Part Two of Learning Life’s Family Diplomacy (FD) Training launched today as seven FD trainees told often wrenching stories about their lives and their families. The trainees, from the USA, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Albania and Georgia, told family stories about foster care, suicide, gender inequality, civil war, inheritance, kinship, and identity. You can hear each of their initial stories in this video, each five minutes or less, starting at 36:40 in the video:
Launched in 2016, Learning Life’s Family Diplomacy Initiative (FDI) is an ambitious, long-term effort to connect, train and empower families to participate in decision-making at local to global levels. We envision a world more connected and caring because every family has one or more family diplomats, and those citizen diplomats advocate effectively via nonprofits, businesses, media and governments for the needs, concerns and aspirations of families worldwide. In Phase 1 of FDI, from 2016 to 2021, Learning Life connected over 10,000 people worldwide to FDI via Facebook, and engaged families in different nations in live dialogues via Zoom, and asynchronous dialogues via our FDI Facebook Group to learn about each other. In Phase 2, starting in 2022, motivated volunteers across the world are getting training as family diplomats (FDs). Phase 3, the final phase of FDI’s development, will connect trained FDs with nonprofits, businesses, governments and media in order to advocate for the needs, concerns and aspirations of different families across the world.
This year, the Phase 2 FD training runs every Sunday, 12:00-1:30pm ET (New York/Washington DC time) from July 10 to October 23 via Zoom, with certificates of completion for those who complete Part 1 on power and citizen diplomacy, plus family issues, patterns and trends (July 10-August 21), and Part 2 on family storytelling (August 28-October 23). On Sundays, October 9 and 16, the FD trainees will deliver their final family story performances via Zoom, and all those interested are invited to attend. To attend, contact us at email@learninglife.info to get the Zoom link. Get full details on the 2022 Family Diplomat Training here.
Learn more about FDI and how you can get involved here.
Stakeholder Spotlight: Nick Burton
The “Stakeholder Spotlight” is an occasional series of posts highlighting people who are helping to advance Learning Life’s work. Our third post in this series features Nick Burton, who interned with Learning Life in summer 2014, while he was a student at Liberty University. Now a successful real estate investor, Nick reconnected with Learning Life founder, Paul Lachelier, last year, and began donating generously to support Learning Life’s work. For ways you can support Learning Life, click here.
What is your current occupation?
I am currently a Real Estate Investor.
In 1-2 paragraphs, please tell us more about you.
I am a DC native. I decided dropping out of college and becoming a full-time real estate professional was the way to go. For seven years, I have served as Tim Bratz’s Director Of Acquisitions for Legacy Wealth Holdings, wholesaling hundreds of single-family homes and purchasing thousands of apartment units. The Legacy Wealth team and myself have also coached over 1,000 real estate investors on how to simplify and scale into the multifamily real estate world. As an avid collectibles and memorabilia collector, I pride myself on my organization and willingness to collaborate to get the job done.
Why did you decide to support Learning Life?
Paul Lachelier was one of the only people to ever give me a chance. He gave me an internship when nobody else would even look at my resume. Paul is an outstanding individual with the drive and heart to really make a change.
Citizen Diplomacy International Meeting #14
About Citizen Diplomacy International
Due to globalization, the internet, rising education levels, and long-term democratization, citizen diplomacy is growing, and becoming a more important part of diplomacy and international affairs. Thus, in 2020, thePublic Diplomacy Council of America(PDCA), a US-based NGO devoted to advancing the field of public diplomacy, formed the Citizen Diplomacy Research Group (CDRG) to advance the research and practice of citizen diplomacy. In 2023, the CDRG became Citizen Diplomacy International (CDI), a network and program of Learning Life, a Washington DC-based nonprofit devoted to developing innovative learning communities in order to widen and deepen participation in democracy and diplomacy.
CDI meets every three months online via Zoom for 1.5 hours to share research and news on citizen diplomacy developments worldwide with an eye to building a vibrant global CD sector for a more participatory, equitable and sustainable world.. Meetings typically begin with two presentations on CD research or practice, followed by discussion of the presentations, then news and announcements of past or upcoming international CD-related initiatives, publications, funding, conferences, etc.
