Become a Family Diplomat or Family Diplomacy Ambassador

Learning Life is accepting applications from individuals and two or more members of the same family interested in volunteering as international Family Diplomats (FDs), or Family Diplomacy Ambassadors (FDAs).

Learning Life is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit developing inclusive learning communities in order to widen and deepen participation in democracy and diplomacy in our increasingly interconnected yet divided world.

Learning Life’s Family Diplomacy Initiative (FDI) is an ambitious, long-term, grassroots effort to connect, train and empower a growing international corps of volunteer family diplomats (FDs) to advocate for families at local to global levels.  We envision a world more connected and caring because every family has one or more FDs, and those citizen diplomats advocate effectively via nonprofits, businesses, media and governments for the needs, concerns and aspirations of families worldwide. 

Through FDI, FDs:

  1. Focus on one or more of these five major issues impacting their family: war, poverty, climate change, gender-based violence, and/or the internet.
  2. Learn about their chosen issue(s) in greater depth and their impact on families.
  3. Connect with other families locally to globally affected by the same issue(s) to build their FD advocacy network.
  4. Develop the skills (storytelling, online communications, community organizing, etc.) needed to become effective advocates for families worldwide.

In turn, FDAs:

  1. Recruit volunteer FDs and fellow FDAs in their community, country and/or internationally.
  2. Represent and advocate for FDI to media, businesses, nonprofits, funders and government agencies, as needed.
  3. Help Learning Life advise, connect, train, and/or learn about our FDs.

Both FDs and FDAs:

  1. Attend international FDI meetings once per month February through November via Zoom. The meetings serve to connect us regularly, share FDI updates, allow you to report on your activities as an FD or FDA, present and learn from experts and each other via short presentations intended to develop your advocacy skills and deepen knowledge on the five aforementioned major issues, in red above, impacting families worldwide.
  2. Participate in communications via Facebook and/or Linkedin between the quarterly meetings, as needed.

The benefits of being an FD or FDA include:

  1. Make diverse new family diplomacy friends and colleagues across the world.
  2. Contribute to building FDI, giving greater voice to families for a more caring world.
  3. Help educate and mobilize people to tackle FDI’s five major focus issues: war, poverty, climate change, gender-based violence, and/or internet dangers (e.g., online predators, bullying, scams, addictions, disinformation, etc.). 
  4. For FDs: gain skills and knowledge as a citizen diplomat on an international scale, and represent your country as a family diplomat.
  5. For FDAs: develop your international leadership by advocating for and growing FDI.

FDs and FDAs can live anywhere in the world, but should:

  1. Be willing to fulfill the above listed duties of FDs or FDAs for at least one year, much preferably longer since FDI is an international community focused on building long-term relationships to address big problems.
  2. Have an internet connection strong and reliable enough to attend meetings via Zoom by audio at least, if not also video.
  3. Speak, read and write English at a level that allows you to understand and participate fully in international conversations with other FDs, FDAs, and Learning Life staff.
  4. Preferably apply with one or more family members who live with you.  While Learning Life accepts individuals as FDs or FDAs we prefer and encourage two or more members of the same family to serve together since this is family diplomacy.
  5. Have a Facebook profile and Linkedin profile (through which a lot of FDI communications happen), and join FDI on Facebook.

If you would like to volunteer as an FD or FDA, please complete the FD application or the FDA application.  Either application should take you no more than 15 minutes to complete.  Please do not fill out both applications, but rather choose to apply to one or the other based on whether the above-mentioned FD or FDA duties interest you more.  Note that FDA applicants should generally be more professionally experienced, knowledgeable, skilled and connected to fulfill their duties.

FDA applicants should also submit their resumes to email@learninglife.info with notice that they are applying for the FDA position.  No need for a cover letter.

Thank you for your interest in advancing family diplomacy worldwide!