The Annual Youth Conference engages students in learning about current events, foreign policy, and human rights issues and equips them with the skills they need to make an impact. The need is greater than ever before for youth who are informed about complex international and local issues, active in their communities, and successful in school.
Global Kids equips young people with the skills to be engaged citizens and achieve success in a technology-driven global society. Urban youth remain largely uninformed about global issues, and today's workplace requires a wide scope of competencies, from critical thinking to digital media literacy. GK youth are ethnically and socio-economically diverse, attend low-performing, high-need schools in NYC and Washington, DC, and face significant challenges such as poverty, drugs, and teen parenthood.
This microproject will train 30 students to organize and run their own day-long conference on a critical global issue for 600 youth and educators. The Global Kids Annual Youth Conference is an all-day event that is created, organized, and facilitated by youth. Students select the theme, choose plenary guest speakers for the morning and afternoon sessions, and work with staff to develop and conduct interactive workshops for their peers on specific issues related to the theme.
Long-term, GK participants graduate from high school, enroll in college, and become leaders in their communities and the world at large. Last year, 99% of GK seniors graduated from high school, more than 30 points higher than NYC's average. 87% of those graduates are now in college. In an alumni survey, 97% agreed that GK helped to increase their leadership skills, and 95% agreed that they increased their civic and community engagement due to GK.
