CGI U: Closing Remarks

I love hearing President Clinton speak, and this occasion was no different. His remarks were poignant and, as always, articulate. If you want to see a master public speaker at work then make sure you hear him speak in person at least once in your lifetime.

I can do little justice to his speech by trying to pull out some of the things that I connected with, but I will remark on a couple of things. It would be best, however, to watch it for yourselves at the link I provided in my last post. It lasts about 30-35 minutes but is well worth it.

He started the address by talking about a recent scientific finding about the human genome. It is now under question that instead of humans being 99.9% alike, they are more like 99.5% alike. All the differences in the world - our skin colour, eye, hair, nose, teeth, gender, moles, birthmarks - all separated by .4%. It is that .4% that we focus on, sometimes exclusively, it is what divides us, and it is in some respects tearing us apart. However, it is also that .4% that makes the world so interesting to us. It is in our differences that we find meaning and how we relate. It is that .4% that we can either choose for interconnectedness - to bring us together - or we can chose for it to destroy us - to tear us apart. That .4% difference is more important than the other 99.5% that is alike. This is the choice that confronts us. We either come together to to solve what is wrong in the world - to find peace and happiness - or we use it to divide and conquer us. It is a choice he sees that must be made because if we refrain from choosing then we automatically allow apathy and division to find a home. We must stand one on one side or the other.

The answer seems clear to me - but in reality we have thus far made a very different choice. The challenge is before us to find a way to overcome the monumental .4%. To come together for our collective betterment. The choice is yours, but I hope you do indeed make it. It is not one you can make flat footed, or subconsciously, it must be acted. Silence and inaction are the wedge.

CGI U: Working Session #2

A More Employable Future: Educating our Global Youth

Panelists: Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University - Moderator; Steven Muray, Chancellor, Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas; Emeka Okafor, Partner, Caranda Fine Foods; Joanna Ramos-Romero, Latin American Reigional Manager, entra 21, International Youth Foundation; and, Ethan Veneklasen, Regional Director - West Coast, American Indian Federation.

Key Facts from the session:
* A single year of primary education correlates to a 10-20% increase in women's wages later in life. The salary correlation to a year of secondary education for girls is even higher between 15-25%

*In FY2007 the U.S. appropriated $460 million for basic education in the developing world. The best estimate for the cost of putting every child in school by 2010 is $10 billion annually, a sum equivalent to the annual operating budget for New York City public schools.

* In 2005, Ghana abolished user fees across the country, and primary school enrollment rose by 14%

*In the U.S. persistent childhood poverty's estimated cost to the nation each year is $500 billion because of lost adult productivity and wages, increased crime, and higher health expenditures. Just as alarmingly, 42% of children born into the poorest quintile in the U.S. will remain in the quintile their whole life.

*Global youth (aged 15-24) unemployment increased from 11.7% in 1993 to an all-time high of 14.4% (88 million) in 2003

*In 2003-2004, of the approximately 20 million youth in Latin America and the Caribbean 15.9% were unemployed, which is more than double the adult unemployment rate of 6.6%. Conversely, young people in Latin America are more educated than their parents.

*Over 30% of the Middle East's population - or 100 million individuals- is between the ages of 15-29. Youth unemployment rates are at 25%, which is among the highest for any global region.

These key facts paint a real problem in the world today. Youth, my own age demographic, are finding it increasingly difficult to get an education, and get work. It is unfortunately a situation that if not rectified will have serious repercussions for generations to come.

The panelists each outlined what they were up to in ways of solutions. I must admit that at this point in the day I was starting to get lost in my own thoughts and much of what was said was lost on me, unfortunately. I did, however, zone in for a couple of interesting points that seemed to fit what my mind had at this point focused in on. Ethan Veneklasen brought up the point of youth being a key asset, and in particular their inexperience being a real asset to help come up with solutions. When he said that I instantly zoned in. After the session I approached him about his comments because I figured he would have some real insight into the mentorship idea. I am happy to say that we have continued/started discussion recently and I think he is as keen as I am to see what we can come up with.

The other panelist who caught my attention was Emeka Okafor. He was one of the most elegant speakers I have heard in a long time. He is involved quite extensively with TED in Africa, and has a blog that might be of real interest to you at Africa Unchained. His perspective on education in Africa and the need to solutions to be home grown was in real contrast to some other comments, but also in my opinion more viable.

At this point in the day I was cooked. I was saturated with new information, and like my mind tends to do in these circumstances, I started to mind wander. I piece things together in my mind and find paths to other things I already know (or at least think I know!) Sometimes it can be a bummer because I miss out on more valuable information, but I suppose I am only wired to take in so much at once.

