volunteerism

Global Competencies for High School Graduates, with Abby Falik, Global Citizen Year

Global Citizen Year is a program that offers a year of travel, discovery, and growth for high school graduates. What does it take to succeed in a work world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous? How does a young person succeed as a citizen of an integrated global economy? While traditional, fundamental skills are still important, so are empathy, ease with ambiguity, resilience, grit, and global mindset. But how many high school graduates possess these skills? Abby Falik describes her high school self as an “excellent sheep.” She remembers graduating from high school exhausted. “I had gotten into Stanford, which was very exciting, but I wasn’t super motivated to…

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Work and Travel with Purpose, Ann Davis, Venture with Impact

Venture with Impact exposes professionals to new cultures, people, and ideas so that they may be more informed and emphatic world citizens, and in the process, provide a positive social impact. There is a saying, often attributed to Saint Augustine[i]: The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. Ann Davis understands the value of travel. She traveled to Chile for a study abroad experience with Tulane University. She lived with a local family. “I fell in love with Latin America,” she recalls. She saw the cultural differences between her and the local community, but she also saw the commonalities that connected them. After…

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Using Your Professional Skills to Volunteer, with Ann Herzog-Olson, Social Venture Partners, Minnesota

Social Venture Partners is a nonprofit that uses the venture capital model to help other nonprofits build capacity and grow. Sometimes you want to do more. It might feel satisfying at the moment to march and chant. But does the impact last? You can donate money to social causes, and that’s important. But sometimes, it feels like you want to do even more. One trend in philanthropy is engaged philanthropy. Engaged philanthropy recognizes that you have more than financial capital to give to a cause. You also have intellectual capital and social capital. You can use your skills and experience to help a nonprofit. You have a network of connections…

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