With this busy American life and all the adventures of managing a non-profit (or “social venture” as I like to say…why would you want to be a non-anything?), it’s important to take time to reflect and pause. Luckily for me, the students of OneWorld Now! always keep me on my toes and always inspired…

Let’s take Philmon, for example. This young leader, photographed above, has taken full advantage of every opportunity offered to him through OneWorld Now!. He spent his junior year of high school in Washington DC as a Page in the US Congress, then we supported him through a scholarship to study in China for his senior year. He became nearly fluent in Mandarin and found every opportunity to practice his Chinese and volunteer his time in the Chinese community upon his return to the States.

After being accepted to Swarthmore College earlier this year,  he decided to spend his J-term back in China volunteering within a leper community in a small village. He quickly raised money for his trip with the intention of putting his Chinese language skills to use by supporting public outreach efforts to stop the discrimination towards lepers living in a particular isolated Chinese community. We took this photo the day he left for China at the start of the new year…. Philmon, thanks for inspiring me, you’re making a difference in this world and we believe in you!

OneWorld Now! partnered with AFS-France and the Youth Ambassador Program to host 9 students from France this past week in Seattle! It was great to see our OneWorld Now! students stepping up to host these students and they got full OWN experience! Many of the French students were surprised that our youth represented so many different faiths, backgrounds and countries of origins (just like them) – here we go again, breaking those stereotypes!

We had a good-bye reception at Cherry Street Cafe and they kindly put together this video of the event.

Here we all are in Bellagio, Italy after an intensive weekend with Ashoka fellows and Tech-experts collaborating on new social innovations!  We took a short break to participate in the 350 Day of Climate Action…

 

 

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Here’s video from our live press conference in Jordan, announcing OneWorld 2011 to the world, on our trip to Jordan in early October 2009.

I was happy to read Newsweek’s article about so many of Obama’s advisers having had lived abroad. I strongly believe that folks in a position of power, particularly those representing the current super power of the world, ought to have that global experience and perspective. How can one make important foreign policy decisions without this experience? Of course, our leadership often reflects our society. It’s still important to note that only 22% of Americans have their passport! And having your passport doesn’t necessary mean you are using it! Of course, having these experiences at an early age shapes much of our adult behavior. With less than 1% of American high school youth studying abroad (and roughly 3% of college students), we have a long way to go…

This is the question asked at this year’s 2009 Momentum conference in San Francisco, bringing together social entrepreneurs, activists and funders to harness our collective power to bring about positive change! It’s been inspiring so far, with the Open Plenary this evening about POWER. My take-away from the discussion is how to leverage and mobilize our personal power to create larger change.

What is my momentum? Inspiring social change and a new sense of possibility for all youth through international education….

After all, study abroad is just a powerful experience and tool for expanding our minds, ripping us out of our comfort zone and experiencing what it means to be “other”. In this process, we are transformed, we gain compassion, experience a new sense of possibility and realize that we’re OneWorld Now!.

What is your momentum?

OneWorld Now! students have spent the month of July in Amman, Jordan on a study abroad experience. In partnership with the Jordan River Foundation , our students spent three weeks fixing up schools in underserved areas of Amman and teaching youth English. After their community service projects, they also attended a scout camp organized by the Ministry of Education. Read about their adventures on the OWN student blog!