WorldLink Youth Town Meeting Highlights

16th Annual Youth Town Meeting

Cover designed by Troy Chatterton, Rancho Bernardo High School

The 16th Annual YTM was held on Thursday, January 24, 2013 for over 750 students from San Diego County and Baja Mexico. The student-selected WorldLink theme was "Changing Worlds: Media's Power and Influence," which focused on social media's revolutionary change, the relevance of traditional media, the relationship between media and government, media as a humanitarian voice and media as a global activist.     Online Reader: Access the 2013 Reader today! The annual WorldLink Reader is produced by high school interns, and provides fellow youth important background knowledge on topics of WorldLink's Youth Town Meeting.   Pictures: Pictures of the 2013 YTM are available on Facebook.   Watch: The Opening Plenary and Closing Plenary are available via stream, along with the YTM briefing sessions featuring speakers, Gloria Garrett, Wafa Garbout and Dimiter Kenarov.

Registration: Unlike other WorldLink events, the Youth Town Meeting is by invitation only. Over 750 students attend each year's keystone event. If you are interested in learning how you can attend, please e-mail Debbie M. Martinez.

 

Conference speakers included:

Opening Plenary - The Power and Influence of Media

Santosh Shah is the founder and president of Today’s Youth Asia (TYA) – a multimedia and youth organization based in Kathmandu, Nepal that covers peace, development, education, conflict and security issues. Shah served as a panelist on the United Nations Youth Advisory Panel from 2008 to 2010. He also received the title “Youth Ambassador for Peace” from the Youth Federation for World Peace. Over the past 10 years, he has gained recognition as a progressive youth leader, providing opportunities to Nepalese youth through several innovative youth-oriented programs and projects.

Wafa Garbout is an 18-year-old baccalaureate candidate in the arts from Tunisia. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Micro-Scholarship and participated in the Access Leadership Program in March 2012, hosted by the U.S. Department of State in Tunis, Tunisia. After experiencing the revolution in Tunisia in 2011, Garbout helped establish and became the vice president of WeYouth Tunisia – an organization focusing on reinforcing leadership, citizenship and volunteerism among youth to develop a culture of dialogue. Garbout is also a member of Generation Association and Citizenship, Junior Chamber International, the Deutscher Tunesischer Klub and a debater with Young Arab Voices.

Dimiter Kenarov is a freelance journalist, born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey, and has experience on social media and its impact on the environmental activism community in Eastern Europe. Kenarov is a contributing editor at the Virginia Quarterly Review. His work has also appeared in The International Herald Tribune, Boston Review, Esquire, The Nation and The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, among many others.

Kim Vallejo currently serves as Room to Read’s community and youth outreach associate, overseeing “Students Helping Students.” Through this program, youth, schools, educators and parents raise awareness and funds through interactive media outlets to support Room to Read’s work in Asia and Africa. Vallejo has worked and interned with the United Nations Deptartment of Economic and Social Affairs, Save the Children, the Boys and Girls Club and AmeriCorps. Vallejo holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a master in public affairs from Cornell University.

Student Moderator: Alexander Dey Bueno (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana)

Whose Media is It?

Santosh Shah is the founder and president of Today’s Youth Asia (TYA) – a multimedia and youth organization based in Kathmandu, Nepal that covers peace, development, education, conflict and security issues. Shah served as a panelist on the United Nations Youth Advisory Panel from 2008 to 2010. He also received the title “Youth Ambassador for Peace” from the Youth Federation for World Peace. Over the past 10 years, he has gained recognition as a progressive youth leader, providing opportunities to Nepalese youth through several innovative youth-oriented programs and projects.

Student Moderator: Isaac Hortiales (Instituto Mexico Americano Noroeste)

Evoking Change: The Power of Photography

Gloria Garrett is a fine art photographer specializing in landscapes, wildlife in their natural habitat and indigenous cultures. Through Glorious Journey Photography, Dr. Garrett’s mission is to two-fold: to inspire a deeper understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature, and to inspire respect for indigenous cultures. Garrett received an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Texas and a Ph.D. in healing science from the Center of Energy Medicine in San Diego.

