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A collection of videos from the US Training Institute (September 19 – October 1, 2009).

7 minute overview

Outward Bound
GCY Fellows participate in an all-day team building training facilitated by Outward Bound.

Center for Creative Leadership
GCY Fellows are asked to create an artistic interpretation of leadership.

Dr. David Abernethy on International Development (Part 1)Stanford Professor, David Abernethy holds a session on the fundamentals of international development. Topics in Part 1 include measurement, the environmental consequences of development, and how the American ethos of “change and progress” may be received by communities around the world.

Dr. David Abernethy on International Development (Part 2)

“Get a notebook, start a page, call it “questions to answer in college”, you will enter college not just with a sense of what you want to do, but a list of 58 questions to answer – You’ll be miles ahead.” - Professor David Abernethy

Joel Segre on Social Innovation and Design
Joel Segre presents on design and implementation challenges when aligning multiple stakeholders to deliver life effective malaria meds in Tanzania.

Joel Segre on “Product Design For the Other 90%”
Joel Segre holds a session with the GCY Fellows on product design and business models for social impact. In this session, each group of Fellows was given a product and tasked with calculating both the product’s potential for social impact and profitability. Each group then had to defend their placement on the chart.

More on the session from Fellow, Gaya Morris: During our session with Joel Segre on “social impact” (might have been called something else) we were given a series of photographs of innovative devices which have been invented to alleviate poverty in the developing world. Among them was a 100 dollar computer, reading glasses, a cell phone charging station, a bike that purifies water while petaling, and a portable irrigation device. We then debated where to place them on a graph which had two axes, one for social impact and one for profitability. In order to place each device, we had to think about the factors that in each case would enable or hinder the impact of the device. A purifying drinking straw for example was determined to be a complete mistake for two main reasons: it requires women to get down on their knees in a river bed which is undignified, and it can’t be used by infants which are the main victims of water-borne diseases. This device was on the cover of a design magazine. Removed from the realities of the developing world, any average designer here in the United States might not prioritize the dignity of African women when looking for solutions to their water problem, but it is an essential factor, and I think this is a perfect example of the insights that we will gain during the coming year, that will allow us to pursue a path of making real change in the world.

San Francisco Site Visits: IDEO, Kiva.org, Room to Read & Current TV

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What follows below is a collection of excerpts from the Fellows’ Blog during the US Training Institute.  You can read more on the Fellows’ Blog.

Alec Yeh,  On Authentic Leadership  (09/22) We each got a deck of values, and we had to decide which two values were the most important. I personally chose “friendship” and “help others.” We then listed the top 10 things we do. We wanted to see if what we believe in, coincides with how we actually operate. It was interesting to see because in my case, it really didn’t seem like I live my life the way I believe. It helped me realize that perhaps, I may actually value different things, or perhaps that I should change how I live my life.

Ian Zimmermann, Our Role as Fellows (9/23) In response to an afternoon Twitter post, Whittemore asked us what we think our own roles will be when we arrive in Guatemala and Senegal. Our responses: Serve as an ambassador to and from the US, act as a student and a learner, serve as a cultural observer, cultivate self capacity, increase awareness, share attention and interests, and show the opportunities and potential of communities.

Laura Keaton, Current TV site visit (09/24): Current has a focus on citizen journalism—essentially encouraging everyday people to go out and film what’s going on around them! The whole idea is getting the news from people on the ground where the audience isn’t, and it doesn’t matter if the camera quality isn’t high definition because what really matters is that the story is interesting and it’s getting told when it otherwise wouldn’t. I’m sure you see how this is connected to all of us at GCY…

Andrew gave us a tour and then sat around with us and answered about a trillion questions ranging from “Oh my God that’s really Al Gore’s office?!!?” to tips for how to find the story that we want to tell. His advice was to turn the camera on ourselves, to tell our story of our journey. So that’s what I plan to do.

Gaya Morris (09/27) At the risk of sounding cliche, I would just like to say that the past few days have been some of the most inspiring and stimulating of my life. From our vantage point up here in the hills of the Intitute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, CA, spending one pleasant hour after the next listening to the inspiring stories of travelers, professors and social entreprenuers, its hard to see anything but hope and optimism in our surroundings and our future. This place feels like a sort of safe-haven or mini paradise with its beautiful weather, wholesome food and the company of cheerful, enthusiastic, now-familiar people.

Ananda Day, “Coming together” (09/29) To me, though, the group has not come together in one of these complicated action packed moments. Instead, we formed at the most inconspicuous times: as we slept on each other’s shoulders during the van ride back from our fifteen hour day in Paulo Alto, laughing till we couldn’t breathe at pictures of each other, creating goodnight rituals, sharing pictures of our lives, and pondering the questions of our lives together. All of these experiences and countless others have come together as the thread to our group, sewing us together into a seamless quilt of consciousness. Of course  we still retain the individuality of each square of our lives. Thanks to these things though – the small things, the little moments, bad jokes, awkward phrases, and silliest things the past week has really made it possible to say “I  know you, and you know me.”

Alec Yeh, “Walking Away to Discover Something New” (09/29) I just finished packing for Senegal. I can’t believe it. In three hours, I will be at the airport, waiting for my flight to DC, then my flight to Senegal. In 24 hours, I will be in a different country, a different continent; across the Atlantic Ocean. I never actually thought this day would come, you know? This idea of a gap year, was simply an idea. I said I would do it. I was all talk, but never did I think I would walk the walk.

So I wonder, who will I become by the end of this trip? When most challenged, when thrust into an unknown situation, who will I transform into? What will I discover about myself that I didn’t know before? What will I look like in seven months? Those questions will be answered in seven months time.

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What follows below is a collection of excerpts from the Fellows’ Blog during the US Training Institute.  You can read more on the Fellows’ Blog.

