WorldLink Youth Town Meeting Highlights

2011 Youth Town Meeting

Cover designed by Marissa Wong, High Tech High International

The 14th Annual YTM was held on Friday, January 21, 2011 for over 750 students. The student-chosen 2010-2011 WorldLink theme was "Crimes Without Borders: Threats to Human Security," which focused on the local, national and international implications of human trafficking, transnational gangs, terrorism, drugs and small arms/weapons.     Online Reader: The 2010 WorldLink Interns created the Online Reader, a classroom tool that provides youth with important background knowledge regarding the year's theme. Access it now!   Newspaper: During the 14th Annual YTM, students served as conference journalists and photographers and produced the 2011 WorldLink Newspaper, recounting the event's topics and discussions.   Watch: The opening and closing plenary video-recordings are available via stream.   Pictures: Photos from the 2011 YTM conference are available on Facebook and through Michele Zousmer Photography.   Media: This year's event was covered by multiple outlets, including KUSI, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Red, Univision and Inside USD.

Conference speakers included:

Opening Plenary: Threats to Human Security

Tony Young is president of the San Diego City Council and has served the 4th District since 2004. His main areas of focus on the council are enhanced public safety, community and regional economic development, increasing opportunities for youth and improving neglected infrastructure. Young established the Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention and has been appointed by the council and mayor to several leadership positions, including vice-chair of the Committee on Public Safety and Neighborhood Services. He has a degree in socio-economics from Howard University and teaching credentials from the University of San Diego.

William Canny is the director of emergency operations at Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Working with a network of emergency technical advisors based in Baltimore, MD and overseas, he supervises a team that responds to disasters and helps communities to prepare for potential catastrophes. Prior to his current position, Canny was CRS’ country representative in Haiti where he was responsible for overseeing programs and church partner relations in the poorest country in the hemisphere. From 1998 to 2004, he was secretary general of the International Catholic Migration Commission, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Edward Laurance has been a full professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies since 1992. He is co-founder of the International Action Network on Small Arms, the largest transnational nongovernmental organization dealing with small arms, and is a consultant to the United Nations on the development of the Arms Trade Treaty. Laurance is the author of four books on conventional weapons proliferation and a leading expert on the global problem of small arms and light weapons proliferation and misuse.

Jonathon White is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) resident agent in charge of the San Ysidro Resident Office, San Diego Field Division. He has 20 years of experience in the field of law enforcement, first as a Sheriff’s Deputy in Tampa, FL, and later with the DEA in the Houston and Miami Field Divisions and the Office of Training in Quantico, VA. White coordinates with numerous federal, state and local enforcement entities on criminal investigations and intelligence associated with drug trafficking organizations operating illegally in and around the U.S.-Mexico border.

Meriam “Yam” Palma, featured in the WorldLink documentary film "Mindanao's Youth Working for Peace," is the information, education and communications officer for the Mindanao Peoples Caucus in the Philippines. She has a B.A. in film and audiovisual communication from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and has since worked with conflict-affected communities on the southern island of Mindanao to document their plight and highlight the voices of women and children. Palma conducts video and photography workshops with children and youth so they can learn to document their own experiences.

Student Moderator: Ardis Zhong (La Jolla High School)

 

Mindanao’s Youth Working for Peace - Film Premiere

Holly Cramer is a recent graduate of La Jolla High School and the first social media intern for the WorldLink Program at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. As such, she edited the WorldLink documentary “Mindanao’s Youth Working for Peace.” Cramer decided to defer college for one year to do volunteer projects in Mexico, Peru and Cambodia. While in high school, she was actively involved in Model United Nations and Youth and Government. Cramer has also interned for the San Diego Asian Film Foundation and produced her own short film.

Jaliah Mulay, featured in the documentary film “Mindanao’s Youth Working for Peace,” is program staff in the Ancestral Domain Protection Program of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus on the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines. She has a B.S. in international relations from Mindanao State University-Marawi City and is studying for a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Mindanao-Davao City. Mulay volunteers with the organization Kapamagogopa Inc., a Muslim organization that works to foster better understanding and mutual respect between various cultures and faiths.

Meriam “Yam” Palma, featured in theWorldLink documentary film "Mindanao's Youth Working for Peace," is the information, education and communications officer for the Mindanao Peoples Caucus in the Philippines. She has a B.A. in film and audiovisual communication from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and has since worked with conflict-affected communities on the southern island of Mindanao to document their plight and highlight the voices of women and children. Palma conducts video and photography workshops with children and youth so they can learn to document their own experiences.

Joseph Ruanto-Ramirez works at the Cross-Cultural Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is a Katutubo-American from three different nations – Igorot, Lipis and Moro. His activism revolves around indigenous rights and a critique of the nation-state. His primary research project is the deconstruction of the nation-state identity, narratives and culture as a homogenous identity. Looked at as Pilipino, Joseph deconstructs the nationalistic identity and opposes the nation-state title placed on him in the diaspora. He graduated from UCSD with a degree in ethnic studies.

