Jamaican and US Local-Global Citizen: 6+ Years Track Record of Empowerment

GIN Project Lead & Team, GAP Student, GAP Course Co-Developer and Mentor, GIN Club Lead & Team, GIN Conference Student Coordinator & Committee Lead, GAP Team, GAP Leader, GAP Youth Director, GIN Student Admin Youth Director

“GIN has heavily impacted my life for the better. It’s grown to be my second nature to think and act with a global mindset. It has empowered me to take action and advocate when I see injustice.” -Alexcia

Alexcia joined GIN in 6th grade because she wanted to gain the skills needed to find sustainable solutions to the issues her community was facing. She cared about our world but was unsure how big of an impact she could create at that age. Global issues are complex and layered, and as a then 11-year-old trying to solve a global issue from the little island of Jamaica, she felt overwhelmed but empowered.

She attended her first GIN Conference the following year in Quito, Ecuador. Being surrounded by so many passion-driven students striving to create and maintain an empowering network of lifelong learners and changemakers deeply committed to building collaborative, sustainable, and inclusive solutions in answer to our shared global issues inspired her to do the same. At this GIN Conference, she was moved by how GIN empowered and gave students of all ages the tools, resources, and knowledge they needed to collaborate effectively to find inclusive solutions to our shared global issues.

Alexcia has been one of three Youth Directors for GAP in years past and is now the current Youth Director (YD) for the GIN Student Admin Team for Global Issues Network. She is also partnering with her fellow Co-Head of the Logistics and Operations Department to build sustainable support systems and inclusive team culture. She joined the Global Issues Network in 2015, inspired by an Earth Day celebration at her school. She found interest in her community and the environment through unconventional means such as childhood films like “The Lorax.”

Her first GIN Project focused on alleviating poverty in Jamaica through sports and play. After attending her first Conference in Ecuador, she took a steadfast interest in the environment and co-led projects that focused on fighting climate change in her school by eliminating styrofoam boxes and plastic cutlery from her campus. The Project also raised awareness of the many climate-related issues plaguing Jamaica and fundraised for more bottle-friendly water coolers at her school to incentivize the use of reusable water bottles. 

Since then, in her local and regional community, she has spearheaded GIN Projects focused on finding sustainable ways to fund impoverished school communities, supporting local animal shelters, eliminating plastic utensils and styrofoam from her community, designing small projects to teach children about Earth’s systems, working with the Jamaica Cancer Society to raise awareness of breast cancer as well as to fund cancer research, working with the Ministry of Health to promote and implement a vaccination program, founding a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Club open to all within her community, promoting programming as a means to address global issues and as a viable career path for marginalised women through her work with the Jamaican World Robotic Olympiad Organization, opening recycling centers within her community, raising awareness of maritime and climate-change related issues, implementing electric charging stations across Jamaica, and sustainable waste management. She has also presented her projects at GIN Conferences in Costa and Peru and been a GIN spokesperson at conferences all over the Americas and the Middle East. 

In her global community, she has been an active GAP member for over four years and currently holds the positions of Head of Logistics and Operations and GIN Youth Director. In these roles, she has worked locally and internationally towards actualizing the mission of GIN through systemic and sustainable means and her goals for our team center around ensuring that sustainable systems are in place for future change makers to build upon existing thinking and continue to create meaningful and positive changes in this world. 

Alexcia continues to be inspired by the world around her and unendingly exploring new possibilities to find inclusive and sustainable solutions for our shared global issues, utilizing GIN in her continuous goal of becoming a lifelong learner and knowledgeable global citizen.

Costarrican Local-Global Citizen: 3+ Years Track Record of Empowerment

GIN Project Lead & Team, GAP Student, GAP Course Co-Developer and Mentor, GIN Club Lead & Team, GIN Conference Committee Leader, GAP Team Member, GAP Department Leader, GIN Student Admin Youth Director

Sofia is Costarrican who joined GIN in the year 2019. Her involvement with GIN started way before she joined the team officially. She learned about this organization through GIN-related school events such as the GIN Conference IMAGIN 2020 and the Little GINners program piloted at her school. Sofia was part of both projects, being the head of the logistics team in IMAGIN 2020 while also being a mentor for participants in Little GINners. 