Anyone — including scholars, students, citizen diplomacy practitioners, current and retired official diplomats, and others interested — can join CDI to learn, network, and/or present substantial research or practice in citizen diplomacy. For more information or to join the CDI email list, contact email@learninglife.info. You can also connect with CDI members via our Facebook group and Linkedin group, to which you can post citizen diplomacy-related articles, books, events, funding, etc.
The meeting drew 29 participants from eleven countries: the UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Romania, Turkey, Israel, St. Lucia, Peru, Bolivia, and the USA.
Agenda:
1) Opening Remarks & Introductions (10 minutes)
Review of meeting agenda. During this time everyone is encouraged to post to the chat a one-paragraph bio about themselves, including your name, city, country, job title and organization. Introductions via chat saves us time, provides written details about you, and allows us to share your info after the meeting with those who could not attend. In addition, I will share the Zoom chat content to the CDRG email list following the meeting, so whatever you share will get a wider audience.
2) Two Presentations (30 minutes total):
Presenters:
Lior Lehrs, Research Fellow, Davis Institute for International Relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem: “Unofficial Peace Diplomacy: Private Peace Entrepreneurs in Conflict Resolution Processes.”
Anca Anton, Senior Lecturer, University of Bucharest, and Raluca Moise, Acting Course Leader in Public Relations, University of the Arts London: “The Citizen Diplomats and Their Pathway to Diplomatic Power.”
3) Questions & Discussion about the Presentations (35 minutes) 4) Announcements (15 minutes).
B) Meeting participants have the opportunity to publicize citizen diplomacy events, publications, projects, programs, and related needs. Participants can also post details and links to the Zoom chat box to share with the wider CDRG email list.
Spotlight: Summer 2022 Learning Life Interns
Learning Life’s interns do vital work responsible for the energy and growth of our organization. This summer, their work included outreach to thousands of people on Facebook and Linkedin to help grow the Family Diplomacy Initiative (FDI) worldwide, and the Democracy Learning Community in metro Washington DC; developing lists of people to invite and engage in learning communities; research on family law and history as well as for Learning Life’s theory of social change; fundraising research and outreach; plus poster design and social media communications. Learning Life is very grateful for their dedicated work. You can learn a little about each of them below.
Anna Benson
Year, major, and school: I am a rising senior at Gettysburg College majoring in Public Policy, International & Global Studies, and Spanish.
Hobbies: I enjoy spending my free time with friends and in the outdoors hiking, swimming, and exploring new areas. I love working with kids and have spent the past five years working as a swim teacher and in an after-school program. I am also passionate about language learning, so I love getting the chance to travel and practice my Spanish.
Career aspirations: I am interested in working in the education field, either in education policy or as a classroom teacher. I hope to work abroad either in Spain or Latin America in the years after graduation. I am very passionate about education initiatives and am thankful that Learning Life is teaching me all the ways education can be incorporated into a career, even if it is not necessarily in a traditional classroom setting.
Why Learning Life? I am inspired by Learning Life’s grassroots approach to advocacy work that recognizes the strength of community and the power that human connection has to drive learning, democracy, and change. I also love getting the chance to connect with people across the globe through the Family Diplomacy Initiative. It truly has been a great way to learn and share with people from all different countries and backgrounds.
Sarah DeCaro-Rincon
Year, major, and school: I am a rising senior at Sarah Lawrence College, studying International Relations and Political Science.
Hobbies: I like partaking in outdoor activities like kayaking, paddle boarding, biking, and hiking. I also enjoy playing a few musical instruments when I have the time and money, like the drums, guitar, and piano.
Career aspirations: I aspire to become a Foreign Service Officer and work for the State Department. I have always been interested in world affairs, and my love for travel, learning about different cultures, and how culture impacts politics has inspired me to follow this career path.
Why Learning Life? I decided to join Learning Life because of the way the organization is changing how people define what diplomacy is and who engages in it. Diplomacy can be seen as a concept far from the lives of everyday people, but Learning Life is demonstrating otherwise. By inspiring international learning and engagement, for youth and adults, outside the classroom, Learning Life is teaching people that they too can be diplomats. I think this is an important step toward making diplomacy, and international affairs in general, more accessible worldwide.
