Simran here, and today I share some exciting news! Three of the School for a Village team members—me, Anjali, and Mahija—were selected to be part of the Clinton Global Initiative University Class of 2021! In case y’all didn’t know, the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) is a year-long curriculum launched in 2007 by former President Bill Clinton to engage and empower future leaders on college campuses across the globe. Through CGI U, selected changemakers implement a specific commitment to action to help solve a problem they are passionate about—in our case, the project we have committed to implementing are two-week bootcamps that will be launching in Kenya this summer where secondary school students will learn digital skills such as coding as well as design thinking. As part of the 2021 cohort, we will participate in leadership development, mentorship, skills training, and partnership building throughout the year, and we also had the amazing opportunity to attend the week-long CGI U annual meeting back in March. Today we will be reflecting on this inspiring meeting, discussing some of our key takeaways, and highlighting some of our favorite moments and speakers!

Essentially, CGI U was a 4 day experience from March 23rd to March 26th. We heard from some incredibly inspiring panelists on a variety of important issues impacting our society today. From hearing about voter suppression from Stacey Abrams, who is credited with helping Georgia turn blue during the 2020 Presidential election due to her tireless efforts of registering minority voters, to hearing how to combat misinformation surrounding COVID-19 and the vaccine from Thabani Maphosa, a leading Director at Gavi, to discussing race in America with panelists such as Alannah Odoms, the first Black woman to lead the ACLU of Louisiana, we gained so much knowledge and insight from attending the annual meeting. Each day, we also attended networking events where we connected with fellow future leaders working to create meaningful change in various spheres such as climate change, women’s rights, and access to education. Below are each of our reflections about our personal experiences & takeaways!

 

Simran

My favorite moment from the annual meeting was definitely the closing conversation on the last day of the conference, as I got to hear from one of my biggest role models—Vice President Kamala Harris! As a South Asian American woman myself, it is so empowering to see someone who looks like me serving in a role that has historically been reserved for White men. Thus, I was overjoyed when I learned that Kamala Harris would be our surprise guest speaker. Kamala Harris spoke in great lengths about what it means to be the “first,” whether that is the first of your race/gender to assume a certain role or the first to make some awesome discovery. She eloquently stated that “When you are the first in a room and you may be the only one like you in terms of demographics or life experiences, never feel alone. You carry the voice of so many others who are proud of you, so use that voice.” Being a woman in STEM, I will definitely carry this advice with me when I feel alone in a male-dominated classroom. I also appreciated how Vice President Harris emphasized the point that sharing tangible examples of women-of-color who are leaders in STEM can show younger generations that they too can emerge as changemakers in whatever field they wish to pursue. In my work with students in Kenya through S4V, I think it would be cool to share with them examples of leaders and influential people who came from similar backgrounds so that the students can realize their inner potential.

Some of my main takeaways from the meeting include:

  • Fuel your purpose with passion
  • You are never too young to make a difference
  • Having difficult conversations are necessary and important—they are not meant to place blame on anyone, but instead open hearts and minds
  • Embrace your individuality
  • To be compassionate, we must listen to the stories of others, especially those whose voices have historically been suppressed
  • We must hold onto hope, for that hope is what fuels social change
  • Solutions must be tailored to align with the specific needs and values of the communities they will impact

As I move forward with my work at S4V, I will use these takeaways to guide my actions. I will try to really understand the needs of the communities I work with in Kenya and India to ensure that our interventions will be culturally feasible, acceptable, and effective. In addition, when I face inevitable obstacles and setbacks, I will hold onto hope and realize that there are so many others out there who I can turn to for advice and support—I shouldn’t try to create change in a vacuum, but instead will take into account that we accomplish so much more when we work with others in our community than we do alone. As Alannah Odoms eloquently stated during the annual meeting, “Hopelessness is the enemy of justice, so we need to jealously guard our hope.” In addition, when working with children in Kenya and India, I will take the time to listen to their stories, and I also hope to empower them by sharing examples of role models who came from similar circumstances as them.

 

Anjali

Among some of my favorite moments at the CGI U annual meeting were the many conversations that I had with other young people leading their own initiatives. I connected with folks from around the United States, and from countries including Kenya, Nigeria, India, Guyana, Mexico, and Poland. We are all working on diverse initiatives, with a common dedication towards listening to and learning from our communities, working towards a more equitable world. In addition, as Simran mentioned, throughout the meeting we had the opportunity to tune into sessions on various important topics affecting us today. So many speakers and quotes from these sessions stood out to me! My favorite session was From Protest to Systemic Change: Building Effective Social Movements on Day 3 of the annual meeting. This panel featured young activists Amika George, Zulaikha Patel, and Anya Dillard. Amika George is British activist who campaigns against period poverty in the United Kingdom; Zulaikha Patel is a South African anti-racism activist who became a symbol of the fight against Pretoria Girls High School’s policy regarding black girls’ hair at the age of 13; and Anya Dillard is a 17-year-old activist, philanthropist, performing artist, entrepreneur, content creator, and aspiring filmmaker who founded a youth activist organization called The Next Gen Come Up. Some of my favorite quotes from this panel were “People are not voiceless; people are made deliberately voiceless” of Zulaikha Patel and “We walk in our individualities” of Anya Dillard.

There are so many takeaways from the conference, but here are a few that have especially stuck with me:

  • Progress can sometimes be slow and grueling, but patience and perseverance will eventually yield results.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed now, more than ever, that we are all connected.
  • Empathy and understanding are basic prerequisites for rooting out systemic racism.
  • The most effective projects often start out with small sparks that grow larger and larger over time.

All in all, through the CGI U experience, I have had the opportunity to meet so many mentors that have all provided valuable insights on the ways that we can be more effective in our work. We’ve learned new, creative strategies for our chapter/ambassador network, and gained ideas for ensuring that our work is locally-grounded and well-connected to the STEM education ecosystems in India and Kenya. As this year continues, I am excited to continue connecting with young people around the world and learning about their experiences making change. I genuinely believe that collaborating with others enables us to maximize our collective impact!

 

Mahija

Like Simran, my favorite moment from the conference would definitely have to be when Kamala Harris came to speak with us at the very end. Especially given my own relation to her, both in terms of race and gender, I was really excited to hear her speak. When asked by former president Bill Clinton if she had any final words for her, she spoke about the concept of being “first in a room,” seen in students who are the first in their families to go to college and also in her own situation as the first female vice president. Her encouraging words about not being alone in those roles—about being a part of a community of other individuals who were also “firsts”—was very heartening to hear. Furthermore, it was both inspiring and humbling to meet and speak to the many individuals around the world who are trying to enact the next generation of social impact. This conference both allowed me to join this wonderful community of changemakers and also expanded my perspective on topics such as democracy, climate change, and healthcare.

This conference will certainly shape how I approach my work at S4V moving forward. As the Outreach Director at School for a Village, I’m responsible for recruiting and managing a system of S4V ambassadors and chapters across the United States. Attending this conference and joining a community of CGI U changemakers across the world has motivated me to work even harder to mirror this in the community of ambassadors and chapters that I am currently building at S4V. As I continue with the year-long CGI U experience and the concomitant guided mentorship and access to a community of dedicated peers, I hope to gain both the practical and soft skills necessary to work towards successfully implementing S4V’s commitment to action in the short-term in addition to actualizing my dedication to addressing health educational needs of minority populations globally in my future career.