Student Moderator: Katherine Guerrero (High Tech High International)

An Arab Spring Story of Social Media

Wafa Garbout is an 18-year-old baccalaureate candidate in the arts from Tunisia. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Micro-Scholarship and participated in the Access Leadership Program in March 2012, hosted by the U.S. Department of State in Tunis, Tunisia. After experiencing the revolution in Tunisia in 2011, Garbout helped establish and became the vice president of WeYouth Tunisia – an organization focusing on reinforcing leadership, citizenship and volunteerism among youth to develop a culture of dialogue. Garbout is also a member of Generation Association and Citizenship, Junior Chamber International, the Deutscher Tunesischer Klub and a debater with Young Arab Voices.

Student Moderator: Rebecca Young (Academy of Our Lady of Peace)

Communicating Beyond Words

The AjA Project’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a leadership program providing innovative and educational opportunities to refugee and at-risk youth. As YAC members, Beto Soto, Fadi Ghanim, Famo Musa, Krystal Byrd, Nashwan Abbas, Nazar Alabid, Riva Oraha and Roodi Zuhair come from diverse backgrounds, with their countries of origin being Mexico, Iraq, Kenya and the United States. Ranging in age from 17 to 23 years old, The AjA Project’s YAC have explored topics such as diversity, cross-cultural social discourse, immigration and social advocacy through the use of photography, while broadening their “understanding of the world and the people in it,” according to Alabid and Byrd.

Student Moderator: Larissa Guerrero (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana)

Crisis Reporting Roles of Journalists

Mark Schulte is the national education director for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting – an innovative, award-winning nonprofit journalism organization. Schulte has taught global issues-based journalism for nearly 10 years, and founded an international online network of high school reporters, with members in more than 50 countries. Prior to joining the Pulitzer Center, he worked as a magazine writer and editor, covering politics and education in Virginia. Schulte holds a master of arts in interactive journalism from American University.

Student Moderator: Wendy Sanchez (San Diego Early Middle College)

Media Platforms for Social Activism

Scot Chisolm is co-founder and the current CEO and chairman of StayClassy – a fast growing San Diego-based company that develops an online fundraising product used by thousands of nonprofit organizations around the world. The company also hosts the Classy Awards, the largest philanthropic awards show in the country. Chisolm was selected by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the top five most promising social entrepreneurs in America. Chisolm holds a bachelor of arts in industrial engineering and operations research, with a mechanical engineering concentration, from the Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Student Moderator: Aric Yael Bandera (Instituto Mexico Americano Noroeste)

Governmental Challenges: Media Relations

Amy Grier, a career diplomat, currently serves as the public affairs officer for the U.S. Department of State in Tijuana, Mexico. Grier is responsible for media relations and cultural affairs for the Baja California peninsula and the state of Sonora. Prior to her current position, she served in Washington, D.C. as the Mexico and Canada public diplomacy desk officer in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and as a policy officer on the Western Hemisphere team in the Bureau of International Information Programs. Grier has also served at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia; Seoul, Korea; and Dusseldorf, Germany.

Student Moderator: Adrian Alfredo Estrada (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana)

Beyond Tradition: Photography in Ethiopia

John Rowe, founder of Omo Child, is a photographer and filmmaker who trained at the U.S. Navy School of Photography. He has spent years traveling the world photographing cultures in Southeast Asia, India, Mongolia, China and Africa. On his journey to southwest Ethiopia, he photographed and documented the struggles of the people in the Omo River Valley. Rowe recently joined Lale Labuko’s efforts to stop the devastating Mingi practice and to bring education to the region.

Student Moderator: Kori Canale (The Bishop's School)

Shifting Perceptions: A North Korea Story

Sarah Palmer is a former rescue team leader for the organization Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). She now serves as a liaison between LiNK and Rescue Teams worldwide. She equips LiNK’s grassroots teams with fundraising ideas, guidance and resources that help them reach their goals of rescuing North Korean refugees and shifting public perception on North Korea in their local communities. Palmer was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in international relations.

Justin Wheeler is vice president of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) and oversees all global awareness and grassroots efforts of the organization. His vision is to shift public perception on North Korea away from the politics and onto the people. Through innovative campaigns and programs, he hopes to engage people around the world and offer direct and meaningful ways to impact this issue. Justin brings incredible passion to the team and utilizes his prior experience in grassroots campaigns and student mobilization.

Student Moderator: Alexander Dey Bueno (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana)

A Voice for the Environment: Social Media

Dimiter Kenarov is a freelance journalist, born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey, and has experience on social media and its impact on the environmental activism community in Eastern Europe. Kenarov is a contributing editor at the Virginia Quarterly Review. His work has also appeared in The International Herald Tribune, Boston Review, Esquire, The Nation and The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, among many others.

