A matter on many minds is whether the young generation is ready to take up positions of power and live up to society’s expectations. Francesca Martonffy, director at Global Changemakers, says “there is often a misconception, that ‘matters that affect the world’ are something discussed by people ‘in charge,’ in the halls of power of distant world capitals.”

In this exclusive interview with Toonari Post, Martonffy says what the young people do or say is as relevant to the world as the latest meeting of G8 finance ministers. She also speaks about Global Changemakers’ mission to empower young people to create social impact on the societies of the world.

Toonari Post (TP): Tell us about yourself, your studies and your work.

Francesca Martonffy (FM): I come from a family of five sisters and grew up with a sense that what mattered most was using your unique set of skills to give back to the world.

Not surprisingly, I studied political science in university and international security and political economy in graduate school because I thought learning as much about the world as I could was probably a good first step in figuring out how to give back. I’ve worked across sectors – in Washington DC where I helped run an NGO focused on international affairs education, in the policy sphere, at the World Economic Forum, where I was a Global Leadership Fellow and now as Director of Global Changemakers.

While I’ve worked across a large number of issues from foreign policy to education to social entrepreneurship, what drives me continues to be the same values I learned from my mother – learn, give, and grow as much as you can. And never take yourself too seriously!

TP: Global Changemakers was inspired by the fact that young people were not being given a voice at major world events such as the World Economic Forum. Are young people now given a chance to participate in matters that affect the world?

FM: I think there is often a misconception that ‘matters that affect the world’ are something discussed by people ‘in charge’ in the halls of power of distant world capitals. Yet, there are three billion individuals under the age of twenty-five today. Surely, what these individuals learn, experience, and create on a daily basis is as relevant to affecting the world as the latest meeting of G8 finance ministers.

We all – young and old alike – decide on a daily basis how we interact with the world and what kind of impact we make on it. In terms of whether young voices are being heard at major world gatherings, I think institutions are broadening the set of stakeholders with whom they engage and generally doing a better job across the board.

Due to a number of factors, including social media, institutions are finding themselves being held accountable to wider and more diverse sets of stakeholders than ever before.

TP: What is the scope of The Global Changemakers movement?

FM: Global Changemakers is a British Council funded global youth network of social entrepreneurs and community activists from 126 countries worldwide. Its mission is to empower youth to catalyse positive social change, something which it achieves through:learning and teaching; Global and regional summits, community and personal capacity building supported by free online curriculum.

TP: What difference has Global Changemakers made since it came into existence in 2007?

FM: There are currently nearly 800 Changemakers, more than 200,000 young people involved in Global Changemakers activities each year, and four million beneficiaries of projects developed and run by Changemakers. Since its inception in 2007, Global Changemakers has organised and run over 20 regional and global youth workshops across the world – in Amman, Beirut, Cape Town, Doha, Delhi, Gaborone, Harare, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and London, among others.

Global Changemakers have been invited to participate in World Economic Forum events in Cartagena, Dar es Salaam, Sharm el Sheikh, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro and Davos, the Clinton Global Initiative, G20, UN World Climate Conference, UNESCO Peace Summits, Women Deliver, and the launch of the World Bank’s Youth Anti-Corruption network, among others.

Individual and group projects address key global issues and facilitate joint working and create shared values: 193 projects in 78 countries supported to date. The Global Changemakers community is represented at high-level events and disseminates best practices in youth-led development

TP: What challenges have you faced in bringing together young people together from all over the world?

FM: Of course, there are the administrative challenges of tickets and passports and visas which can quickly become all-consuming and quite complex when you’re trying to physically bring together individuals from so many different countries, some of whom have never travelled before. But generally speaking, we haven’t faced too many challenges.

It doesn’t mean that the journey of becoming a Changemaker is an easy one. We’ve had many Changemakers tell us that attending a Global Changemakers summit has been quite difficult because they have been forced to confront certain issues or had their views or beliefs challenged in fundamental ways.

The challenge for us as the organizers has been to ensure that we create an environment of respect and openness where all views are fairly heard and where individuals can draw their own conclusions.

TP: What is your opinion on the current efforts of female empowerment in developing countries?

FM: I think it’s important to start by recognizing how much things have progressed for women in the last fifty years – in developed and developing world alike. Yet women still bear the brunt of many of the issues facing the developing world – lack of access to quality education, poor health, poverty, and limited economic mobility.

In terms of the present efforts, one would have to break it down country-by-country to see what is working, where, and why. Generally, however, most of the new data from development institutions like the World Bank is encouraging. Things are getting better for many women. But there is still much work to do.

TP: Tell us a bit about the forthcoming Euro-Africa Youth Summit in Brussels.

FM: The Euro-Africa Summit in Brussels will bring 60 new Changemakers from 34 countries into the Global Changemakers family. We’re planning five intense days of activities where participants will learn about the key economic, political, and social issues facing Africa and Europe, gain concrete skills like project management and fundraising to better design and deliver their grass-roots work, and connect to other young activists in order to exchange knowledge and best practices.The summit is designed to amp up the current skill set of participants so they return to their home countries able to do even more.