Jenalyn Dizon
Year, major, and school: I am a second-year undergraduate student at Virginia Tech studying Sociology and Psychology.
Hobbies: I enjoy dancing, going to the gym, studying at bakeries, and seeing live theatre whenever I get the chance. I will also often spend hours on a good crossword puzzle.
Career aspirations: I am interested in researching the intersections of psychopathology, domestic violence, and other familial, romantic, and social relationship dynamics. I hope to attend a graduate school program after I finish my Bachelor’s and then move into a career in clinical psychology or family social work.
Why Learning Life?Family social work sees families in all different shapes, sizes, and situations, and Learning Life has allowed me to explore and understand families on a global scale. I had shied away from diplomacy and politics work in the past, but my experience here has broadened my perspective and taught me just how relevant it is to my field of interest. It has also been great to experience the inner-workings of a non-profit organization as an intern to see where and how I might apply my education in the future.
Fatima Elescano
Year, major, and school: I am a first-generation junior at George Mason University majoring in psychology.
Hobbies: I really enjoy spending time with my family in my free time, as I am very family-oriented. My parents and I are very close to my extended family, which we see almost every weekend. I also love listening to music, going out with my friends, and trying new foods, like onigiri (Japanese rice balls). I have recently started to get more into cooking, particularly Peruvian dishes like lomo saltado (stir-fried beef, often with onions, tomatoes, French fries and/or rice) and aji de gallina (shredded chicken in a cream sauce commonly made of walnuts or pecans, parmesan and aji peppers).
Career aspirations: Since I am a first-generation college student, it is very important for me to finish college and get my degree. I see myself working in the field of psychology, specifically as a therapist.
Why Learning Life? I joined Learning Life because I was very interested in how involved they are in learning about different cultures, families, and education. I saw this internship as a wonderful opportunity to gain more experience and knowledge about other cultures, democracy, education, and diplomacy. I am grateful to be a part of it and to gain local and global connections through it.
Mae Long
Year, major, and school: I’m a rising junior with a double major in International Studies and Russian Studies at Vassar College.
Hobbies: I enjoy hiking, playing with my dogs, and exploring abandoned buildings and ghost towns. I love doing research on random topics in my spare time and diving into random information rabbit holes. Recently, I learned about the origins of Groundhog Day and the way the tradition of a small town became a nationwide holiday.
Career aspirations: Ideally, I would love to be a diplomat or work with the State Department in any capacity that involves peacebuilding. I have a special interest in gender equality and reproductive health access, and ensuring that those things are common globally. Some day, I would love to work with the United Nations!
Why Learning Life? I chose Learning Life because I have a strong interest in pursuing various types of international dialogue. I found their citizen diplomacy model engaging families to be especially fascinating. This particularly resonated with me as I believe family is incredibly important not only to the individual, but to each country’s development and culture. Involving families in diplomacy is a logical, yet largely undeveloped path in international dialogue.
Ava McClure
Year, Major and school: I am a rising junior at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, studying political science and gender and sexuality studies.
Hobbies: I enjoy rock climbing, art, music, and anime! I am watching One Piece(a Japanese manga comic book series) right now and I love it. My family also fosters dogs so I love to help take care of the dogs, as well as our pets: a dog named Copley, and a cat named Maurice.
Career aspirations: After graduating from Vassar, I would like to get into politics by working for a political advocacy nonprofit, in state government, or in the federal government. My focus in political science is on how politics impact women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized people.
Why Learning Life? I was intrigued by the democracy side of Learning Life and how it fosters communication and collaboration, especially in such a divided political climate. I am also impressed by its commitment to making education available and accessible to all, because as a college student, I understand how income and wealth gaps make higher education less accessible.
Maryam Pate
Year, major, and school: I am a junior at Columbia University majoring in Economics with a minor in Computer Science.
Hobbies: In my free time I’m usually reading. Recently, I’ve been reading memoirs about politicians, academics, musicians and ordinary people. Otherwise, I like being outdoors, usually on a long run near any body of water. I also enjoy road tripping across the USA. So far I’ve been to 38 states and am hoping to go see more! At Columbia, I’m involved with the entrepreneurship ecosystem, so I love to attend events to hear founders speak and workshops on early stage entrepreneurship. At the start of the pandemic, I started to bake almost every day. I began with cakes and cupcakes exclusively but after some improvement, I now like to make tarts, pies, and most recently, angel food cake.
