Five Reasons Why GES Is THE Must-Attend Undergrad Changemaker Training

The last few years have seen an explosion of incredible training programs for young changemakers. From StartingBloc to AshokaU to the forthcoming Unreasonable Institute, it's never been a better time to be a young socially-minded entrepreneur. Yet even with all of these options, I believe the Northwestern University hosted Global Engagement Summit is THE must-attend event for young people wanting to make a difference. Here's why:

1) Community. No one does community as well as the students who run the Global Engagement Summit. Part of this is the fact that Northwestern (and Chicago more broadly) are the intellectual and active home of Asset-Based Community Development, so the community-oriented framework is embedded in the way they think about social change. Part of it is that they ask workshop facilitators to stay for as much of the event as possible, and have delegates stay with student staff members. Part of it is the alumni who are social change leaders in basically ever part of the world. Most of it is that the event is run by 60-100 students who care first and foremost about creating the best experience for the participants.

2) Custom Curriculum. GES is not about panel discussions or talking-heads, and instead focuses on creating a five-day curriculum driven by upwards of fifty workshops and small group discussions. Students chose the workshops that most relate to their enterprises, and are also treated to 1-on-1 mentorship sessions with workshop facilitators.

3) Diverse Participant Pool. One of the original decisions that GES made was to invest a huge portion of it's time and money into recruiting international participants. Each year, closer and closer to half of the participants are international students - either flown in from abroad for the event or international students at American universities. This helps challenge the America-centric development conversation.

4) Critical Conversation. In fact, one of the hallmarks of the GES experience is challenging easy rhetoric and good intentions. The original event was actually designed in explicit contrast to the easy "we can save the world with just our passion" sentiment that was too easy for many students to slip into. Students are challenged to think about their best role in the world, and many of the GES "successes" are students who re-evaluate whether their new organizations or projects are actually necessary.

5) Opportunity Pipeline. From the very beginning, GES wanted to make sure that it backed its critical training with real opportunities for better action. From funding (GES has helped students raise over $150,000 to date, in partnership with groups like GlobalGiving) and media opportunities, to pipeline partnerships for additional training and support with groups like the Unreasonable Institute and Fast Forward Fund, GES is a jumping off point for far more resources than it can provide in the week of the event itself.

+ a Bonus: 6) It's Entirely Student Run. In full disclosure, I founded GES when I was a student at Northwestern. But I didn't make it great. It was made great by the now five years of incredible student leadership and more than 400 undergraduates who each volunteer hundreds and hundreds of hours a year to create the most incredible experience they can. The constant stream of new ideas and new energy is what keeps the event a unique experience.

I'll be at GES this coming April. Will you?

Applications for international participants are due December 15th.

Applications for domestic participants are due December 30th.

Learn more about the Global Engagement Summit.

(Photo: mine)