What we do

Global Potential utilizes a six-stage model that gives selected youth the opportunity to chart their own path within the program. In addition to the general curriculum which focuses on leadership, life skills, global awareness, civic participation, and social entrepreneurship, the youth are able to choose from among the following 'vocational paths': education, health agriculture, cooking, nutrition, construction, art, journalism, technology, environmental conservation, and community service. Each of these fields is designed to be able to give youth a set of skills that will enable them to contribute to a rural village in the Dominican Republic, to their own communities in Brooklyn, and to their own employability. Following a 3 month local training period, youth travel as a team to live within a rural community and participate for 2 months in a community-identified development project while continuing to gain practical vocational experience with local professionals. Upon their return home, youth have the opportunity to engage over the next 6 months in ongoing vocational training with their mentors, or general support, depending on the path they have chosen for themselves. In a supportive environment of their peers and of professional program staff, they will have ample opportunity to discuss and reflect upon issues that affect communities locally and globally, and themselves personally. As a team, the youth will also be supported in designing an entrepreneurial idea for addressing a need in their own community, and upon their return home will present that idea to our partner organization, Ashoka Youth Venture, and numerous other organizations, for funding and support.

Program Description

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