Where Can We Find Inspiration During Such Challenging Times?

We can all use a bright shining spark of inspiration and it was overwhelmingly joyful to find a gigantic dose of it on Thursday evening at LearnServe International’s annual gala. LearnServe International is a local non-profit organization that understands and believes in the power of young people to create necessary social change. Their programs help high school students in DC and around the world to change the world for the better, through learning the necessary skills to develop social entrepreneurship ventures.

LearnServe’s fellowship program gathers an impressive cohort of high school students –typically freshman and sophomores — to identify an issue that concerns them, and to develop a venture to tackle the problem. One venture highlighted during the gala seeks to make language learning more practical and accessible to students. Another seeks to combat female genital mutilation. Many fellows go onto the incubator program in order to further develop their initiatives, and the program also runs a long-standing cultural exchange in Zambia that has grown into a fellowship program there. And LearnServe is growing to develop programs in Paraguay, Jamaica, South Africa. And Costa Rica and Baltimore are building LearnServe programs as well!

The Learn-Serve website sums it up quite well:

“LearnServe International equips high school students from diverse backgrounds with the entrepreneurial vision, tenacity, confidence, and leadership skills needed to tackle social challenges at home and abroad.”

Check out their website to get involved. DC Counseling Center is honored to sponsor the annual Gala and it was an absolute joy to be back in person this year to celebrate the hard work and wide-reaching impact of such inspiring young people.

With young LearnServe students at the helm, the future looks bright indeed!