Student Moderators: Sebastien Akarmann (Cathedral Catholic High School) and
Marcela Bucardo (Academy of Our Lady of Peace)

 

Do What You’ve Always Done, Get What You’ve Always Wanted

Scott Silverman is the founder and executive director of Second Chance, a human services agency in San Diego that is committed to breaking the cycle of unemployment, poverty and homelessness by offering job readiness training, employment placement assistance, mental health counseling, case management and affordable housing referrals to people who desire to change their lives. Over the past 15 years, Second Chance has assisted more than 24,000 economically disadvantaged and homeless persons in San Diego gain employment and leave poverty, gang affiliations and crime. Silverman is the author of Tell Me No, I Dare You: A Guide for Living a Heroic Life.

Student Moderator: Ardis Zhong (La Jolla High School)

 

Guns, Drugs and Money: Welcome to the Southwest Border

Edna Trigo-Valdez is a criminal intelligence analyst for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and previously worked in the Criminal Intelligence Detail and the Special Investigations Division of the East County Regional Gang Task Force. She works with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies on gang-related crimes and the Operation Safe Streets Initiative. Trigo-Valdez is also a member of the Border Working Group that produced the 2010 Cross-Border Kidnapping Threat Assessment for law enforcement. She has an M.B.A. in organizational leadership and a B.S. in criminal justice, both from National University.

Student Moderators: Alexander Dey Bueno (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana) and
Arianna Gomez (Otay Ranch High School)

 

International Adoptions – Child Trafficking in Disguise

Carmen Kcomt is program officer and victim services coordinator at the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition, working with victims of human trafficking. She is a family and juvenile court judge from Peru and has worked in the Domestic Violence Clinic in El Cajon as a volunteer through the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program, and as a family advocate at the Center for Community Solutions. Forced to leave Peru because of her work for human rights, Kcomt was granted political asylum in the United States. She has written over 100 published articles and books.

Student Moderators: Ambar Avalos (Academy of Our Lady of Peace) and
Carlos Nava (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana)

 

My Life in the World of Organized Crime

Francisco Mendoza works for Second Chance, a San Diego-based organization, and has over 30 years of experience working with the challenges of the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Enhanced by his personal experiences, Mendoza brings specialized skills in dealing with street gangs and international trafficking. He is an investigative gang consultant for ASTIS Consulting and does volunteer work with youth centers throughout the San Diego region, providing feedback and reinforcement to youth who are at high risk for gang involvement and criminal activity.

Kenny Biggs is housing services manager for Second Chance, a San Diego-based organization, and a facilitator and mentor for at-risk youth who are on probation. Through the GAME (Gang Awareness Mentoring Education) Program, Biggs educates youth on the prevention of gang violence and drug abuse. He is also a facilitator for relapse prevention classes and a life skills mentor for recently released adults participating in Second Chance’s PREP (Prisoner Re-entry Employment Program).

Student Moderator: Amanda Jereige (Academy of Our Lady of Peace)

 

Organized Crime and International Justice

Octavio Rodriguez is the project coordinator for the Justice in Mexico Project of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego. A native of Aguascalientes, Mexico, he has a law degree from Universidad Panamericana’s (UP) Law School and did postgraduate studies in Mexican civil law procedure at UP, and in human rights at Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Spain. Before coming to the United States, Rodriguez worked as chief of the Public Law Academy and full-time professor at UP, and prior to that was legal advisor on human rights and communal rural property for governmental offices in Mexico.

Student Moderators: Marian Dorst (La Jolla High School) and
Adia Sykes (Academy of Our Lady of Peace)

Threats to Human Security: It’s Not Just a Matter of Crime

Antonio Luigi Mazzitelli, an Italian national, is the regional representative for the Mexico, Central America and Caribbean region for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Previously, he served as regional representative for UNODC in Central and West Africa, covering 23 countries on the continent. He has worked for the U.N. International Drug Control Programme as programme officer of the Regional Section for Africa, and as assistant representative of its office in Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia. From 1999 to 2003, Mazzitelli was a UNODC representative in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Sttudent Moderators: Katie Athis (Academy of Our Lady Peace) and
Elena Bellaart (Patrick Henry High School)

 

A Marriage Made in Hell: Terrorism and Organized Crime

Dipak K. Gupta, born in India, is the Fred J. Hansen Professor of World Peace and a professor in the Department of Political Science at San Diego State University, where he is also the director of the International Security and Conflict Resolution program, a multidisciplinary program for undergraduates. Gupta earned his Ph.D. in economic and social development from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. He has been a visiting scholar at the Terrorism Prevention Branch at the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention in Vienna, Austria.

Student Moderators: Alexa Alonso (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana) and
Aly Barrett (Francis Parker High School)

 

Human Trafficking: A Global Problem

Juan Jacobo is supervisory special agent with Homeland Security Investigations in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he supervises the Human Smuggling/Human Trafficking Group. He began his federal law enforcement career with the U.S. Customs Service in 1991 as a customs inspector at various ports of entry in San Diego and Imperial Counties, and later served as special agent. Agent Jacobo holds a B.A. in liberal arts with an emphasis in bilingual and bicultural studies and a master’s degree in public administration from San Diego State University.