Student Moderator: Tomer Mate-Solomon (The Bishop's School)

Digital Tools: Empowering Youth Worldwide

Meena Nanji is co-founder of GlobalGirl Media – an organization that teaches the tools of digital media to teenage girls in underserved communities, inspiring community activism and social change. Raised in Kenya and educated in the United Kingdom, Nanji is an award-winning independent film/videomaker whose work focuses on explorations of race, cultural diasporas, gender rights as seen across the backdrop of social justice and human rights. Her documentary View From A Grain of Sand, about women’s rights in Afghanistan, has won several film festival awards and was broadcast on PBS and internationally.

Student Moderator: Ignacio Salinas (Federal Lazaro Cardenas)

 

The Newspaper Industry: Dying or Adapting?

Gina Lew is a former award-winning broadcast journalist. During her career, she worked for CBS, NBC and FOX News in Los Angeles and San Diego. Lew takes a look at the dying industry of the newspaper business, which impacts both the media and society at large. Lew received a bachelor of arts in broadcast journalism and English and a master of arts in communications from the University of Southern California. She is a professor of practice in the Department of Communication Studies at the Univeristy of San Diego.

Student Moderator: Chi Chi Chang (The Bishop's School)

Radio Shangri-La: A Youth Radio Project

Lisa Napoli is an author and journalist. She served as a reporter and host for the public radio show Marketplace and as a columnist for MSNBC. She also covered the Internet revolution and the cultural impact of technology for the New York Times. Napoli is the author of Radio Shangri-La, which details her journey to the ancient Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where she helped establish its first youth-oriented radio station, Kuzoo FM.

Student Moderator: Luz Elena Castellanos Aleman (CETYS Universidad, Tijuana)

Promoting Literacy through Interactive Media

Kim Vallejo currently serves as Room to Read’s community and youth outreach associate, overseeing “Students Helping Students.” Through this program, youth, schools, educators and parents raise awareness and funds through interactive media outlets to support Room to Read’s work in Asia and Africa. Vallejo has worked and interned with the United Nations Deptartment of Economic and Social Affairs, Save the Children, the Boys and Girls Club and AmeriCorps. Vallejo holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a master in public affairs from Cornell University.

Student Moderator: Marija Bosnjak (Academy of Our Lady of Peace)

Portraits of Unspoken Realities

Bear Guerra is a photographer who focuses on humanitarian, environmental and social justice issues. Guerra was the photographer and creative director for the (In)Visible Project, which is a mobile, multimedia installation that offers a human portrait of homelessness in San Diego. Guerra is a native of San Antonio and now lives in Los Angeles. Guerra and his wife collaborate under the name Fonografia Collective to produce local and international print, radio and multimedia stories about human rights and social justice.

Student Moderator: Armand Binombe (International Rescue Committee & San Diego High School)

 

Closing Plenary - Changing Worlds: Our Role

Lisa Napoli is an author and journalist. She served as a reporter and host for the public radio show Marketplace and as a columnist for MSNBC. She also covered the Internet revolution and the cultural impact of technology for the New York Times. Napoli is the author of Radio Shangri-La, which details her journey to the ancient Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where she helped establish its first youth-oriented radio station, Kuzoo FM.

Meena Nanji is co-founder of GlobalGirl Media – an organization that teaches the tools of digital media to teenage girls in underserved communities, inspiring community activism and social change. Raised in Kenya and educated in the United Kingdom, Nanji is an award-winning independent film/videomaker whose work focuses on explorations of race, cultural diasporas, gender rights as seen across the backdrop of social justice and human rights. Her documentary View From A Grain of Sand, about women’s rights in Afghanistan, has won several film festival awards and was broadcast on PBS and internationally.

Scot Chisolm is co-founder and the current CEO and chairman of StayClassy – a fast growing San Diego-based company that develops an online fundraising product used by thousands of nonprofit organizations around the world. The company also hosts the Classy Awards, the largest philanthropic awards show in the country. Chisolm was selected by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the top five most promising social entrepreneurs in America. Chisolm holds a bachelor of arts in industrial engineering and operations research, with a mechanical engineering concentration, from the Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Student Moderator: Armand Binombe (International Rescue Committee & San Diego High School)