Participating in these initiatives convinced her she wanted to be part of GIN in order to develop her full potential. In mid 2020, she finally joined the Global Ambassadors Program where she became one of GIN’s Global Ambassadors. Her experience in this program helped her  gain all the necessary knowledge she would need for her next role in the organization. 

In IMAGIN 2020, Sofia and her team mate developed their first GIN Project where they calculated carbon emissions in order to bring more awareness to the negative effects of CO2. This initiative was transformed into the GIN Carbon Team. A group of amazing individuals who are working together with IPCC experts to develop an accurate and transparent carbon emissions calculator. Sofia’s main focus here is developing an internship that allows people from all around the globe to join the team and contribute to the development and inclusive worldwide use of this calculator. 

In 2021, Sofia joined the GIN Student Admin Team as a member of the Learning and Innovation Department. She chose this department since she is passionate about education and is looking forward to pursuing this career in college. The GIN LIL Department was an amazing opportunity to learn and gain first-hand education experience. 

Sofia’s newest GIN Project is establishing the first GIN Club in her local community. Her team is working hard towards making this possible while at the same time mentoring other schools on their own club-building process. All of her efforts in GIN not only contribute to the organization’s larger goals but also help achieve the impact she wants to have as a local-global citizen. She can’t wait to see all her efforts come to fruition! 

As a celebration of Sofia’s outstanding leadership, commitment and abilities she has been promoted to the position of GIN Student Admin Youth Director.

Brazilian Local-Global Citizen: 6+ Years Track Record of Empowerment

GIN Project Lead & Team, GAP Student, GAP Course Co-Developer and Mentor, GIN Club Lead & Team, GIN Conference Participant, GAP Team Member, GIN Student Admin Learning and Innovations Lab Team Member

Sayuri joined GIN in 8th grade, in 2018, it was a relatively new thing at her school. It was brought by a new teacher that had just joined her school. She wanted to challenge herself since she was the only middle schooler in a group of seniors. At first she was scared since she had never socialized with any of the people in the club, and it was extremely intimidating for her. Although after she started her first GIN Project she felt empowered and determined to continue in the Global Issues Network.

Sayuri’s first GIN Conference was a local one in Curitiba, Brazil. Even though it was different since she and the teammates slept on the gym floor, it was the first time that she was able to notice the different GIN Projects and how they created an impact on people lives. That was when she first heard about the Global Ambassador Program. Although since she was a middle schooler, almost entering high school, she wanted to focus more on her project.

The following year, she convinced some of her friends to join GIN, and with that she created a whole new GIN Project, which created an impact on her friends, and brought them closer together. With this group, Sayuri and her friends went to their first international GIN Conference in Lima, Peru. There Sayuri met people, and created friendships, one of which suggested she apply to join the Global Ambassadors Program. With encouragement from her friend and a new found confidence, Sayuri applied and was accepted as a GIN GAP Intern.

It was intimidating at first for her, because of all the training that she had to go through, but she was able to understand it after a while, and get more involved. And currently she is a member of the GIN Student Admin Team and works in the GIN Communications Department. Sayuri’s hope is to be able to create a stronger social media audience for the Global Ambassador Team, and to be able to give the next generation of the GIN Student Admin Team a creative platform to express themselves.

