Following the Global Brigades Student Leadership Conferences in Chicago, Seattle and London this fall, students from across the United States and Canada have begun planning Regional Exchanges, or what we are calling GB Exchanges, in cities across the country! Already, universities from Pennsylvania, Texas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Florida, New York, Chicago, and more have started planning GB Exchanges for February-April, 2012. You may have already heard about these Exchanges from other university leaders, or you may be planning an event yourself, but if this is the first you have read of this then we invite you to join the national conversation about the GB Exchange. And keep in mind, YOU can host or attend a GB Exchange yourself!
Why are the GB Exchanges so Important?
As Global Brigades becomes the world’s largest student-led social movement for international development, it is clear that unity, connectedness, open dialogue and close communication among our university leaders are each key to our success. “When we look back at social movements of the past” says Orion Haas, one of the members of the GB Exchange support team, “whether for peace, for civil rights, for women’s rights, and even in today’s most recent political and social mobilizations, we see that each movement used grassroots regional organizing to unite the country around a common vision.” We feel that, as large as we are now, we must begin to follow these lessons of the past. Only through regional organizing can we continue to act together as one student-led global health and sustainable development organization and achieve our goal to effectively support the communities of Honduras, Panama and Ghana. “The GB Exchange embodies this strategy of grassroots regional organizing, and I believe that with continued dedication from student leaders, the Exchanges will redefine our organization,” adds Orion.
What is a GB Exchange?
A GB Exchange is a weekend event during which GB student leaders gather from around their region to share best practices in fundraising, recruiting and organizing, to discuss challenges in international development and to create common goals and visions for the future of GB. The aim is to create a setting in which you, as students, can openly discuss anything regarding GB, and together work to find solutions to challenges and strategies for success. Activities will include student presentations, discussion panels, breakout sessions and guest speakers, including leaders from the international Global Brigades network. Each Exchange will support you to grow your ideas, improve your ability to organize a Brigade and create long-lasting relationships among you and other university leaders from around the same region. Ideally, students will drive or bus to the Exchange, and will either be hosted in the homes of members of the local GB chapter, or supported to find affordable, easy accommodations. The goal of each Exchange is to be accessible and low cost for both the host and the visitors. And of course, most importantly the Exchange should be exciting, inspiring and fun!
How to Host or Attend an Exchange in Your Region
Students from across the country are already in the beginning stages of organizing events, but we still need more hosts! From California to Florida, Texas to North Carolina and beyond, students are still looking for a location to attend an Exchange. This is an opportunity for you to make your university one of the key locations for student mobilization in the country next year. At first, this may seem like a lot to organize, but if you decide you want to host an Exchange, we will connect you with all of the universities in your region, help you to advertise the event, provide you with the necessary financial resources to organize the Exchange and send at least one Global Brigades leadership team member to your campus for the event. We will even send you a step-by-step guide to running a successful Exchange! With your dedication, we promise that, like with everything in GB, if we set out together to make it happen, we will succeed in doing something few have done before.
If you would like to host an event on your campus or attend an Exchange in your region, please email Orion Haas at orion@globalbrigades.org with the message “YES! We are interested in hosting and/or attending an event!” Please also feel free to email Orion with any questions, comments or ideas. This is our first year supporting you to host Exchanges, so any ideas that you have are greatly appreciated. As we need to move forward quickly in the planning process, any university interested in hosting an Exchange must apply by Monday, December 5, so please write soon!
We are now one of the largest student-led movements for global health and sustainable development in the world. Let’s show the strength of this movement by gathering across the country for open dialogue, discussion and debate on issues of student mobilization and international development. There are few more important conversations our generation can have for the future of our planet than this one.
Thank you for your dedication to Global Brigades and for creating positive social change. We look forward to seeing you at a GB Exchange soon!
From The Global Brigades Team
