The Why Behind Our Why
A Leadership Journey provides BIPOC youth ages 13-18 from marginalized identities equitable access to
international & domestic cultural exploration through travel,
utilizing travel as the vehicle to discuss the importance of
Mental & Emotional wellness Global Citizenship, Self-awareness, Leadership, and Ubuntu.
A Leadership Journey was started because youth from marginalized identities
do not always have equitable access to international or domestic travel.
To fill this void, we started A Leadership Journey to create a platform that would provide
equitable access to international and domestic travel.
“Learning deeply about another culture strengthens one’s ability to understand, appreciate, and work more effectively with people who belong to that culture—as well as others who are different from oneself.” - NYT
“Yet, since not everyone in the U.S., and even more so elsewhere in the world, gets the opportunity to attend college let alone study abroad, this is insufficient. Therefore, the benefits of cultural immersion should begin in high school, in students’ own communities and cities.” - NYT
“Researchers have shown that study abroad can result in a variety of outcomes, including change of perspective or worldview, independence, self-confidence, intercultural development, global engagement, and dispelling of stereotypes among participants.” - Journal of Travel Research
“...exchange participants showed greater personal growth and became more sociable, extroverted, responsible, spontaneous, self-confident, individualistic, informal, competitive, and independent. This provides evidence that travel can potentially lead to personal change, even when removed from a school curriculum.” - Journal of Travel Research
“For decades, researchers have shown that student field trips result in direct knowledge, longer retention of knowledge, and encouraging different student interests than classroom settings.” - Journal of Travel Research
“Learning deeply about another culture strengthens one’s ability to understand, appreciate, and work more effectively with people who belong to that culture—as well as others who are different from oneself. This in turn helps to develop leaders who not only have reduced bias towards culturally different groups but who also can help bring out the best in teams of people who have diverse methods of thinking, communicating and engaging with others.” - NYT
WHY EQUITY?
Because financial disparities hinder youth from marginalized identities from being to afford the expensive cost for travel opportunities.
WHY ACCESS?
Because youth from marginalized identities don’t always have access to travel because they don’t have the financial resources and or the opportunity isn’t local.
WHY MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH?
Because whether ptsd or personal or environmental stress, youth from marginalized identities experience high amount of stress which impacts how they see themselves, feel about themselves, see their opportunities, and feel about their opportunities.
WHY INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL?
International travel gives you a cultural perspective that is different from the cultural exchanges you can get in the United States. International travel allows you see the world in a broader lens, it allows you to learn the differences and similarities in politics, government, education, housing, civic engagement, art, and other cultural structures that can be very academic. Young people who participate in international travel gain an academic experience that you cannot get in the United States.
WHY DOMESTIC TRAVEL?
Our goal is to collaborate with youth programs across the United States that would be willing to participate in cultural exchange activities. By working with other programs, in other states, our goal is to bridge the cultural gap between what young people know, and what's really going on in other communities, to create a stronger understanding on how connected we are, thus creating a stronger community of youth leaders across borders.