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May 2007
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS |
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The face of former Student Government President Kyle Taylor, SIS/BA ’06, is now the face of the nonprofit organization Youth Venture, as he sets out on a global tour of 11 countries in five months encouraging teambuilding and social action in young people. The effort is not just about community service. “It’s about creating something from your mind and following through,” Taylor says. During the global "Dream it. Do it." tour, Taylor will encourage youth from the United States, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, France, Belgium, Germany, South Africa, India Thailand, and Mexico to find social issues they are passionate about – poverty, illiteracy, women’s empowerment – and create their own programs designed to influence positive change. AU’s Kay Spiritual Life Center hosted the tour’s launch event on April 24, as Taylor spoke to a crowd of about 50 people, detailing his trip schedule and goal of connecting youth globally through their various passions relating to social change. “I can’t think of a more perfect place to launch this tour than AU because this is what we do: We create, we change, we do service,” he said at the event. “And that’s what this world tour is all about—empowering young people to build a global movement and create a world where everyone is able to create change.” For the last 10 years, Youth Venture has helped young people ages 12 to 20 pursue ideas that will spark change in their community by launching their own “ventures,” which are the specific programs youth develop. Taylor already has more than five years experience with the organization, having created his own venture, Operation Outreach, during his sophomore year at AU thanks to a $1,000 grant he received from Youth Venture. Operation Outreach, still growing, was designed to give elementary school students the opportunity to experience college and see what they are truly working toward. Taylor isn’t alone in this philanthropic effort. There are approximately 1,000 teams worldwide, affecting thousands of people young and old. There are teams like “Build a Bear to Show You Care,” which is a group that makes bears for children at a local Ronald McDonald House; and "Broadway at the Cafe," which encourages youth to participate in play rehearsals and performances, giving them a substance-free activity. Through Taylor's tour, Youth Venture’s goal is to bring these community teams together and to the global level. “So then our real challenge is bringing them together, connecting them,” Taylor says. “And what better way to do that than through the Internet? [We are] a generation not based on location or age, but on ideas and connecting through those ideas.” As Taylor travels from continent to continent, he will be visiting project sites; meeting with established teams to discuss expanding their venture; and encouraging area youth to form teams and connect with others in their area or online. The Web site is Youth Venture's way of bringing people together and expanding project ideas. After graduating from AU - where Taylor remembers his experience serving as the student speaker for the SIS commencement as “one of, if not the most, memorable highlight of my time at AU” – he had the opportunity to sit on Youth Venture’s National Youth Advisory Council. He was participating in a Youth Venture Web site redesign discussion during one of the council’s meetings when the idea for the global venture struck him. The AU alumnus says he had never thought about the teams and venturers in a worldwide context before that moment. Youth Venture soon approved Taylor’s vision of connecting young people through the Web, and is helping him bring it to life and to the world – literally. Although he will be traveling alone, Youth Venture regional offices will play host to Taylor during each of his stops, providing travel arrangements and a “regional ambassador” who will often act as translator. The international portion of the trip began on May 7 and is scheduled to last a total of 94 days. To facilitate connecting youth worldwide, while also providing a source for interested parties to follow Taylor's work and travel, Youth Venture has launched the Web site http://www.genv.net. The site functions in six languages - English, French, German, Spanish, Thai, and Portuguese - and it translates pages so that German viewers are still able to read an English-speaker’s profile, for example. Taylor stresses that this is the most important aspect of the site. “You’re breaking that language barrier, which I think is so often what keeps people apart.” -Tara Shlimowitz ’08 and David Ferraris | |||