Career aspirations: I hope to impact economic development, particularly in Africa, once I advance in my career and do so by merging my interests in entrepreneurship and technology. I’m especially interested in women’s economic empowerment and ways entrepreneurship can accelerate that. I want to understand the supply of capital for these efforts from the investor side and ultimately launch my own venture with tangible social impact.
Why Learning Life? I chose to intern at Learning Life because I was extremely curious about family diplomacy and the impact it can have in empowering individuals to work together to address inequalities they or their communities face. It has also been an especially valuable opportunity because of Learning Life’s integration within D.C.’s public and private sectors, offering me a great deal of understanding of the position and role of a nonprofit within this.
Alexandra Ravano
Year, major, and school: I’m a rising senior at George Washington University. I’m currently studying International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and a minor in Psychology.
Hobbies: Some of my favorite things to do in my free time are fencing and dance, especially Filipino cultural dance. I love sharing my Filipino culture with those around me and teaching others about my heritage. But above all, I love spending time with family and friends!
Career aspirations: In the future, I hope to attend graduate school for international affairs and eventually attend law school, specializing in either human rights or humanitarian law. I am particularly interested in working for humanitarian organizations and organizations that assist refugees. In the future, I also hope to combine my interests in international affairs and psychology and better understand the intersection between the two. Overall, I hope that I am able to make an impact and help as many people as possible in my future career!
Why Learning Life? Family has always been such an important aspect of my life, and when I first heard of Learning Life’s mission — particularly with the Family Diplomacy Initiative — I was immediately drawn towards the organization. My family has always taught us the value and importance of diverse backgrounds and thinking, and being able to learn about so many different cultures and perspectives around the world through Learning Life has been an enriching experience. I have also been very excited to apply what I have learned in the classroom to work through Learning Life. I have really enjoyed my time with Learning Life and am grateful for the opportunity to learn more!
Emma Tomaszewski
Year, major, and school: I am a senior attending the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, majoring in legal studies and sociology.
Hobbies: I like going thrift shopping with my best friends, hiking in the mountains in western Massachusetts, and cooking dinner with my roommates.
Career aspirations: After finishing my bachelor’s degree, I plan to attend law school in hopes of studying family law and working as a family law attorney. In addition to family law, I plan to practice child advocacy law pro bono. After understanding and working with the law, I plan to get more involved in policy and better the system by examining policies that address the family.
Why Learning Life? The Family Diplomacy Initiative is what attracted me at first. As someone who cares deeply about family, I believe that it is essential to empower families to be able to advocate for themselves. While interning with Learning Life, I have learned a great deal about different cultures, issues, values, and so much more just by attending and engaging in the international family diplomacy Zoom meetings. In addition, the innovative ideas that Learning Life brings forward, such as democracy festivals and the Democracy Learning Community, make me hopeful that more citizens will understand and be involved in our democracy.
Avanti Tulpule
Year, major, and school: I am a rising senior at Columbia University studying Political Science, with a focus on International Relations and Comparative Politics, and a special concentration in Education.
Hobbies: My favorite subjects in school are physics and philosophy. I also enjoy discovering music in different languages, learning about art history, and painting.
Career aspirations: I hope to attend law school in the near future. Eventually, I would love to help children as they navigate the immigration process and pursue education – things that I believe will become increasingly urgent in the coming years due to the worsening climate crisis.
Why Learning Life? Learning Life’s ability to connect thousands of people from different cultures, linguistic backgrounds, and family structures was what first compelled me to apply to the internship program. As nationalism continues to polarize and fracture cross-cultural relationships, and as the world becomes increasingly stratified across socioeconomic lines, Learning Life’s mission to foster international dialogues about the values we all share is essential to diplomacy. Moreover, Learning Life’s focus on non-hierarchical democratic participation, respect for various family structures, as opposed to enforcing a Western conception of “family” for all countries, and prioritization of equitable education access all appeal to me greatly.
