ABOUT
IYVS began a few years ago when a group of Northwestern students began to confront the limits of their ability to be a part of real, long-lasting global change. They had the passion, energy and ideas. They even had some budding connections with global communities. What they lacked were educational spaces to develop the specific skills, knowledge, and resources to translate awareness to action.
The event the envisioned would bring together driven young people from around the world – not to convince them that they should care, but rather to help them actually become young agents of global change by connecting them directly with experienced nonprofit leaders, development practitioners, and global community leaders. They imagined an event which would move away from impersonal lectures and instead focus on dynamic workshops and discussions. They wanted to plan an event which had the full investment of its participants and which facilitated real productive outcomes. IYVS was born.
In 2006, more than 40 Northwestern students came together to put on the first International Youth Volunteerism Summit. With the support of university offices ranging from the Office of the Provost to the School of Education and Social Policy, the IYVS team brought together participants from more than 20 countries (including nine flown in from Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, the UK, Yemen, and the Ukraine), more than 30 American universities and more than 35 innovative global nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations. Over the course of the four day event, students participated in panel discussions, workshops, small group discussions and a variety of social events which enabled them to connect directly with experts and peers alike. At the end of the event, each student was invited to submit the project proposal they had been working on over the course of the weekend for potential support.
In 2006, we awarded our first prize packages, together worth more than $10,000 to Ryan Richards and Rolf Garcia-Gallont, IYVS delegates who had each proposed innovative projects focusing on various aspects of educational and economic empowerment in Guatemala. In the true spirit of the Summit, these projects will not only benefit their Guatemalan community partners, but will create new volunteer and exchange opportunities for Northwestern students and IYVS alumni.
As it moves into its second year, the IYVS team has come to better understand its values and what it can uniquely offer to participants.
IYVS is a program that understands challenges; rather than shirking from or ignoring the complications and potential problems of global engagement, we work to understand them. One of the ways we overcome challenges is by utilizing existing assets – that means both our assets and the assets of the communities we partner with.
We believe deeply in the potential of every individual to utilize their passions and assets to be a part of positive global change. Our job is to help individuals move beyond “good intentions” by enabling those passions with skills, knowledge, and connections to peers and experts.
We prioritize real relationships and community connections; we’re excited about the sustainability and authenticity of small-scale global relationships between individuals and communities in which all parties understand what they have to give and what they have to receive.
We believe that better education is the missing gap between awareness and action and between “good intentions” and real responsible, effective, and sustainable global change. This is why we dedicate ourselves year round to developing the best immersive capacity-building event possible. Finally, we are not content to rely on past successes but work constantly to improve our capacity to help maximize the positive potential of the next generation of global change-makers.
IYVS began a few years ago when a group of Northwestern students began to confront the limits of their ability to be a part of real, long-lasting global change. They had the passion, energy and ideas. They even had some budding connections with global communities. What they lacked were educational spaces to develop the specific skills, knowledge, and resources to translate awareness to action.
The event the envisioned would bring together driven young people from around the world – not to convince them that they should care, but rather to help them actually become young agents of global change by connecting them directly with experienced nonprofit leaders, development practitioners, and global community leaders. They imagined an event which would move away from impersonal lectures and instead focus on dynamic workshops and discussions. They wanted to plan an event which had the full investment of its participants and which facilitated real productive outcomes. IYVS was born.
In 2006, more than 40 Northwestern students came together to put on the first International Youth Volunteerism Summit. With the support of university offices ranging from the Office of the Provost to the School of Education and Social Policy, the IYVS team brought together participants from more than 20 countries (including nine flown in from Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, the UK, Yemen, and the Ukraine), more than 30 American universities and more than 35 innovative global nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations. Over the course of the four day event, students participated in panel discussions, workshops, small group discussions and a variety of social events which enabled them to connect directly with experts and peers alike. At the end of the event, each student was invited to submit the project proposal they had been working on over the course of the weekend for potential support.
In 2006, we awarded our first prize packages, together worth more than $10,000 to Ryan Richards and Rolf Garcia-Gallont, IYVS delegates who had each proposed innovative projects focusing on various aspects of educational and economic empowerment in Guatemala. In the true spirit of the Summit, these projects will not only benefit their Guatemalan community partners, but will create new volunteer and exchange opportunities for Northwestern students and IYVS alumni.
As it moves into its second year, the IYVS team has come to better understand its values and what it can uniquely offer to participants.
IYVS is a program that understands challenges; rather than shirking from or ignoring the complications and potential problems of global engagement, we work to understand them. One of the ways we overcome challenges is by utilizing existing assets – that means both our assets and the assets of the communities we partner with.
We believe deeply in the potential of every individual to utilize their passions and assets to be a part of positive global change. Our job is to help individuals move beyond “good intentions” by enabling those passions with skills, knowledge, and connections to peers and experts.
We prioritize real relationships and community connections; we’re excited about the sustainability and authenticity of small-scale global relationships between individuals and communities in which all parties understand what they have to give and what they have to receive.
We believe that better education is the missing gap between awareness and action and between “good intentions” and real responsible, effective, and sustainable global change. This is why we dedicate ourselves year round to developing the best immersive capacity-building event possible. Finally, we are not content to rely on past successes but work constantly to improve our capacity to help maximize the positive potential of the next generation of global change-makers.
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"International Youth
Volunteerism Summit Feb 22-25, 2007 Northwestern University Chicago, USA" | To learn more about us, click around this site or read some testimonials. Check back regularly with our blog to hear about updates and other opportunities. Finally, go to our contact page to find out how to get in touch with us. |