Global Citizenship Conference 2017 – Opening Days
Looking for inspiration in your path toward global citizenship? You need look no further than our Global Citizenship Conference in Ghana this year!
Feel like you have challenges to overcome? Try a diagnosis of cerebral palsy at age 1. Farida Bedwei, one of our Springboard Speakers, never let that stand in her way, as she became one of the most influential women in financial technology in Africa. As Farida put it, “while there are some parts of us that don’t work, we must work with the parts that do and we can make change happen.”
Speaking of change, another Springboard speaker, Shadrack Frimpong, decided he wanted to help solve inequality in girls’ education and founded Cocoa360, a tuition-free girls’ school, and hospital situated amid a cocoa plantation. Shadrack Frimpong’s very words, “you can do your bit, no matter where you come from” left many Melton fellows thinking about how far they’ve come as Global Citizens.
Watch the recordings of our 2017 Springboard Sessions on YouTube,
take a look at the ‘Best of Springboard’ photo collection on Flickr,
or read a brief summary of the incredible talks here.
On Day 2 of the Global Citizenship Conference, the Melton Foundation and Oxfam Ghana hosted a roundtable on Collaborative Leadership Across Boundaries to Drive Change in Society. Participants challenged us to consider that complex problems require complex solutions. When looking for partners, “find willing collaborators. If you’ve done all you can and can’t compromise on your essentials, don’t be scared to walk away!”
These were challenging words to consider as we learned about projects Melton fellows have been taking on during the past year, from ‘Empowered Communities’ who helped communities turn sustainable in New Longoro in Ghana, to projects such as ‘Narratives’ which produces documentaries on peace and conflict between nations. Project Narratives also shared their documentary teaser on 70 years of Partition, which moved many to think of the importance of international peace and cooperation.
In short, what we learned in the first two days of our 2017 Global Citizenship Conference is that being a global citizen is challenging, and we are bound to run into obstacles, but challenges and obstacles are no reason to stop collaborating across boundaries to find solutions to today’s most pressing problems.
