GYAN fosters cooperation and collaboration in today's youth movement in order to leverage efforts, resources, and maximize impact. The organization helps to combine and elevate young peoples' voices in decision-making, and to create greater recognition for their positive contributions, which has led to record levels of participation within the United Nations and other global institutions. GYAN plays a strategic role few other organizations do: looking at the bigger picture and connecting the dots, at a time when social movements are ripe, and the issues we face are increasingly global. It has been a privilege to continue serving on the board this organization, and to watch its impact continue to grow.
I believe that critical issues facing the planet today demand every generation's attention and action, and that young people are instrumental in movements for positive social change. As the Co Founder of the Global Youth Action Network, an international network of youth NGOs spanning 180 countries, which incubates global partnerships and increases youth participation in decision-making, I coordinated Global Youth Service Day since its launch in 2000. This has grown into the world's largest annual celebrations of young volunteers with millions of participants. I have since moved on from GYAN and recruited a new generation of young and dynamic leaders to take the organization to the next level. But these amazing experiences have taught me great things about life and how to inform, inspire and involve people to make a difference in their lives by taking positive steps to save the planet and helped the poor. This journey has also helped me a lot in my current work with the social enterprise I founded - Worldview Impact.
The Global Youth Action Network plays a critical role in creating opportunities for young people to participate in the development and evolution of global policy that will affect them and their world. I've been proud to collaborate with GYAN for many years, working with Benjamin, Bremley, and Jonah shortly after they founded it, and building a strong partnership and connections with our programs at TakingITGlobal. I'm proud that together, we've helped millions of youth understand and act on the world's greatest challenges.
