News & Press Archive | Global Citizen Year

5 Key Questions for Designing an Immersive Learning Program

2023-09-27

For an international immersion program, COVID-19 literally stopped us in our tracks. Like so many educational organizations, we quickly pivoted online. Our team developed Global Citizen Year Academy, a virtual leadership program that allowed us to both increase and broaden our student community. Over two years we were able to reach nearly 1500 young people...

Global Citizen Year Welcomes Aziza Musa as first-ever Chief of External Affairs Officer

2023-09-11

Global Citizen Year is thrilled to announce Aziza Musa has joined the organization as its inaugural Chief External Affairs Officer. Aziza brings over 20 years of experience as a member of nonprofit leadership teams to this role, along with a lifelong commitment to advancing international access to education, community-driven reinvestment, and racial equity. In...

Global Citizen Year Welcomes Two New Board Members

2023-08-16

Global Citizen Year is thrilled to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors: Imani Dunbar and Erika Kelton. “The Board of Directors plays a critical role in our organization, supporting our strategic thinking, our philanthropic efforts, and my leadership as Global Citizen Year enters our next era. With that in...

Exploring the World Without Leaving Home

2023-07-31

Exploring the World Without Leaving Home: A Case Study on Using Virtual Exchange to Create Global Competence in a Diverse Population of Students Originally published in the Spring 2023 edition of The Global Impact Exchange, a publication of Diversity Abroad. The Global Impact Exchange quarterly publication serves to advance domestic and international conversations around diversity,...

Global Citizen Year Recieves the Karl Haigler Excellence in Research Award

2023-05-31

The Gap Year Association has awarded Global Citizen Year the Karl Haigler Excellence in Research Award in recognition of our research demonstrating the transformative power of immersive experiences. This is a particularly meaningful award for us as Global Citizen Year has always held a deep commitment to ensuring our experiences deliver the impact we design for. We...

Leadership Development Beyond Projects

2023-04-20

Originally published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review By Elikem Tomety Archer & Jessica Harrington In 2017, as part of her participation in the youth leadership program Global Citizen Year, Dora—an 18-year-old from Huntington Beach, California—spent seven months in Thiadiaye, Senegal. One requirement of the program was the completion of a community project designed to address...

Gen Z’s priorities are changing — are gap years the new path?

2023-03-22

by Wyatt Foster. It’s hard to know what to do after high school. We’re often pushed to make huge life decisions at the young age of 17 or 18. We’re told to go to college or get a job, and to start “adulting.” But how often are we encouraged to pause and reflect on some...

Global Citizen Year: Creating Transformative Experiences for Young People on the Cusp of Adulthood

2023-03-03

by Denver Frederick The following is a conversation between Erin Lewellen, CEO of Global Citizen Year, and Denver Frederick, the Host of The Business of Giving. Read or Listen on Denver-Frederick.com/ Denver: One of the most innovative and forward-thinking nonprofit organizations to come into existence over the past 15 years is Global Citizen Year. It’s also an...

Designing Programs that Develop Global Citizens with Erin Lewellen

2023-02-10

Erin Lewellen is the CEO of Global Citizen Year, a non-profit that is addressing our current global challenges by changing the composition, operating system, and impact of the next generation of changemakers. She joins host Mike Palmer in a conversation about how transformative experiences abroad can shape the pathways and perspectives of rising leaders. Listen...