Beginning the World Again: Preparing Young People to Build The Future

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” Thomas Paine

The current pandemic has served as a powerful reminder of why Avenues exists: to develop future world-wise leaders uniquely equipped to understand and solve global-scale problems. There’s no question that the future our students are preparing for—a future that starts now—will require mastery in social impact and a passion for global competency.

Sylvia Guimarães is the director of community engagement at Avenues São Paulo. Sylvia has extensive experience in education outreach, non-profit management, and social justice initiatives. She is also the co-founder of Vaga Lume, a non-profit organization that works to empower children in the Brazilian Amazon through literacy and library programs.

Clare Sisisky is the executive director of the Global Education Benchmark Group, which works to support its member schools around the world in all aspects of global education. Clare has written and spoken on many topics relating to global and cross-cultural competencies in K-12 education.

Morgan Jones is the director of community engagement and partnerships for Avenues New York. Previously, Jones was an associate vice-president at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Chief Operating Officer of the US-China Strong Foundation, Senior Emergency Management Specialist at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Tim Carr is a senior advisor for R&D at Avenues: The World School. Tim has lived 26 years overseas, leading some of the world’s most iconic international schools–most recently Jakarta Intercultural School in Indonesia and the American School in Japan–in the pursuit of student-centered learning with a global scope.