Description
Created by educators, Global Youth Leadership Institute is a non-profit organization that seeks to foster greater understanding of cultural and religious pluralism, collaborative leadership skills, and environmental care practices among students and educators. In short, we create learning environments that help our participants become fully engaged citizens of the world.
Global Youth Leadership Institute consists of:
- A Milwaukee, WI based administrative office
- A dynamic group of program leaders made up of classroom teachers, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer and AmeriCorps Alumni, global education program managers, community leaders, business and non-profit professionals, and students
- A Board of Directors with extensive curriculum development and organizational oversight experience
- Programs that serve over 300 student and faculty participants annually from across the globe
- Donors that allow us to continue our educational programs
Core Beliefs Transformation: First and foremost, GYLI believes that learners can and must change themselves on the way to changing our communities and, ultimately, our world. We offer the chance for teachers and students to discover who they really are, who they want to be, and how to get there in small measurable steps.
Transformative teaching: Teachers are learners, students can be great teachers, and all adults within a school should model the behaviors they want students to adopt. The GYLI philosophy of teaching is simple: teachers need to be present to themselves, their students, and the world around us. What many teachers discover through their participation in GYLI is that they can engage in inquiry and learn and discover along side of student learners. By making students the agents of their own learning, the teachers become free to be agents of self learning, and self discovery, as well.
Transformative student learning: GYLI believes that opportunities for experiential learning and reflection should be encouraged and nurtured as a way to transform students into compassionate, courageous, and self-aware leaders. Students in our programs learn to trust their instincts, act based on personal leadership beliefs, chart their future by acknowledging their past, and create communities of acceptance and accountability based on clear communication.
