Majority Youth International Pledge

A pledge to share your international experiences with youth of color

ABOUT THIS PLEDGE:

Those of us reading, and hopefully signing this pledge need no convincing that there are many groups of Americans who are underexposed to global issues and underrepresented in international educational travel programs, like study abroad. As a result these same groups are represented in low percentages in the plethora of international careers and professions where their diversity and representation are greatly needed. In addition to others, these underrepresented groups include Black/African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans, and people from low income and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, who are primarily people of color. To address this unfortunate imbalance of exposure, opportunity, and participation in international educational travel and international affairs, this Pledge to Action seeks to mobilize young professionals and students of color around this critical issue of lack of diversity and inclusion in international education and affairs, while also providing an advocacy platform to more proactively attack this problem.

This pledge will allow us to develop a petition-style list of no less than 10,000 signatories of young professionals and students of color, such as yourself, who have participated in international educational travel experiences or who are currently working in the fields of international affairs, development, education, and/or exchanges. Through signing, you will show your support for increasing the representation of people of color and of low income in such activities. Not only will you show your support by signing on, but more importantly, you will show your commitment to action by pledging to share your international experiences and stories with no less than 50 youth of color and/or of low income in the course of one year, and encouraging them to seek out international educational experiences; internationally-oriented college majors or minors; and internationally-oriented careers. You can share your experiences through speaking to youth at local schools, at your churches, mosques, etc., or simply by talking to the young people in your immediate or extended families. By making this commitment, we can together reach the ears (and hopefully hearts and minds) of no less than 500,000 youth, and at the very least share our exciting global experiences with them in hopes that we will pique some of their interests in the types of experiences and careers that we all love. Also, by obtaining your pledge through signatures perhaps we can light a fire under existing efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in international education and affairs, and together mobilize more support from educators, parents, policy-makers, and potential funders. So, please make this pledge with us, and become and signatory of this petition effort, and together lets play our parts to ensure that more youth have the interests and opportunities to learn about and/or travel the world, helping them to truly become active and enthusiastic global citizens and leaders.

HERE IS MY PLEDGE:

I have lived/studied/volunteered/ or worked in another country on one or more occasions. This was a life-changing experience for me and it has had many positive effects on my personal and/or professional development. Among other things, my international experience taught me the value of interacting with people from different countries and cultures and allowed me to see that although there is much that separates us as people from different backgrounds, there is even more that brings us together as human beings. Given such positive personal impacts that my international experiences have had on my life, I am committed to sharing what I have learned, and the values of mutual understanding and tolerance that come from such experiences, with other youth of color and of low income.

Therefore, by signing here, I pledge to share stories of my international experiences and enthusiasm with no less than 50 young people of color or from other underrepresented and/or disadvantaged groups over the course of the next year. In doing so, I hope to have a positive impact on their interests in and perceptions of, participating in international educational travel experiences and/or an internationally oriented college majors or careers, and to help mobilize others to advocate for and work toward the same goals. THIS IS MY PLEDGE!