Anthony Rios is a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego. A graduate of the University of California, Irvine with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Agent Rios began his career with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2007 and has since been assigned to the Human Trafficking Unit. He has led and assisted in a variety of cases related to the smuggling and trafficking of persons along the southwest border and beyond. Agent Rios is also an instructor of the International Human Trafficking course with the California P.O.S.T. (Police Officers Standards and Training).

Student Moderators: Skylar Economy (La Jolla High School) and
Sara Linssen (Francis Parker High School)

 

Trafficking in Our Own Backyard

Jason King is a sergeant with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, where he has been for sixteen years. He has worked a variety of assignments, including detentions, patrol, community policing and investigations. Approximately four years ago, Sergeant King took over the administration of the San Diego Regional Anti-Trafficking Task Force.

Student Moderators: Luz Elena Aleman (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana) and
Olivia Johnson (Torrey Pines High School)

 

Youth Confront Drugs in Nepal

Dee Aker, deputy director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ), is a psychological anthropologist and conflict resolution professional with 30 years of experience working with international communities and individuals in transition. At the IPJ, Aker created and directs the Women PeaceMakers Program, WorldLink Program and the Nepal Peacebuilding Initiative. Currently her work in Nepal specializes in programs for youth, women, nongovernmental organizations and leaders assuming their rights as stakeholders and responsible actors in the creation of the new republic.

Chris Groth is an interim program officer at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ), where he provides support for the Nepal Peacebuilding Initiative. He was the graduate intern at the IPJ from 2008 to 2009, during which time he traveled with an IPJ team to Nepal to conduct participatory seminars on negotiation training and security issues. Groth received an M.A. in international relations from the University of San Diego (USD) and has degrees in social science and sociology from the University of California, Irvine.

Kanchan Jha is the founder and executive president of the organization Sano Paila (or “Little Step”). Sano Paila is a member-based, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that works in communities in and near Birganj in the Terai region of Nepal, based on the idea that often it just takes a “little step” to serve your community and create change. The organization’s development work includes Action for Addiction, which focuses on the prevention and control of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS; an income-generating project; and a youth awareness and communication program that focuses on peer-led educational projects.

Student Moderator: Joshua Clapper (The Bishop’s School)

 

Reducing Armed Violence: It’s the Guns

Edward Laurance has been a full professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies since 1992. He is co-founder of the International Action Network on Small Arms, the largest transnational nongovernmental organization dealing with small arms, and is a consultant to the United Nations on the development of the Arms Trade Treaty. Laurance is the author of four books on conventional weapons proliferation and a leading expert on the global problem of small arms and light weapons proliferation and misuse.

Student Moderator: Zachary Velasquez (Otay Ranch High School)

 

Is There Really Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking?

Lilia Velasquez, L.L.M., J.D., is an attorney in private practice. She is a certified specialist in immigration and nationality law, and for the last eight years has focused on defending women’s rights, particularly victims of domestic violence, refugee women and victims of trafficking for forced prostitution. She was recently part of a delegation of lawyers that traveled to Cambodia to learn about the complexities of human trafficking in Southeast Asia.

Student Moderators: Rishika Daryanani (High Tech High International) and
Olivia Williams (Torrey Pines High School)

 

Understanding the Drug Threat

Jonathon White is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) resident agent in charge of the San Ysidro Resident Office, San Diego Field Division. He has 20 years of experience in the field of law enforcement, first as a Sheriff’s Deputy in Tampa, FL., and later with the DEA in the Houston and Miami Field Divisions and the Office of Training in Quantico, VA. White coordinates with numerous federal, state and local enforcement entities on criminal investigations and intelligence associated with drug trafficking organizations operating illegally in and around the U.S.-Mexico border.

Student Moderators: Domenica Berman (San Dieguito Academy) and
Alexis Miranda (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana)

 

Human Trafficking: Global Trends, Local Solutions

William Canny is the director of emergency operations at Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Working with a network of emergency technical advisors based in Baltimore, MD and overseas, he supervises a team that responds to disasters and helps communities to prepare for potential catastrophes. Prior to his current position, Canny was CRS’ country representative in Haiti where he was responsible for overseeing programs and church partner relations in the poorest country in the hemisphere. From 1998 to 2004, he was secretary general of the International Catholic Migration Commission, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Student Moderator: Nina Church (La Jolla Country Day School)

 

Closing Plenary: Fighting Crimes Without Borders

Lilia Velasquez, L.L.M., J.D., is an attorney in private practice. She is a certified specialist in immigration and nationality law, and for the last eight years has focused on defending women’s rights, particularly victims of domestic violence, refugee women and victims of trafficking for forced prostitution. She was recently part of a delegation of lawyers that traveled to Cambodia to learn about the complexities of human trafficking in Southeast Asia.

Antonio Luigi Mazzitelli, an Italian national, is the regional representative for the Mexico, Central America and Caribbean region for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Previously, he served as regional representative for UNODC in Central and West Africa, covering 23 countries on the continent. He has worked for the U.N. International Drug Control Programme as programme officer of the Regional Section for Africa, and as assistant representative of its office in Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia. From 1999 to 2003, Mazzitelli was a UNODC representative in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Student Moderator: Olivia Williams (Torrey Pines High School)