On Monday, June 24th, 2013, Allowance for Good launched its second annual Global Philanthropy Summit, which brings together a catalytic group of youth for intensive gatherings to advance personal understanding in and encourage collective action toward global education equity.
Nina reflects on Day 3 of GPS, during which we heard from Chicago Community Trust, Spark Ventures, and izzy+.
How can we spread our ripple effect? This is a question that was introduced to our Global Philanthropy Summit group today. As a part of our third day for Allowance for Good’s Global Philanthropy Summit, we went to downtown Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, where we met with representatives from izzy+, SparkVentures (one of Allowance for Good’s Global Affiliates with partners in Zambia), and the Chicago Community Trust. During this time, we were given the opportunity to discuss our individual and group service projects as well.
There are several things that I took away from today. One thing that especially stood out to me was a question that was posed by Mr. Jim Lewis of the Chicago Community Trust: How do you choose which organizations to give out grants to? He eventually led our group into a very insightful discussion about morality, using several thought-provoking situations that helped us understand their reasoning for choosing certain organizations over others. Another speaker, Jill Horning of izzy+, talked to us about her experiences as a part of a trip to Nicaragua, and how she and other designers made supplies boxes for the teachers of one school and helped design an entryway for another. This was a great example of how, even if we are not associated with a specific nonprofit organization, we can still make a difference. Ms. Horning elaborated on the fact that izzy+ focused on its people instead of making the company purely about furniture, and I found this fact to be very inspiring. It is very interesting to see how all of these different companies can find ways to give back to their communities and make an impact.
After our speakers, we had the chance to start brainstorming ideas as to how we were going to spread our own ripple effects through a project that would raise awareness and money for Allowance for Good. We also had time to talk about our group service project, which will be executed on our last day of GPS. All in all, I found today’s experiences to be very rewarding, and I am glad that we have the opportunity to learn how to make a difference and be a global citizen as a part of Allowance for Good.
Allowance for Good develops the rising generations of philanthropic leaders who cultivate global citizenship and empower others around the world to achieve their full potential. We seek to educate and engage US youth ages 13-18 in philanthropy in order to extend their perspectives beyond our borders encouraging them to acknowledge the extreme poverty and lack of access to resources faced by youth around the world. Learn more at www.allowanceforgood.org.
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