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One Young World Summit
At One Young World, a better future starts by inspiring and empowering the next generation of leaders.
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t was equal parts awe-inspiring, intimidating, and energiz- ing,” said Anne Marie Toccket, director of the Pittsburgh Hostel Project and an attendee at the 2012 One Young
World Summit in Pittsburgh on Oct. 18–22 — the first time the annual conference for young leaders was held in the United States. “It was [incredible] being around some of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever encountered from every corner of the world.” The conference brings together “ambassadors,” ages 18
to 30, who are committed to making an impact in their com- munities, and who must apply to attend. “They share their vision, views, and ideas,” said Kate Robertson, co-founder of One Young World, the London-based charity that organizes the summit, “to create practical and achievable commitments for positive change.” Approximately 1,300 ambassadors from 183 countries attended the 2012 summit, which kicked off with a Q&A with former President Bill Clinton. “It’s the larg- est gathering of its kind,” Robertson said, “and the only event that brings together [this] many countries in one place, other than the Olympics.” The summit’s discussions are divided into seven key subject
areas: education, global business, health, human rights, leader- ship and governance, sustainable development, and transpar- ency and integrity. “Each of the plenary sessions throws up extremely interesting viewpoints,” Robertson said, “and mov- ing stories from the delegates and also the counselors.” The counselors are inspirational leaders carefully selected
by One Young World Summit organizers to mentor attendees. At the 2012 summit, they included former Secretary General
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of the United Nations Kofi Annan, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, and Pakistani poet, writer, and journalist Fatima Bhutto. “The key to One Young World,” Robertson said, “is that following the summit, the ambassadors will action real change in their own countries and communities and, using the lasting connections One Young World enables them to maintain, on a global scale.” Since the summit’s inception in 2010, “four million people
have been directly impacted by the work of One Young World Ambassadors,” according to the One Young World website. Gaining inspiration and vital connections from the summit, delegates have gone on to engineer more than 125 projects and initiatives involving more than 100 countries. “Projects range from polar expeditions to raise awareness of climate change,” Robertson said, “to initiatives to bring electricity to remote villages in rural India, to campaigns that aim to tackle unemployment and encourage entrepreneurship.” One particularly meaningful campaign that emerged from
the 2011 summit in Zurich, Switzerland, is “Wake Up Call,” the “brainchild of delegates who announced that Feb. 21, 2012, would be an international day of action,” according to Robertson. Their initiative inspired young people around the world, many of whom did not attend the summit, to “call on their political and business leaders to wake up and take action on specific areas of concern,” Robertson said — including job creation, environmental cleanliness, politi- cal accountability, and equal rights. On the big day, young people in more than 80 countries hit the phones, streets, and keyboards to make their case. In Mexico, they called on