Preparing the next generation to address the global problems of the 21st century is no easy task. So it's a good idea to start early, says this group of high school graduates.
Global Citizen Year (GCY) is a dynamic new organization aimed to train and support high school seniors on international apprenticeships with social enterprises in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
By facilitating a powerful "bridge year" before college for these young adults, Global Citizen Year hopes to better prepare these individuals for university life in the US—with the ability to speak a second language, a clearer sense of self, and a global perspective.
Harvard Business School graduate Abby Falik, founder of Global Citizen Year, points to her own teenage experience working with a social enterprise in Nicaragua as a key moment in opening her mind as a young adult. But back when she went, she only had letters as a way to communicate with friends and family back home.
Flash forward to 2009. When the first inaugural class of Global Citizen Year fellows headed out into the field last fall, they immediately began sharing their insights and reflections on the GCY blog. Complete with photos and videos, their stories brought Global Citizen Year to life.
Posts relayed lessons from experts in social enterprise and told stories about GCY fellows meeting the home stay families they would be living with for seven months in Guatemala and Senegal. From the challenges of learning a new language to the daily problems facing entrepreneurs in the field, the blog provided a window into the transformative year ahead for these high school grads.
But the GCY fellows didn't limit their efforts to blogging. Soon, they began tweeting lines from each of the posts as well as updates and related content.
From their days in training in the US...
Videos from the US Training Institute are live: http://ping.fm/VSAjN
From her new home in Senegal, Gaya's version of @jnovogratz "blue sweater" experience: http://bit.ly/aCOXQ1
...to their first moments in their host countries...
"Out of the kitchen & in2 the classroom"- Gaya Morris explores the motives of women in Senegal 2 learn 2 read & write - http://bit.ly/5MuEf8
Mat Davis explores small scale agriculture in Senegal. Mastered watering plants & is now taking his questions 2 USAID - http://bit.ly/cbBho3
...the Global Citizen Year fellows kept Twitter updated with their exploits. Each tweet was dispatched to their network to continually engage followers in the development of their Fellows and, in turn, their program.
As Global Citizen Year kept tweeting, they generated momentum, and soon won key endorsements. After they sent one newsletter update featuring a video broadcast from fellows in Senegal and Guatemala, New York Times Journalist Nick Kristof decided they were worthy of a tweet.
RT @NickKristof: Impressive effort to give young people a gap year to learn about the world, get skills to save it: http://bit.ly/7JIdZZ
Hundreds of people clicked through to see what Global Citizen Year was all about, and Kristof later went on to feature Global Citizen Year in a piece in the New York Times.
On the heels of such power tweets, Global Citizen Year began seeing the value of Twitter in other areas. For example, after an exchange on Twitter with the leader of the SunPower Foundation about the benefits of travel, they followed up with a meeting to discuss how SunPower might help GCY Fellows learn about and find apprenticeships in the solar space:
Great meeting w/ @SunPeople about how we can get our Fellows involved with solar around the world. Very exciting to be getting into energy!
Since then, Global Citizen Year has continued to generate interest and leverage endorsements on Twitter as they evolve their online presence and continue to refine and increase the volume of their content.
In the coming year, GCY hopes to grow significantly and diversify their content to include monthly podcasts and photo essays—all of it to be shared through Twitter.