Global Youth Leadership Institute

GYLI is seeking host families in the Boston area for a group of 12 students from Iraq, age 15-18, who are visiting the US for two weeks: July 21 - August 2, 2010, as part of a grant offered by the US State Department.

This is a great opportunity to build peaceful, positive relationships with young citizens from Iraq.  If you are interested in hosting or want more details, please contact the GYLI office at 414-290-8142 or e-mail GYLI Executive Director, Matt Nink at mnink@gyli.org or Marinés Fonseca at mfonseca@gyli.org

You can access the application to host one or more students at this link here - Host Family Application

See the expectations of host families here - Host Family Expectations

Please return completed applications before June 11, 2010!!!


Last updated on Jun 4, 2010 - 4:55 PM

GYLI will be offering a 2-day workshop titled "Religious Pluralism and a 'Sense of the Sacred' in Your School" hosted by Harpeth Hall and University School of Nashville on Friday March 5 and Saturday March 6, 2010.

Click here to see a promotional flyer for the event.

Click here for a detailed information sheet.

Contact GYLI Assistant Director Jesse Blom at jblom@gyli.org or call the GYLI office at 414.290.8142 with any questions or to enroll in the workshop!!


Last updated on Jan 15, 2010 - 3:55 PM

Matt Nink, Imroz, and Kim Bouldin-Jones presented at a one-day conference on Global Education for educators at Ursuline Academy in Dallas, TX on November 23, 2009. (Also pictured are Betty Bougeois--Principal, and Cecilia Nipp--Dean of Diversity and Global Education at Ursuline) 

The workshop was attended by teachers and administrators from Ursuline Academy, Hockaday School, St. Alcuin Montessori School, Parish Episcopal School, and Cistercian School.  The day was led off by Cecilia Nipp, Director of Diversity and Global Education (DOGE) at Ursuline.  After she told the story of Global Education at UA, Cecilia showed some great photos of the recent UA exchange with its sister school in Brazil.  Cecilia also used two videos from the ASIA society to really build the case for Global Education at US independent schools.  Matt and Imroz gave an overview of GYLI--complete with a short sequence of games and discussion.  We were again surprised by how willing participants were to sing, play tag and move around.  Adults, just like kids, are ready for new kinds of learning after years of sitting and taking notes! 

Kim Bouldin-Jones, GYLI board member and coordinator, was also on hand to help teachers and administrators design ways to transfer the learning from the workshop back into their own schools.  Kim also showed some photos and video from a hospital project she is working on in Ethiopia.  This provides a great example of moving from global thinking to taking global action. 

The setting for this workshop was the brand New French Family Center for Math, Science and Technology at Ursuline, which is being considered for LEED Gold Certification. This offered a great context for us to be sustainable, not just talk about it.  

Look for future 1-day workshops by GYLI at Ursuline and other schools around the country, as we work to help public schools, private schools and international schools develop global competency. 

Last updated on Dec 10, 2009 - 1:40 PM

Below is a calendar for our 2010 summer institutes and GYLI Faculty Training!

GYLI Faculty Training

Cenacle Conference and Retreat Center - Chicago, IL - April 9-11
1-day training for SIT online graduate course - Chicago, IL - April 9

Middle School Leadership Institute - 2 options!

1) Marin Country Day School - Corte Madera, CA - August 1-5
2) Pine Point School - Stonington, CT - July 30-August 3

High School Year 1 - 3 options!

1) On board the Schooner Denis Sullivan - Milwaukee, WI - June 14-18
2) On board the Schooner Alabama - Martha's Vineyard, MA - June 23-27
3) On board the Schooner Lettie G Howard - Mystic, CT - July 5-9

High School Year 2 - 2 options!*

1) Lama Foundation - Taos, NM - July 7-12
2) Lama Foundation - Taos, NM - July 14-19
*if the first two fill, then we will offer a third program July 21-26

High School Year 3/Institute for Student Leaders - 2 options!

1) ISL India - Mahindra United World College - near Pune, India - June 25 - July 4
2) ISL Costa Rica - EARTH University and United World College - Costa Rica - July 10-19


Last updated on Feb 10, 2010 - 11:29 AM

On behalf of GYLI, I was recently invited to present at a regional forum of the Global Issues Network (GIN) in Rotterdam, Netherlands. This two-day forum was based on the topic of water, and it involved student and teacher delegates from four different international schools in Europe: American International School of Rotterdam (AISR), International School of Luxembourg, International School of Bremen, and International School of Stuttgart.

The host school, AISR, did a great job of organizing the two-day conference. Most of the program design, logistics, and organization was performed by the students -- youth leadership in action!!! Other presenters at the conference included a representative from the Port of Rotterdam, which claims to be Europe's largest port, an expert from UNESCO on Transboundary Water Sharing, and a representative from Unilever, a food and consumer goods manufacturer in Rotterdam.

I facilitated a simulation for all the participants - the students had to negotiate how to distribute a limited amount of water resources, which must be shared by various communities, each with different needs. Through this activity, participants had to determine how to resolve the conflict of a water shortage, while some had plenty of water, and others had very little. Of course, the group with the most water didn't want to share any!!!

Thank you very much to AISR for hosting the conference and inviting GYLI to be a part of it!!!!

GYLI was represented well at the recent Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) in Washington DC. This is one of the largest gatherings of African Americans in the country. Staffers, Matt, Jesse, and Imroz, and board member Kim Bouldin-Jones (see photo) all attended sessions and talked to many, many attendees at the GYLI exhibit booth. The three day event brings together political, business, and non-profit leaders to continue to address some of the biggest challenges we all face.

Matt Nink and Courtney Hurtt (GYLI '06, Michigan State University '11 and GYLI Year Two Coordinator) were named to a panel that spoke at the recent conference. This was a great honor, as the event brings together about 5,000 people from all over the country to address some of our most pressing social problems. Matt and Courtney spoke at the CBC Spouses Event entitled: "Positive Change: How America's Young People Are Moving It Forward." The event was a both the celebration of 3 high school essay contest winners as well as a panel discussion about how young people can spark and sustain civic and community engagement. Drawing from their GYLI experiences, Matt encouraged the youth in attendance to see themselves as leaders NOW, not in some distant future, and Courtney reminded them that no one else was going to pave their way. Courtney spoke about her project in herCBC Picture senior year at Detroit Country Day in which she worked with middle schools students in the inner city of Detroit to help them take and pass the tests to get into the Detroit area Prep schools. "There was no script, or anyone telling me how to do it, so I just had to see this vision through myself," Courtney said. She also spoke about her experiences this past summer working at an AIDS orphanage in South Africa. Matt and Courtney hope to return to the CBC ALC next year to conduct a youth session for the many high school students to attend the event.