Dear GCI Community,
As we celebrate and reflect on 2021 with family and friends, we recognize that this year has challenged us but has also offered opportunities for growth, change and a renewed sense of community. GCI’s mission—to empower young global citizens from all sectors of society to be lifelong leaders of positive change—has never been more important and we are thankful to you for supporting GCI’s work.
As we look forward to a new year, we wanted to share the highlights of 2021 with you:
GCI developed and launched the pilot of a new program this year: the Global Collaborative Curriculum (GCC). The GCC is a unique program that pairs secondary schools from around the world and immerses them in an innovative curriculum, which incorporates virtual and project based learning, designed to enhance global competence, cross-cultural communication and problem-solving skills with ethics at the core.
Early in the year, our partners at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, interviewed 5 GCI Ambassadors, who are in college, recently graduated or in their early professional careers and rejoined us at the Summit 2019 as Teaching Assistants. Our incredible alumni spoke about their experiences with GCI and how they continue to use the lessons and skills they learned at the Summit in their lives.
In March, our Ambassadors were joined for a discussion on sustainability and activism by South African-based co-founder of Africa Rising, climate justice activist and former head of Amnesty International and Greenpeace, Kumi Naidoo. He taught us that “the toolbox of change consists of many different tools”.
For the first time, GCI held our first online program, the GCI LEAD Challenge, participated by 36 young global citizens representing 30 different cultural heritages and 30 schools in 14 countries. We are incredibly grateful to all of our LEAD Challenge participants who made the experience unforgettable and have become our newest cohort of engaged, lifelong Ambassadors.
During the GCI LEAD Challenge, we had the immense pleasure of hosting a public discussion with Alexandra Wilson, an extraordinary young barrister and social justice advocate from Essex, in the United Kingdom.
In collaboration with Matsui 55 Baseball Foundation, GCI successfully hosted the second Champion A Champion Golf Classic on September 20 to raise funds for programs to empower youth run by both organizations. The event was attended by several esteemed baseball and broadcasting legends such as Hideki Matsui, Bobby Valentine, Joe Torre, Ed Randall and Bob Costas.
In September, we also had the opportunity to host an in-person Mini Reunion dinner in Washington, D.C. The dinner was well-attended by Ambassadors representing almost every year, from 2014 up to and including those who participated in this summer's GCI LEAD Challenge.
We received over US$2,000 in generous donations for Giving Tuesday and are continuing to receive donations in response to our Annual Appeal. Our heartfelt thanks to all who contributed, whether through these campaigns or at some other time during the year.
GCI was joined by more than 60 students and counselors/teachers for an informational webinar about the Fellowship 2022. We had a fantastic Ambassador panel, who shared their insights and experience, and answered audience questions. On January 8, we will be hosting a second informational webinar to help interested students complete their applications. Sign up now!
Thank you for your continued support of GCI! We are incredibly grateful to every member of the GCI Community. You allow us to continue to engage, educate and empower our youth, and we could not do this without you. We are looking forward to continuing to collaborate and enhance our efforts for a better tomorrow.
We wish you continuing health and much happiness during this holiday season.
Sincerely,
Yumi Kuwana and the GCI Team