboratively. Students from across the world are working as GIN Global Ambassadors to develop empathetic action as a global community of young leaders who value honorable leadership, collaboration, lifelong learning and civic engagement. Through group Skype sessions, research projects and the development of empowerment toolkits, these Ambassadors are actively working to strengthen themselves as leaders and their GIN school communities.

As an “introverted leader,” I have always struggled to make my voice heard and unite my teams to effectively collaborate. Through the program, I gained many invaluable leadership skills and strategies, but more importantly, confidence to lead my team forward.

The tasks were challenging and brought great learning to me. Not only did they make me improve as a writer, videomaker, and group worker, they also helped me become a better human being, since they made me understand how much we, humans, are responsible for and capable of taking care of each other.

The project fosters development within individuals as people, before allowing them to form themselves as leaders. In the process of learning who we are, what kind of people we want to be, we accumulate the knowledge and qualities required to be a leader of the next generation.

By inspiring us to become Young Global Leaders, the program is setting a forth a domino effect that will last for generations.