US-Pakistani Local-Global Citizen: 3+ Years Track Record of Empowerment

GIN Project Lead & Team, GAP Student, GAP Course Co-Developer and Mentor, GIN Club Lead & Team, GIN Conference Participant, GAP Team Member, GIN Student Admin Logistics and Operations Team Member

“GIN has provided me with a new perspective on the world and my mindset, I have developed into an empathetic global citizen and learner — empowering me to share the GIN message across my community, and inspiring others”

Zohra’s GIN journey began when she was in 6th grade and was introduced to the GINetwork by her MYP Coordinator. She was informed of this amazing opportunity to travel to Luxembourg to share solutions for vital world issues; she immediately was interested and began working on her application (where she created a presentation sharing the struggles of immigration and migration). Zohra was looking forward to challenging herself as she applied to participate in the GIN Luxembourg Conference in 2019 which was based on “Commiting to our worlds most vulnerable People, Places, and Resources.” After the application process ended, Zohra was filled with joy as she had been accepted. She was a 12 year old ambitious IB Middle Years Program student who had the opportunity to travel across the country to fulfill something she was passionate about with like-minded peers. 

After attending her first GIN Conference with a bright group of people about clean water and sanitation in rural countries, Zohra’s excitement and love for GIN grew immensely. She applied to become a GIN GAP Ambassador the following year. As a GIN Representative at her school, she participated in the GIN Club in which she was able to share her stories and lessons learnt from her first GIN Conference, as well as serve as a leader within her local, regional and global communities.

Zohra is currently 15 and is a member of the GIN Student Admin Team. As a member of the Logistics & Operations Admin Department, she has worked to improve GIN Student Admin Team systems, as well as develop training for new GAP members, organizational resources for the team, etc… . In addition to this, she was promoted to Accountability Officer. As the GIN Student Admin Accountability Officer she guides and supports her teammates in aligning with GIN Best Practices in the areas of project and time management as well as organizational skill setting and implementation. Additionally is excited to co-develop the GIN Student Admin Fundraising Department where she is exploring the work behind fundraising methods, procedures, and best practices within GIN. Due to the various new experiences, exposure, and work Zohra has accomplished during her time associated with GIN,  she hopes to continue and have a future with GIN as she gets older. This amazing opportunity has helped her learn immensely about the world and how she can work to ensure an equitable future alongside a bright team. Zohra has gained valuable new skills that have helped her become a strong global leader, ambassador and student as a result of her participation in the GIN Conferences and being part of the GAP and GIN Student Admin Teams. Zohra is eager and excited to accomplish more and grow as a leader within GIN!

US Local-Global Citizen: 15+ Years Track Record of Empowerment

*Please note, that ALL Global Issues Network Programs/ Activities/ Teams listed below are co-led and developed with teams of GINetwork Student Leaders: GIN Conference, Projects, School Programs Director on 5 Continents, Local-Regional-Global GINetwork Builder, GIN In-Class Curriculum Builder, Student-Led & Co-Developed Virtual GIN Class Mentor & Co-Developer, GIN Platforms Program and Projects Co-Developer and Supervisor, GIN Climate Action Network Co-Developer and Supervisor… and hopefully much much more in the years to come!

Since her GINternship for EARCOS in 2007, Ashley has supported the Global Issues Network as: a GINetwork administrator, GIN mentor for local-global student teams, GIN community organizer, and a co-developer of GIN programming.

Internationally born and raised, Ashley is the daughter of two lifelong international school educators. Ashley identifies as a local-global citizen who is constantly and continuously inspired by the GINetwork collective: students, educators, community organizers, scientists and activists; who engage in empathetic action and are committed to developing inclusive and sustainable systemic solutions in answer to our shared global issues. Ashley is committed to building opportunities for young local-global citizens to learn how to engage, build and lead community-centered impact.

With GIN Students at the helm as leaders of today, the mentorship of GIN Educators, and the support of GIN School communities, Ashley is proud to be part of a global team who continues to build a platform, learning processes and pathways for collaborative empowerment of our global network. 

Ashley sincerely thanks the GIN community for all of their hard work and brave commitment. Thank you for being a global community of positive change-makers. It takes teamwork to make the dream work!

Contact Ashley at : ashley@globalissuesnetwork.net