16 Oct
Global Solvers Accelerator Projects, Melton Community News, News, Senior Fellow Initiatives

Co-Lab Chronicles

What Ghana Taught Me About Social Change When I travelled to Accra, Ghana, for the Global Solvers Accelerator (GSA) Co-Lab, I thought I was travelling to another country to learn, meet people and exchange ideas about social change. I returned with something much harder to put into a presentation or a report. I returned with friendships, questions, laughter, difficult conversations and a feeling of connection with a continent that seemed strangely familiar, even though it was my first time experiencing it this way.There is something powerful about travelling to a place you have only known through stories, maps and other people's...

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05 Oct
Global Solvers Accelerator Projects, Melton Community News, News, Senior Fellow Initiatives

Reflections From the Co-Lab

What Ghana Taught Me About Social Change In July 2026, I had the opportunity to travel to Accra, Ghana, to take part in the Global Solvers Co-Lab, the week-long in-person component of the Melton Foundation’s Global Solvers Accelerator. The program brings together emerging social impact leaders from around the world to strengthen their leadership, refine their projects, exchange knowledge, and explore how collective action can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. For me, however, the Co-Lab became much more than a professional learning experience. It was an opportunity to listen, question, connect, and reflect on what it truly means to work...

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18 Aug
Global Solvers Accelerator Projects, Melton Community News, News, Senior Fellow Initiatives

Stitched with Purpose

There is a bag sitting on a table somewhere in Accra right now. It was made by hand, stitch by careful stitch, by a woman in the West Bank of Palestine. She made it at home, between the school run and dinner, between one responsibility and the next. She never met the person who would carry it. She may never know that it travelled across two continents to become part of a gathering of young global leaders. But she made it with full attention, full skill, and something that I can only describe as insistence: the insistence that what she produces...

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10 Jul
Global Solvers Accelerator Projects, News, Press

The Melton Foundation’s 2025 Impact Report: A Year of Growth & Renewal

Every impact report begins with numbers. Ours begins with a woman in rural Benin. She is one of the more than 60% of women in her region without access to financial digital tools, and one of the many without a bank account. In her community, only 37% of women have one, compared to 48% of men. For her, the digital economy was a door she could not open.In 2025, the Bridging the Digital Gap project team had the opportunity to contribute to work already being led by the Batonga Foundation, an organization working to expand digital access for rural women...

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28 May
Events, Global Solvers Accelerator Projects, News

2025 Global Solvers Accelerator Impact Report

The Global Solvers Accelerator is a ten-month leadership and peer-learning journey that brings together social impact leaders from different contexts and cultures to learn across differences, strengthen their leadership, and work towards meaningful change in their communities. Now available, the 2025 Global Solvers Accelerator (GSA) Impact Report captures the experiences, growth, and outcomes of this year's cohort. For the first time, it pairs survey data with participants' own Most Significant Change stories, offering a fuller picture of what changed in them and their projects and why. A Diverse Global Cohort.The 2025 cohort brought together 20 participants representing 18 nationalities across every world...

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07 Sep
Global Citizenship Insights, Global Citizenship Learning Program, News

The Most Sought-After Skills for Global Citizenship in Today’s World

Global citizenship is not a fixed identity but a dynamic practice shaped by the skills we cultivate to engage with a complex and unequal world. In an era defined by rapid globalization, political polarization, and shrinking civic spaces, the ability to think critically, act responsibly, and collaborate across difference has never been more urgent. Beyond ideals of empathy and solidarity, global citizenship requires concrete competencies that enable individuals and communities to sustain meaningful change. From reimagining diversity and inclusion, to building financial resilience, to strengthening intercultural competence, the skills explored through the Global Citizenship Learning Program highlight the foundations of...