TP: Are there specific requirements for someone to become a member of the Global Changemakers?

FM: Yes. In order to become a Global Changemaker, an individual must be selected for one of our events. Selection criteria are:

• Age (we work with those between the ages of 16 and 25, though different ones of our events target different subgroups in that bracket)
• Track record (individuals must have a proven track record of social entrepreneurship, community activism or volunteer work)
• English (individuals must possess good spoken command of English so that they can share ideas and best practices with their fellow Changemakers)

However, to be active in the larger Global Changemakers community – as over 15,000 are already either on our website and/or Facebook – all you need is an interest in making a positive change. While we will never be able to meet the demand – we have 10-20 times more applications than places available for our events– our wider community and online curricula are a great way for all who are interested to engage and to make effective change in their local communities.

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The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort is the newest five-star hotel and resort in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, the federal capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is the first St. Regis hotel brand of the Starwood Hotels group to be opened in the Middle East region. The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort is the second hotel to open in Saadyat Island after the grand opening of the Park Hyatt Hotel in November 2011.

The exterior of the resort is designed using Mediterranean architecture, while the interior decor is modern. All the resort’s 377 rooms range from different types and rates and overlook either the Saadiyat beach or Saadyat Beach Golf Club, which was designed by Gary Players, a South African professional golfer.

The Iridium Spa that is featured in the resort is the first from its brand to be in the Middle East. This spa has 12 suites for traditional and international remedies. There are a lot of fine dining options with nine attached restaurants that serve the hotel guests with different cuisines from around the world. There are also luxury residences for sale. These residences consist of 32 villas that have 4 or 5 bedrooms with 24-hour room service.

The starting price of each villa is AED 19,597,783.00 ( $ 5,335,488 USD) as mentioned on the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) website. TDIC is the master developer of the Saadiyat Island and other Islands within the Abu Dhabi Emirate. The Saadiyat Island is the home of Zayed National Museum, Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, the Performing Arts Center, Maritime Museum, and Abu Dhabi-New York University. The Saadiyat Island literally means the “The Island of Happiness” in Arabic.

The entire project’s construction is expected to be finished in 2020, which would make the island the main cultural center of the oil-rich Emirate. Saadiyat Island is a natural island that is a driving distance of 20 minutes from the Abu Dhabi International Airport and a 15-minute drive from Abu Dhabi City downtown.

There are two public bus routes to ease the transportation from Abu Dhabi City to the Saadiyat Island. These routes are 404 and 405. The other option is to hire a taxi to travel to the island.

In February 2012, Starwood Hotels will have the second St. Regis brand hotel in the Middle East, located in Doha City, the capital of Qatar. Also, in May 2012, another St. Regis hotel will be opened in Abu Dhabi City.

Image Courtesy of    http://www.saadiyattheresidences.com

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TED, the nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” has opened registration for its TED2013 conference – with a twist. In order to unearth some of the world’s most remarkable voices and ideas, TED will host a 14-city global audition series.  Organizers expect to fill at least half of next year’s program, themed “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered,” with people they discover through the process.

“The search was borne of a realization that TED’s best moments often come from unexpected places. We thought, why not leverage TED’s expanding global footprint to find even more of those undiscovered voices, to do something completely different?” said Chris Anderson, TED’s curator.  “The search is designed to bring together the most remarkable lineup in TED’s history. Given what we’ve already seen from our global TED community, we’re confident we’ll be wowed.”

Audition events are confirmed on six continents: in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Doha, Johannesburg, London,Nairobi, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, Tunis and Vancouver – all between April and June 2012. TED has tapped local TEDx organizers in each city to produce the events.

Online audition applications, which include the option to upload a short video, will be available for each city at least two months before the audition. From those submissions, TED will invite 30 of the best applicants to each audition, where speakers will have 3-6 minutes to deliver a proposed talk in English. Anyone – with the exception of those who have already spoken at an official TED Conference or have a talk on TED.com – is eligible to apply to auditions in his or her nearest city. In some exceptional cases, TED will contribute to travel costs.

After auditions in each city have been held, TED will post video of all candidates’ talks on TED.com, inviting the public to vote for their top choices. Many of the 50 most popular selections will officially be invited to speak or perform at TED2013, and will make up at least half of the program.   TED will offer coaching and audio-visual support as needed, as well as cover travel and accommodation to Long Beach, California.  Members of the top 50 who aren’t a fit for the program will nonetheless receive global recognition on TED.com.

“Every TED conference weaves together a surprising mix of voices – and 2013 will be no exception,” said TED director and talent search judge Kelly Stoetzel.  “By adding the emerging trailblazers, under-celebrated sages, and hidden geniuses we find on this global search to our usual lineup of well-known speakers, we hope to deliver the most thrilling TED conference yet.”

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/TED

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