World Learning Annual Report 2015

World Learning Annual Report 2015 WORLD LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2015 A From Iceland to South Africa, World Learning works with global citizens from over 100 different countries and 6 continents, Our Global Reach including many of the world’s most underdeveloped and disadvantaged nations. The areas in gray represent countries where World Learning works today. On the cover, left to right: Students in the classroom in Pakistan. Their school is part of the Reading for Pakistan program. Photo courtesy of World Learning Pakistan staff. Exper- iment Leadership Institute participants on the beach in South Africa. Photo by Lauren McCracken. A participant on The Experiment Leadership Institute to India dances with local women. Photo by Leah Varjacques. A student on SIT Study Abroad’s Jordan: Intensive Arabic Language summer program practices throwing clay at a ceramics studio in Wadi Rum. Photo by Kathryn Schoenberger. Students celebrate their graduation from SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont. Photo by Jeff Woodward. B WORLD LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2015 scholarships, mentoring, and other support. You will school students with unique experiences in India and see examples of partnerships we have formed with civil South Africa, and the UBS NextGen Leaders program society and the private sector, new outreach initiatives to expand the participation of young men of color in such as the establishment of World Learning Europe, the Experiment in International Living. We have also and a re-doubling of our commitment to inclusion and worked to expand our partnerships with Historically Black diversity throughout all of the organization. Colleges and Universities, and the Hispanic Association of World Learning is taking on the toughest global chal- Colleges and Universities to promote new study abroad lenges. This year, I visited our programs in Lebanon, opportunities. I saw first-hand this year the impact of our where we are expanding educational opportunities and study abroad programs in Argentina and Chile, where helping communities and schools adapt to the influx of American university students are engaged in intensive Syrian refugees. I also traveled to Egypt, where we have and innovation programs on social change movements, helped establish STEM high schools for girls and boys to regional integration, public health, cultural identity, and provide hands-on, experiential education with real world comparative education. I came away with the deepest application. Similarly, we are improving the lives of mil- respect for the rigor and professionalism of these experi- lions of young people through basic literacy programs ences and their life-changing impact. in Pakistan, partnering to reform the higher education Similarly, the SIT Graduate Institute continues to provide system in Kosovo, building a cadre of midwives and world class master’s and certificate programs for an other health professionals to reduce infant and mater- international student body committed to global devel- nal mortality in Malawi, and training civil society and opment, conflict resolution, inter-cultural management, Letter from political activists to take full advantage of the demo- education, and English-language teaching. cratic progress in Burma. Our exchange programs pro- We would like to thank our partners who help make this Donald vide special experiences for youths, university students, important work possible, and offer a special thanks professionals, and other leaders from 195 countries and to our dedicated Board of Trustees and our Global Steinberg territories to build ties with their American counterparts. Advisory Council members, who continue to find inno- In these and other partnerships with civic institutions, vative ways to support our work. Our future is bright, but governments, and international organizations, we con- our work would not be possible without the generous tinue to advocate for inclusion of historically marginal- support of our donors. I hope you will continue to join us his has been an exciting year for World Learning, ized groups, including women, people with disabilities, on this important journey. as we expand our work to empower a new gener- the LGBT community, indigenous populations, and Kindest regards, Tation through educational, exchange and devel- racial and religious minorities. This summer, we were opment programs to build a more peaceful, prosperous, honored and humbled to receive InterAction’s 2015 inclusive, and just world. In the pages that follow, you Disability Inclusion Award. will meet alumni and others whose lives have been We are equally proud of our work on educational transformed by these programs, and who are ensuring programs. This year saw the launch of the Experiment Donald K. Steinberg that others can enjoy such experiences by funding of Leadership Institute to provide a select group of high President and CEO, World Learning WORLD LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2015 1 A participant on The Experiment Leadership Institute to India dances with local women. Photo by Leah Varjacques. 2 WORLD LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2015 The Experiment: Lessons That Last Making a Lifetime A natural entrepreneur, ’73 Netherlands Experimenter connections Peggy Koenig was determined to make the most of her first time outside of the United States, on a trip that she through says made a lasting impression, even so many years later. It was on her trip that Peggy recalled she learned the The Experiment extent of her independence and resourcefulness. “It was the whole idea of going to another country and seeing how people live, similar and different from the way I Peggy Koenig in International grew up, getting comfortable living with a family that was not my own family,” she said. Living Peggy also looks back fondly on the opportunity to A graduate of The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton forge strong bonds with her Dutch host siblings, as well School of Business, Peggy serves on numerous boards, as “building new relationships with the participants from he Experiment in International Living has offered including the Board of Trustees at Cornell University and The Experiment from the U.S. who were very diverse and the Boston Medical Center. She believes wholeheartedly immersive experiential learning programs abroad from all over the country.” Tsince 1932, and today conducts over thirty pro- that those in positions to make a difference should do grams in countries ranging from Argentina to Tanzania Now, as managing partner and co-CEO of ARBY their best to impact the lives of others. to Mongolia. The Experiment takes high-school age Partners, a private equity investment firm, Peggy leads Of World Learning and The Experiment, Peggy said, students on three, four, and five week summer programs an organization of over 60 people and manages $13 “This is one of the organizations that had an impact on that are immersive, intensive, and transformative. billion of capital across business, growth equity and me and so I wanted to be in support of it.” media communications platforms. She says the key to Through innovative, theme-based curriculum, students Peggy has been a longtime supporter of The engage in hands-on experiential learning, through maintaining such a successful venture is being able to “innovate around the edges.” Experiment, and is proud to see it focusing increasingly which they gain invaluable new skills, connections, on critical global issues — with programs that focus on awareness, and knowledge that helps them thrive in While many of the qualities that make her the business- gender equality and human rights in the Netherlands, diverse, intercultural environments. woman she is today are innate, Peggy believes that global youth activism in Ireland, social justice in South Experimenters forge lifelong bonds with their host those attributes were given the chance to flourish while Africa, and public health in India. on The Experiment as a teen. communities, host families, and fellow Experiment “It is not just about cultural exchange, but about work- participants and leaders. They are able to see their “I am always comfortable saying yes to new opportu- ing on projects that have social impact,” she said of The Experiment country through a theme-based lens, and nities, new experiences and new sets of people and not Experiment. “That is something I support because that engage in a wide variety of cultural, academic, and ever feeling fearful that I wouldn’t gain something from is how I continue to spend a meaningful part of my life.” leadership-focused activities that are carried out with being open to new experiences,” she said. “I don’t know trusted local partners. Students have access to sights, if it was The Experiment or how I am as a person but “As I have continued to develop in my career it has become increasingly important to me to figure out ways experiences, and communities that give them an I think that being comfortable in new situations....and to have impact beyond the things I do day in and day authentic taste of what it is to live in a foreign country standing on your own two feet in new situations was a out, and that means social impact.” and be a citizen of the world. building block.” WORLD LEARNING ANNUAL REPORT 2015 3 Make a gift online During their trips, Varjacques and McCracken cap- completing creative projects of a large scale if I really set tured hundreds of hours of video footage and photos, my mind to it,” she said. and helped several students craft blogs for the PBS “In Medill, we often focus on learning how to adapt to Newshour

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