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29 Aug
Events, Global Citizenship Insights, Global Citizenship Learning Program, News

Building Future-Ready Global Citizens: How AI is Shaping Leadership at the Global Citizenship Learning Program

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has swiftly moved from futuristic concept to everyday reality, dramatically transforming how we learn, work, and address global challenges. From diagnosing diseases to optimizing climate models, AI expands human potential, but alongside these benefits come complex risks: algorithmic bias, deep-fakes that erode trust, significant environmental costs of high-performance computing, and ethical quandaries in how tech is developed and deployed. To lead effectively in this evolving landscape, tomorrow’s leaders need more than curiosity, they require hands-on skills, ethical awareness, critical thinking, and collaboration.At the 2025 Global Citizenship Convention (GCC) in Jena, the Global Citizenship Learning Program (GCLP) guided...

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25 Aug
Global Citizenship Learning Program, News, Projects

‘Edcetera’: AI & Equity, Building Inclusive Futures Through Education and Collaboration

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the world of work, education, and social interaction. While AI presents enormous opportunities for innovation and efficiency, it also poses a serious risk of deepening existing inequalities. Marginalized groups such as women, people from under-resourced communities, individuals with disabilities, or those marginalized by caste and class are particularly vulnerable to being left behind if they are not given early, inclusive access to digital and AI literacy.According to (OXFAM), over 90% of jobs globally now require some level of digital literacy, yet in many countries, less than 30% of low-income students have...

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25 Aug
Global Citizenship Learning Program, News, Projects

Nurturing Creative Impact: The Sanaa Initiative and the TRAFO Jena Experience

In today's rapidly evolving world, local artists and changemakers often grapple with profound challenges that affect both their professional and personal well-being. A 2024 survey found that 70% of professionals in creative sectors experienced burnout in the past year, a rate notably higher than the 53% reported among workers overall (Livespot). Similarly, over 50% of artists report feelings of isolation due to fragmented support networks and limited access to collaborative opportunities, with a 2024 study by the National Endowment for the Arts finding that 46.4% of arts creators reported not belonging to a social group, highlighting the pervasive sense of...

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31 Jul
Global Citizenship Insights, Global Citizenship Learning Program, News, Senior Fellow Initiatives

From Fellowship to Leadership: A Life of Public Service and Global Connection

In a recent conversation, the Melton Foundation Executive Office connected with Carlos Rilling Tenorio, Senior Melton Fellow and Executive Director in the Office of the President at the University of Chile. A lifelong champion of social equity and global citizenship, Carlos leads strategic initiatives in university governance, institutional planning, and international cooperation.His impact extends beyond national borders. He represented the University of Chile in the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and was selected for the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Whether contributing to Chile’s 2023 constitutional process or fostering global...

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31 Jul
Events, Global Solvers Accelerator Projects, News, Press

The Global Solvers Co-Lab 2025: A Week of Deep Impact in Gotha, Germany

From 6-12 July 2025, the Global Solvers Co-Lab (Co-Lab) brought young social change leaders from across the globe to Gotha with the ambitious goal to further sustainable development by connecting and intersecting grassroot projects worldwide.For the second time, Gotha, a town in the state of Thuringia, Germany with a population of just over 46.000 inhabitants, became the meeting point for 30 Co-Lab participants and trainers from 18 different countries worldwide. A Melton Foundation (MF) initiative tied to their 8-month leadership program Global Solvers Accelerator, the gathering was made possible through the ongoing partnership between MF, the Ernst-Abbe-Stiftung, the Research Center...

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24 Jul
Events, Global Solvers Accelerator Projects, News

Learning Through Action: Impact Reflections from the Global Solvers Co-Lab 2025

From July 6–12, the Global Solvers Co-Lab 2025 brought together 20 participants from over 15 countries in Gotha, Germany, for an intensive, practice-driven residency. Far from a conference or showcase, the Co-Lab functioned as an applied learning space where systems leadership was not just discussed it was lived.Throughout the week, participants engaged in deep intention-setting, cultural immersion, storytelling grounded in lived experience, and collaborative systems thinking sessions. They worked through real-time project challenges, reflected on barriers to impact, and visited grassroots organizations in Erfurt to connect global insights with local action. The Co-Lab offered a rare opportunity to translate theory...

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