Experiencing Leadership in Action!
2013 Summer Global Philanthropy Leadership Internship Program
For Future CEOs, CFOs, and CTOs
What are you doing this summer break?
Did you know that seventeen-year-old William Kim of Mission San Jose High School got props from President Obama, for founding a micro-finance nonprofit that helps young entrepreneurs start their own businesses? “You know, he’s raising the money doing what he loves,” Obama said, in a sound bite that reappeared on KQED Radio, on Thu, Sep. 29, 2011. William Kim was admitted to Stanford University in 2012.
Join our 2013 Summer Global Philanthropy Leadership (GPL) Program in P2P Microfinance Rural Poverty Alleviation Program, Sustainable Ecology & Reusable Energy Project, & Sun Village Social Entrepreneur Endeavor! Follow the footsteps of world-renowned Nobel-prize winner /economist, environmentalist, biologist, and social entrepreneurs.
Our GPL internship programs attract high-school and college students with leadership potential to experience the life of “the underserved population” and learn from professionals associated with prestigious companies and organizations. We hope this experience endows you with a sense of intellectual vitality, interpersonal awareness, and global responsibility that will prepare you to excel in college and beyond.
These internship programs provide opportunities for you to experience leadership in action and explore creative ways to bring sustainable impact to society and the global environment. The mission of our programs is to educate our students about global interconnectedness, which is more important than ever given the current financial crisis. You will study global interdependencies in business and economics through interacting with and learning from international business executives and political leaders from the developing world.
Working with college mentors from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UPenn, UC Berkeley and other top universities, you will have the opportunity to experience society in-depth, develop strong leadership and problem-solving skills, and interview remarkable social and business leaders in person. In addition, you will receive intensive training in communication, project management and team work.
This program has a rigorous selection process and many of our students have been accepted by America’s finest colleges and universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Columbia, Cornell, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and other universities. Students who have made unique and significant impact/contributions to the community will gain advantage in admissions to elite universities and colleges. Although we give priority to junior year students, we accept sophomores and freshman with an outstanding academic record and leadership potential. Space is limited. Sign up now and join us for the experience of a lifetime!
By the way, if you happen to apply Stanford and/or Princeton, you will find perfect answers to their essay prompt “How did you spend your last two summers?”
2013 Global Philanthropy Leadership Program
Project 1: Sustainable Ecology & Rare Species Preservation 内蒙古生态保护开发项目 (G9-G11 )
Introduction
Saihantala is located in the north of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. According to historic records, this area was a green land with packs of sheep and cows. However, it had been turned into one of the deadliest deserts due to centuries of over-grazing and the local people have been living under poverty line for the past decades. Since 1996, hundreds of volunteers from around the world came to this area to plant trees, rebuild the living condition for the multiple creatures that live in the region, control the desertification, and create a harmonious living space, restoring the ecological environment. It has been transformed into an Ecological Demonstration Area that combines green belt regeneration with eco-resort tourism for a more sustainable future for the local villagers. In the mean time, people have been experimenting with other safer, more eco-friendly alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, thermal, and manure.
Location: Saihantala, Inner Mongolia
Length of Program: 15 days
Size of Group: 15 students on average
Main Objectives
- Understand the importance of restoration of ecosystem in the desert
- Observe the wildlife (i.e. native plants and animals) in desert habitat
- Find a solution for agricultural practices that are sustainable and environmentally friendly
- Improve desert ecology and raise the awareness of environmental protection in local community
- Explore alternative & reusable energy sources such as wind, solar, thermal, and manure
Sample Tasks:
- Recover original vegetation and establish protection area
- Visit the local power plants generated by wind, solar, thermal and manure
- Select high quality sandlot and plant pine trees of economic value
- Work with local farmer and students to improve their environment protection awareness
Project 2： Peer-to-Peer Microfinance Rural Poverty Alleviation Program (G10-G11)
Introduction
You can make a difference in the world through microfinance! Muhammad Yunus introduced the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. It is a peer-to-peer microfinance program majorly targeting the poor peasants in China. This platform enables lenders to extend loans directly to borrowers, mainly rural farmers with funding needs of RMB 500-5,000 and help them make great strides towards economic independence and fundamentally improve their lives. Through the P2P model, we aim to provide strong financial and spiritual support to and promote the burgeoning development of the microfinance in rural areas. Through our platform, we aim to attract worldwide attention to the millions of poor peasants in China, and help them eradicate poverty in an early date and lead a well-off life. Educated and inspired young adults will help shape the future of microfinance, and use capital resources to make a global difference.
Location: Gansu, Henan, Ningxia Hui (Muslim) Autonomous Region
Length of Program: 15 days
Size of Group: 15 students on average
Job Description
- Conduct research re microfinance, microcredit, P2P, and Prof. Muhammad Yunus
- Receive training on how P2P works in China
- Conduct field trips/interviews with lenders and borrowers
- Finalize operations report for future P2P microfinance program in China
Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi banker, economist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He previously was a professor of economics where he developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Yunus is also the founder of Grameen Bank. In 2006, Yunus and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”[1] Yunus himself has received several other national and international honors. He is the author of Banker to the Poor and a founding board member of Grameen America and Grameen Foundation. In early 2007 Yunus showed interest in launching a political party in Bangladesh named Nagorik Shakti (Citizen Power), but later discarded the plan. He is one of the founding members of Global Elders. Yunus also serves on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, a public charity created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support United Nations causes. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN.
Project 3: Sun Village Social Entrepreneur Endeavor (for G9 – G11)
Sun Village (太陽村) is a grass-root level non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Ms. Shuqing Zhang, a former policewoman in Shaanxi Province. She was also a journalist focusing on prison related issues in China. Through her numerous interviews with inmates and guards, Ms. Zhang decided to devote her time and efforts in helping the children who were left behind by their parents. Over 15 years of hard work, she has built six villages in six different provinces in China, i.e. Beijing, Shaanxi, Henan, Jiangxi, Qinghai. She and her team provide foster care for over 2,000 children when their parents were incarcerated. While attending elementary schools or middle schools in the neighborhood, all children have to learn to be self-sufficient, i.e. grow their own vegetables, fruits, and tend to farms.
Location: Dalian, Tianjin
Length of Program: 15 days
Size of Group: 15 students on average
Job Description
- Conduct case study on “Sun Village”
- Interview its founder, Ms. Shuqing Zhang
- Design course curriculum and classroom activities
- Experience organic farming in Sun Village
- Explore sustainable business model for Sun Village
One of our students who participated in the camp wrote to his camp counselor the following note:
“I can’t thank you more than enough for being our leading for the Sun Village Winter Camp. It became a really unforgettable experience for me. Seeing the kids happy even in the lowest environment makes me happy. It definitely shone new lights. It was such a wonderful experience that I feel nostalgic about it. I can’t believe it only lasted a week and it’s over already. In the summer, what kinds of camps are offered? I would like to become more like a leader…”