Abby Falik, CEO & Founder, Global Citizen Year (CGI 2010)
MISSION
Our mission is to prepare a new generation of Americans to provide innovative and effective leadership to address the global challenges of the 21st century. To do this we:
- Recruit a diverse corps of high-potential high school graduates as GCY Fellows;
- Train our Fellows through intensive programs in the U.S. and abroad;
- Support our Fellows through apprenticeships in Asia, Africa, and Latin America during a bridge year between high school and college; and
- Sustain a dynamic network of alumni who remain engaged in global issues during college and beyond.
With our support, GCY Fellows develop empathy, an ethic of service, the ability to communicate across languages and cultures, and a better understanding of the world and their place in it.
VISION
We envision a world in which a “global citizen year” becomes an integral and accepted step for students from all backgrounds. Future generations of Americans will better understand that their lives are intimately connected to others across our global community, and will act with conviction and conscience to create a more peaceful and sustainable world.
A Global Citizen Year Revolution: By the year 2020
- 20,000 GCY Alumni will speak a second language and bring global insight to leadership across all sectors
- 10,000 host communities across the developing world will have direct exposure to the empathy and idealism which characterize America’s “Millennial Generation”
- 5,000 development projects – in education, health and the environment – will have increased capacity to serve their beneficiaries
- 250 US Universities will encourage students to take a global “bridge year”, and will support participation by providing financial aid to low-income students
- Increased resources – from the federal government, foundations and corporations – will enable students from all backgrounds to engage in a global bridge year before college
