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Global Social Benefit Incubator 2008
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Friday Lunch Keynote: Franziska Seel and the power of global community
Our second of three keynotes explores the power of connection in the global youth network
The Global Engagement Summit has a somewhat different approach to keynote presentations then other events. In trying to create a supportive, challenging, and collaborative training space, we look for keynotes just a few years older than our delegates who serve as examples of the full spectrum of opportunities for passionate undergraduates to translate their fiery passion into long-term engagement.
In her lunch Keynote, Franziska Seel shared a bit of her own story of growing up in Germany, and feeling a bit alone and different for caring so deeply about global social challenges. It wasn’t until she attended her first Global Youth Forum conference in Senegal that she found a way to link into networks of supportive peers.
Networking peers has been her mission ever since. In her work with the Global Youth Action Network and Taking IT Global, both organizations that harness the power of web and ICT technology to link transnational networks of youth activists, community leaders and social entrepreneurs.
Her organization, Global Youth Action network, has developed a five-part model of youth engagement:
Five level model of youth engagement
1. Awareness
2. Action
3. Networking
4. Collaboration
5. Participation in decision-making processes
Throughout much of her presentation, it seemed that her passion was in the collaboration that can occur between the vital organizations that exist on these different levels. Indeed, she asked us to recognize that a community organization cannot, in the long run, be successful without advocacy organizations working to change the policy that produces those ground-level problems.
Global Youth Action Network’s role in this process it to carve out space for young people and youth-led organizations throughout global civil society. This, she believes, is more vital than ever, as we are the first truly “global generation.”
In the end, she left with a lesson. True leadership, she suggested, is not just having the knowledge, its having the vision and knowing who to ask for help.
In her lunch Keynote, Franziska Seel shared a bit of her own story of growing up in Germany, and feeling a bit alone and different for caring so deeply about global social challenges. It wasn’t until she attended her first Global Youth Forum conference in Senegal that she found a way to link into networks of supportive peers.
Networking peers has been her mission ever since. In her work with the Global Youth Action Network and Taking IT Global, both organizations that harness the power of web and ICT technology to link transnational networks of youth activists, community leaders and social entrepreneurs.
Her organization, Global Youth Action network, has developed a five-part model of youth engagement:
Five level model of youth engagement
1. Awareness
2. Action
3. Networking
4. Collaboration
5. Participation in decision-making processes
Throughout much of her presentation, it seemed that her passion was in the collaboration that can occur between the vital organizations that exist on these different levels. Indeed, she asked us to recognize that a community organization cannot, in the long run, be successful without advocacy organizations working to change the policy that produces those ground-level problems.
Global Youth Action Network’s role in this process it to carve out space for young people and youth-led organizations throughout global civil society. This, she believes, is more vital than ever, as we are the first truly “global generation.”
In the end, she left with a lesson. True leadership, she suggested, is not just having the knowledge, its having the vision and knowing who to ask for help.
