Dear Global Potential Community,

We write to you with a long-overdue update. As we approach the end of 2020, we are proud to share with you that Global Potential stands strong as a worldwide community and alumni and youth-led nonprofit organization. In fact, we have just certified our GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency and stand out as an organization dedicated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices across our Staff, Board of Directors, and youth programming. If you have not had the chance to yet, we invite you to visit our newly refreshed website to learn about what we’ve been up to and who our leaders are at global-potential.org.

It is an understatement to say that 2020 has been a stressful year. We have seen the Coronavirus pandemic plague the world and as it touched all our communities, near and far. The grip of racial and economic injustice, white supremacist institutions, and fascism have caused those most marginalized populations of our society to become more vulnerable than ever before. Climate change and the destruction of our natural resources has reached an all-time high. For many of us, this has been a scary and violent ending to the decade.

And yet, in a world where so much needs to be improved and so many wrongs need to be righted, GP youth continue to come together to share ideas, address injustices, collaborate on new visions, build better communities and work towards a brighter future. Since our founding in 2007, we have designed and implemented youth empowerment experiences with communities in urban neighborhoods and rural villages in the USA, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Haiti, Senegal, and France. In 2012 our programs in France & Senegal branched out as an independent French association and in 2017 we collaborated with our long-time partners at the JUMP! Foundation to build the JUMP! Development Fund, bringing our model of youth-led open spaces and life-changing impact to underserved communities in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Kenya. 

We know you are familiar with GP’s storied history and humble beginnings. GP youth often come from places where accessing basic opportunities can be deeply challenging.  Their personal histories include stories of migration, economic poverty, inequity, and loss. However, GP youth are also resilient, powerful, creative, intelligent, and innovative. Since our founding in 2007, we have worked with over 500 youth fellows and over 5000 youth participants. And, did you know that today, nearly fifteen years later, we stand at the forefront of designing and implementing innovative blended online pedagogy? During this historic program year, we have succeeded in providing our impactful youth leadership conference and school-based programming throughout the global Coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, we have expanded our programming to include a digital public health campaign focused on grassroots COVID-19 prevention efforts.

The GP story has traveled the world several times over; our impact has been shared in multiple languages and can be felt in the lives of young people around the globe. Yet the time has come for GP to return home to its core foundational values, evolve its learning pedagogy, and strengthen its networks. As of 2020, we have decided to return our energy to our founding communities of New York City, the Bateys of the southwestern Dominican Republic, the dense urban communities of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the ‘campo’ villages in Sebaco, Nicaragua. The needs of the youth in these communities have changed drastically over the past decade and a half and we are choosing to focus on strengthening local networks, empowering the hundreds of GP alumni who are still connected to these locations, and designing powerful and relevant learning experiences that will serve the current youth in addressing the unique challenges of the coming decade.

To that end, we are proud to announce that GP has achieved a long-term goal of being led entirely by alumni! The first three paid staff we hired in 2010 were alumni of our program, and now in 2020, our entire paid staff team of seven are all alumni. Our Chairman and more than half of our Board of Directors are also alumni. We are extremely proud of what we have built together over the years and exceedingly grateful for each individual’s continued support and participation in this collective effort. More now than ever, our commitment to social justice and youth empowerment stands steadfast. 

In solidarity and with gratitude,

Graciela Rodriguez Carmona, Community Engagement Director and Alumna 2011

Sarah Vázquez-Xu, Managing Education Director and Alumna 2012

Samy Enecia, Latin America Program Director and Alumnus 2008

Jean Ulysses, Chairman and Alumnus 2009

Frank Cohn, Chairman Emeritus and Founder

Peter Maugeri, Board Member and Co-founder

Rachelle Gaspard, Board Secretary and Alumna 2008

Cesialina Graham, Board Member and Alumna 2015

Adam Michaels, Founding Board Member