I should mention that the delegates seated at my table were all quite fascinating. While my enthusiasm had somewhat wained due to exhaustion, they were all rather chipper. When I explained my commitment our table moderator made quite an interesting comment about me. In describing me he referred to me as a Pragmatic Idealist - I quite like that title! As well, the other delegates had interesting commitments that were of real interest to me. One girl is creating a Political/World Issues Revue Magazine for her college at Vanderbilt to inform people about what is going on around them - her sense was that informed people are more participant in making things better and less apathetic. I would have to agree - to a point. I am interested to see how it goes and what sort of results occur.

Check out the video of this session, and the others for that matter, on the CGI U website to get a better idea of what I was sitting in on.

CGI: Rebuilding a Sustainable New Orleans

After lunch we all came back to the main auditorium to hear a special session on the status and future of the New Orleans rebuilding project. It was a panel discussion lead by President Clinton once again. The other panelists were Ed Blakely - Executive Director, Office of Recovery and Development Administration, The City of New Orleans; Russel L. Honore - Lieutenant General (Ret.), US Army; Bethany Housman - Program Manager, New Orleans, City Year Louisiana; and Bill McDonough - Chairman of William McDonough and Partners.

This session gave an overview of the progress that has and hasn't been made in New Orleans as the city tries to rebuild. The underlying theme of the session was that it wasn't about bringing back the old New Orleans - with its many systemic issues - but rebuilding a better New Orleans including all its historical history. As the panelists each shared their role in the rebuilding effort, it became apparent - for reason - that they were advocating for the realization that New Orleans is a real opportunity - from its ashes a city can be rebuilt that will be a landmark around the world for sustainability.

There was a lot of acknowledgment of how slow the process has been, and the many issues that have arisen along the way. However, they tried to stress that patience must be heed as rushing things was sure to only create more problems in the future. Now more than 2 years since the flooding, New Orleans is still in piecemeal. It is certainly not an area of my expertise, and while I believe that progress is coming as fast as feasible, after having the chance to speak with local residents on both my trips to the area, I must question whether it is all just politics and rhetoric. People are suffering. Sustainable or not, they need hope and they need action. It takes time, and takes even longer to do things right, I just hope that when it comes to a conclusion that the toll it has taken on the people does not leave the new, and theoretically better city, in shambles.

I enjoyed the session for the frank dialogue by the participants, and also because as an outsider to both the area and the country I was able to learn a lot. It is not a situation I have the capacity to fully understand, but I was happy to receive some insight.

CGI U: Lunch Session

Still working away at these debriefs. School, and some other complications have kept me busy but I promise I will start posting more regularly again.

The working lunch at CGI U was a real highlight of the weekend (amongst many others). The lunches were broken down into regions to give delegates a chance to mingle with people from their area and make some connections. Lunch for me was amongst all the international delegates, as well as a few others who snuck in for curiosity. We were given a series of questions to get the dialogue going, but it became very organic and we were able to explore a lot of different ideas. Just to share the questions we were given here they are:

1. How can student's, professors, and university administrators work together to make their projects sustainable - and their commitments a reality - despite high annual turnover on campus?

2. How can we support one another's projects in our home countries and learn and partner with one another across all of these international projects?

3. As international students, how would you recommend CGI U develop a greater international presence in the future?

While these questions framed the ensuing discussions, as a group I found we had so much to say and the questions were really just a starter. The idea of a mentorship project that I have previously discussed in brief was one of the things that arose from the conversation. I am continuing to speak with people about it and with any luck I myself will find a mentor! My real hope is that a partnership between CGI U and CGI can be formed to provide a mutually beneficial relationship. There is huge potential there for fantastic things to happen, and without knowing with any detail what might be a potential snag, I have to believe it is a distinct possibility. It could very well be my propensity to believe anything is possible however.

Further discussion centered around what could happen when we all got home to our corners of the world, and how we could keep in contact with one another, and keep in contact with CGI U. As the people in my group were from B.C. Canada, Singapore, the UK, Nigeria, Arkansas, and a few other places in between, we all felt that while there are barriers, that by both keeping in touch through email, and also participating on the online CGI U community, that it would be a real advantage to put forth the effort. The varying perspectives, not just geographically, but in every other respect, was of real interest and something I have come to really cherish.

The lunch at conferences tends to be the most overlooked part of a weekend. At CGI U they took advantage of the time and we made real use of it. The funny thing is that any lunch has the possibility of ending up like that. Think about that the next time you sit down alone for a meal - you could be learning from and enjoying the company of a complete stranger with some hidden insights.