Students build upon their passions and strengths to create positive change as leaders of today.

 

Youth empowerment and learning are valued and nurtured every step of the way; from youth led passion driven local-global projects, to building a sustainable youth led GIN school community culture, to youth led and designed gatherings of change-makers (GIN conferences).  Together we create a communal identity that not only believes that change for the better is possible, but that students, are capable of MAKING sustainable change. We recognize we have both local and global impact.  GIN is a growing global community made up of resilient change-makers who are dedicated to solving global issues through local communal empathetic action; unencumbered by fear of failure.

 

The GIN Project Process: Youth-Led Empowerment

We ask students to start their journey to self-empowerment by identifying as global citizens and engaging their passion within the context of local-global issues.  As engaged Global Issues Network Members and GIN Project Leaders, students gain an understanding of their own talents and abilities to express themselves as leaders while, forming strong ties and relationships with their community; growing their network and our collective ability to leverage empowerment through collaborative education and problem-solving. This in turn, builds the foundation for lifelong civic engagement and leadership.

Real Challenges & Lasting Impact

GIN projects are designed with the purpose of understanding oneself, one’s community, our planet systems and our collective power to make positive change within all of these contexts as activated lifelong learners.  

A GIN Project can take many forms. It is an expression of passion and a result of effective collaboration.

A GIN project is focused on working to sustainably address local-global issues in our direct community. GIN student teams develop GIN projects through dialogue and research within their self-identified passion and community.  Student teams are expected to create a sustainable GIN project based on community identified needs and issues while incorporating and tying together the following thinking frameworks to effect change: historical methodologies, cultural perspectives, empathetic action, as well as sustainable design and systems thinking.  

Within this process, students formulate their own understanding, expression, and implementation of local solutions to global problems.

GIN Projects are student led and educator supported. We ask students to seek out mentors who will ask the tough questions and share their wisdom as adept community organizers and leaders. Educators are asked to act as mentors who wholeheartedly believe in their students’ ability to lead, learn and rise to the challenge.
GIN Schools provide a supportive space and platform for our GIN Project Teams to actively learn and realize their role as global citizens committed to empathetic action within their local-global community.  Youth led and educator supported GIN Projects and School Communities rely on the passion and the combined energies of stakeholders to collaboratively succeed. We see GIN Schools as epicenters for change wherein strategies and methods for change can be studied, measured, implemented, harnessed and replicated as a catalyst for global dialogue and action.