Learning Life Milestones since 2016
This timeline provides a historical overview of Learning Life’s development from 2016, when the first of our three programs, the Family Diplomacy Initiative, was established.
2016:
January: Family Diplomacy Initiative (FDI) planning and organizing begin.
August 27: First live international family dialogue between families in DC and Dakar. Details here.
December 30: Report issued of Learning Life’s accomplishments in 2016, engaging 50+ volunteers, conducting seven live international family dialogues, and producing 25+ FDI fact sheets, news posts, website pages, program and dialogue guides, etc. Details here.
2017:
August: Completion of FDI Project 1: an online community photo project engaging 24 participants from eight families in Washington DC, USA, Dakar, Senegal, and Jerash, Jordan.
December 27: Full report of Project 1 released.
2018:
May 31: First mentors meeting and start of Learning Life’s International Mentoring Program to help open the world to kids from lower-income families.
October 26: Project 1 research article “Democratize Diplomacy! Family-to-Family Collaboration for a Better World” published in Childhood Education.
December 30: Report issued of Learning Life’s accomplishments in 2018, including launch of the Mentoring Program and Cook, Eat & Learn Sessions, plus successful completion of a pilot Global Storytelling Challenge. Details here.
2019:
June 23: First Learning Life Democracy Dinner.
July: Completion of FDI Project 2: an online food culture project engaging 24 participants from eight families in Washington DC, USA, San Salvador, El Salvador, and Dakar, Senegal. Details here.
November 7: Mentoring Program reaches 100 mentor-mentee meetings.
December 18: Release of first four Learning Life international silent stories engaging Washington DC youth as actors.
December 29: Report issued of Learning Life’s accomplishments in 2019, including doubling of FDI Facebook Group membership, 33% growth in Mentoring Program size, and new partnerships. Details here.
2020:
April 1: FDI Facebook Group grows to 500 members worldwide.
August 31 Release of second four Learning Life international silent stories engaging youth from the USA, El Salvador, India and Australia as actors.
September 20: FDI Facebook Group grows to 1,000 members worldwide.
November 15: First multinational FDI live family dialogue engages 39 participants from nine nations in discussion of preliminary findings of FDI Project 3. Details here.
December 30: Completion of FDI Project 3: an online food culture project engaging 60+ participants in 35 nations. Details here.
2021:
January 4: Report issued of Learning Life’s accomplishments in 2020, including quadrupling FDI Facebook Group’s worldwide membership, completion of largest scale FDI dialogue project yet, and more. Details here.
January 17: First meeting of inaugural Family Diplomacy Ambassador (FDA) Team.
January 25: First meeting of inaugural Board of Directors (BOD).
January 28: Mentoring Program reaches 500 mentor-mentee meetings.
February 18 and 21: First meetings of inaugural Board of Advisors (BOA).
June 10: FDI Facebook Group grows to 5,000 members worldwide.
July 21: Learning Life celebrates its 25th Democracy Dinner
July 23: Learning Life receives IRS recognition as an independent U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
August 24: Paul Lachelier and Mike Morrow’s article “America Needs Democracy Learning Communities” is published online at The Fulcrum, and picked up by other online news media including Gulf Today, The Marietta Daily Journal, Salem News, and The Post Bulletin.