Twenty-six student delegates from 10 countries kicked off Northwestern’s Global Engagement Summit at Norris University Center on Wednesday.
GES strives to “bring globally-minded programming to campus and engage Northwestern students in nuanced conversations about social issues,” according to its website.
Throughout the week, student delegates will participate in workshops with varying topics, such as a session dedicated to scaling startups hosted by Operating Director at The Vistria Group Susan Edwards (Kellogg ’10) and another focused on student entrepreneurship by Garage Executive Director Mike Raab (Communication ’12, Kellogg ’22).
The five-day event is hosted by GES, a 60-member student group affiliated with the Buffet Institute for Global Affairs that spends the year planning the summit.
Co-founder and CEO of Carbon Yield Sam Schiller (Kellogg ’21) began the summit with a keynote speech. Carbon Yield helps compensate farmers, ranchers and land managers through creating greenhouse gas supply chain partnerships with various parties.
Schiller spoke about the organization’s mission to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture and take risks that bring about change.
“You cannot assume that if you start with an entry-level job at a big corporation that you will seamlessly begin to take on work you feel called to do,” Schiller said.
Weinberg senior and GES Co-Director of Delegate Outreach Shalyssa Burns said a defining feature of GES is its international network across different sectors.
Past delegates of GES represent over 50 countries and seven continents.
“It’s really incredible and inspiring to see all of these people from all over the world who are working on so many different areas of social impact just come together and collaborate and learn from each other,” Burns said.
Delegate and Art Changemakers founder Nayla Pariamachi Panebra said her organization uses art to create positive change in Latin America. One program, “Artes in Barreras,” provides students with arts education resources, she said.
She said she appreciated the chance to learn from other delegates at the conference.
“I really want to get into the social innovation sphere, so I think this will be a great opportunity also to be inspired by the other delegates,” she said.
Burns, who is studying environmental science and legal studies, said she left the conference with takeaways about her own career aspirations.
GES has allowed her to consider the impact of her future career, she said.
“Getting to talk to other delegates from all over the place over the last few years has definitely helped me reframe what I’m doing and how it might impact the rest of the world,” Burns said. “I’m inspired to be more of an impactful person and continue to stay connected with all these people.”
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