Alec Yeh,  On Authentic Leadership  (09/22) We each got a deck of values, and we had to decide which two values were the most important. I personally chose “friendship” and “help others.” We then listed the top 10 things we do. We wanted to see if what we believe in, coincides with how we actually operate. It was interesting to see because in my case, it really didn’t seem like I live my life the way I believe. It helped me realize that perhaps, I may actually value different things, or perhaps that I should change how I live my life.

Ian Zimmermann, Our Role as Fellows (9/23) In response to an afternoon Twitter post, Whittemore asked us what we think our own roles will be when we arrive in Guatemala and Senegal. Our responses: Serve as an ambassador to and from the US, act as a student and a learner, serve as a cultural observer, cultivate self capacity, increase awareness, share attention and interests, and show the opportunities and potential of communities.

Laura Keaton, Current TV site visit (09/24): Current has a focus on citizen journalism—essentially encouraging everyday people to go out and film what’s going on around them! The whole idea is getting the news from people on the ground where the audience isn’t, and it doesn’t matter if the camera quality isn’t high definition because what really matters is that the story is interesting and it’s getting told when it otherwise wouldn’t. I’m sure you see how this is connected to all of us at GCY…

Andrew gave us a tour and then sat around with us and answered about a trillion questions ranging from “Oh my God that’s really Al Gore’s office?!!?” to tips for how to find the story that we want to tell. His advice was to turn the camera on ourselves, to tell our story of our journey. So that’s what I plan to do.

Gaya Morris (09/27) At the risk of sounding cliche, I would just like to say that the past few days have been some of the most inspiring and stimulating of my life. From our vantage point up here in the hills of the Intitute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, CA, spending one pleasant hour after the next listening to the inspiring stories of travelers, professors and social entreprenuers, its hard to see anything but hope and optimism in our surroundings and our future. This place feels like a sort of safe-haven or mini paradise with its beautiful weather, wholesome food and the company of cheerful, enthusiastic, now-familiar people.

Ananda Day, “Coming together” (09/29) To me, though, the group has not come together in one of these complicated action packed moments. Instead, we formed at the most inconspicuous times: as we slept on each other’s shoulders during the van ride back from our fifteen hour day in Paulo Alto, laughing till we couldn’t breathe at pictures of each other, creating goodnight rituals, sharing pictures of our lives, and pondering the questions of our lives together. All of these experiences and countless others have come together as the thread to our group, sewing us together into a seamless quilt of consciousness. Of course  we still retain the individuality of each square of our lives. Thanks to these things though – the small things, the little moments, bad jokes, awkward phrases, and silliest things the past week has really made it possible to say “I  know you, and you know me.”

Alec Yeh, “Walking Away to Discover Something New” (09/29) I just finished packing for Senegal. I can’t believe it. In three hours, I will be at the airport, waiting for my flight to DC, then my flight to Senegal. In 24 hours, I will be in a different country, a different continent; across the Atlantic Ocean. I never actually thought this day would come, you know? This idea of a gap year, was simply an idea. I said I would do it. I was all talk, but never did I think I would walk the walk.

So I wonder, who will I become by the end of this trip? When most challenged, when thrust into an unknown situation, who will I transform into? What will I discover about myself that I didn’t know before? What will I look like in seven months? Those questions will be answered in seven months time.

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Our latest slideshow includes photographs from the Fellows’ breakfast at GCY supporter, Tim Brady’s home, an evening meal with our board at our US Training site, and other working sessions.

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He say “I know you, you know me”
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
Come together right now over me

-The Beatles

Last Saturday, around 4pm Pacific Standard Time, the Founding Fellows of Global Citizen Year came together. Drawn from opposite sides of America, we were all a motley crew: some of us in rain jackets or blazers and others in dresses and t-shirts.  We may have looked like a separate entity, but this in fact was the physical beginning of our cohesiveness as a group.

During our excursion to the GCY staff’s favorite Mexican restaurant Matt was given the challenge of eating two massive burritos, which he accomplished with flying colors while the rest of the group rolled in laughter. The first night as we all stood in the hallway of our dorms at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, we were assigned roommates. Gaya & Victoria, Michael & Alec, Matt & Ian, Laura & Victoria, Hilary & I, and then Marguerite was given the single. Unpacking and integration then truly began. Quickly the evening hangout became Michael & Alec’s room because they contained two computers. Interestingly enough, it is possible for 11 people to fit within a 5×9 ft.room without causing a major fire hazard…just kidding.

During this time we went through the classic beginnings of getting to know each other. Discussing music, boys & girls, clothes, personalities, first impressions, fears: you name it, we discussed it.  Jump forward to today, when we had the task of introducing each other to a facilitator- complete with names, hometowns, and a true fact about the other person. Amazingly enough every single person found a way to perfectly describe the others.

Much of the US Training Institute has been focused on bringing us together to make a cohesive unit and whole within ourselves. From an observer’s perspective one might think that we have come together at different times during our training: the ropes course, when we inquisitively questioned the founder of Kiva, or maybe even after going through the Oxfam Hunger Banquet simulation last night.

To me, though, the group has not come together in one of these complicated action packed moments. Instead, we formed at the most inconspicuous times: as we slept on each other’s shoulders during the van ride back from our fifteen hour day in Paulo Alto, laughing till we couldn’t breathe at pictures of each other, creating goodnight rituals, sharing pictures of our lives, and pondering the questions of our lives together. All of these experiences and countless others have come together as the thread to our group, sewing us together into a seamless quilt of consciousness. Of course  we still retain the individuality of each square of our lives. Thanks to these things though – the small things, the little moments, bad jokes, awkward phrases, and silliest things the past week has really made it possible to say “I  know you, and you know me.”