{"id":15888,"date":"2018-06-27T12:04:57","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T17:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/blog\/uncategorized\/\/"},"modified":"2018-09-16T19:59:55","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T00:59:55","slug":"jr-gglc-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/blog\/greenheart-international\/jr-gglc-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth driving change: Reflections from the 2018 Jr Greenheart Global Leaders Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is the Jr. Greenheart Global Leaders Conference (Jr. GGLC)<\/a>? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The annual conference welcomes 8 Greenheart Exchange<\/a> and Greenheart Travel<\/a> participants to explore global leadership in Chicago, Illinois through social and environmental service, cultural exchange, and international advocacy. These scholarship recipients engage in meaningful discussions and workshops and practice their public speaking skills by sharing their cultural exchange accomplishments with the founders of Greenheart and staff at our headquarters.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Who were our scholarship winners?<\/strong><\/p>\n

From left to right: (Bottom Row)\u00a0Goda – Lithuania,\u00a0Yuxin (Doris) – China,\u00a0Yu Han (Vanessa) – Taiwan (Top Row)\u00a0Ayush – Pakistan,\u00a0Emilie – United States,\u00a0Marta – Italy,\u00a0Timon – Germany,\u00a0Savannah – United States<\/p>\n

How about some highlights?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Workshops with: Civic Leadership Foundation<\/a>; American Civil Liberties Union<\/a>; actors from\u00a0RIFF: Chicago\u2019s Music Improv Party<\/a>; Jahmal Cole of My Block, My Hood, My City<\/a>; Co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Jerry White<\/p>\n

Site visits to: Skydeck Chicago<\/a>; Plant Chicago<\/a>; Garfield Park Conservatory<\/a><\/p>\n

Our junior leaders also had the opportunity to practice and refine their public-speaking skills. They presented about their cultural exchange experiences for our Greenheart Gala attendees and our staff members, including our CEO and Co-Founder, at our annual All-Staff meeting.<\/p>\n

Take a look at what a couple of our junior leaders had to say about their Jr. GGLC experience!<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Marta
\nHome Country: <\/strong>Italy
\nProgram:<\/b> F-1 Visa Program<\/a>, 2017<\/p>\n

“The Jr. Greenheart Global Leaders Conference experience is one of the best memories that I will ever have. Everything started the morning of May 2nd at the airport where in a few minutes I made seven new friends from all over the world. I was shocked with how fast we connected, how easily we shared our stories, and how happy I felt with them. Everything was great in those five days. One of my favorite moments was the Greenheart All-Staff Meeting. I have to admit I was very nervous before my cultural exchange speech, but with the support of the leaders some of the fears disappeared and I did my presentation. After that I felt relieved and happy!<\/p>\n

I will take away every single moment from this experience: the afternoon with Jerry White, the meetings with people who are making a change in this world, and the free time with everyone touring the city and laughing together. I want to say thank you to Greenheart because this conference encourages young people like me to trust ourselves<\/strong> and to help out the people in need and put a smile on their faces.”<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Emilie
\nHome Country: <\/strong>United States
\nProgram:<\/strong> Language Camp in Spain<\/a>, 2017<\/p>\n

“From May 2nd to the 6th, I had the honor of meeting and learning with 7 other youth world travelers for the Junior Greenheart Global Leaders Conference in Chicago. During this conference, we learned about what it means to be a global leader and how we can enact positive change in our communities at home and abroad. We learned that cultural exchange matters because telling and hearing stories from experiences around the world changes people\u2019s perspectives and strengthens their drive to get involved.<\/p>\n

My biggest takeaway from this conference is that youth can do things. And more often than not, we drive those things to get done.<\/strong> No good change is ever too small. Greenheart has given me a huge community of mentors and role models and I’m endlessly thankful for that.<\/p>\n

Some of my favorite moments from the conference were:<\/p>\n