International Leadership: India

Welcome to the launch of the International Leadership Program! This leadership development, cultural immersion, and service learning program will provide 13 high school students from 4 New York City public high schools (in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan) several months of afterschool leadership development and experiential education activities in NYC, as well as a hands-on learning and leadership experience in North India this summer.

For most of these students, it will be their first time out of the country.

Over the next five months students will participate in a series of workshop sessions in New York City exploring global citizenship and leadership and learning about the history, politics, religion, culture and languages they will encounter in India. They will engage with NYC's extraordinary cultural mosaic as a global learning lab. After meeting and studying NYC's South Asian immigrant populations, exploring Himalayan art at the Rubin Museum, and participating in leadership trainings, ILP students will embark on an extraordinary journey to India, spending several weeks in homestays and community-based and directed service learning work.

In Dharamsala, students will live in home stays with local families, enage in service learning projects, and get hands-on exposure to the many complex challenges involving relations between Tibet, India, and China.

When they return home to NYC, students will participate in storytelling workshops, essay writing seminars for crafting strong college application statements, and will receive customized support to make sure they are as prepared as possible for the entire college application and financial aid challenges just around the corner.

They will give back to their local community while honing their public speaking skills, giving presentations to their school communities, as well as to other schools eager to globalize their curriculum.

Learning how to turn dreams into reality through fundraising and community support is a key part of the program. As such, students have committed to raising $1,000 each towards their program costs.

However, to cover the remaining student and program costs--approximately $50,000--we need your help.

We believe deeply in the power of international education and intercultural communication competencies to transform young people's lives while building peaceful bridges across cultures. If an international experience has changed your life even in a small way, we ask you to consider helping Amanda, Kevin, Joelvy, Felicia, Precious, Amanda, Peter, Shah, Anna, La'Christin, Taccara, Kristina, and Ashley realize this opportunity.

To support the International Leadership Program please consider making an online donation. Or you can send a check payable to Global LAB to Global LAB, 4307 42nd Street, 5C, Sunnyside, NY, 11104. Please designate your gift "International Leadership." Your contribution is 100% tax-deductible.

Thanks so much for your support,

John Eastman, Global Learning Across Borders, Inc.
Bob Lesser, Replications, Inc.