Embassy Activities (2009)
U.S. Speaker Promotes Youth Leadership in Thailand
As part of the U.S. Speaker program, the Embassy's Media and Cultural Section brought Karen Young, founder and co-director of "Youth on Board” at YouthBuild International to Thailand between September 8 and 12, 2009. Ms. Young and her assistant, Maria Ortiz, shared their knowledge on youth leadership, building successful relationships, and organizing for advocacy with Thai youth leaders and students in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Khon Kaen, and Bangkok. Ms. Young and Ms. Ortiz ran workshops at high schools, universities and the Thai Knowledge Park which involved hands-on exercises and games designed to teach students key leadership and relationship-building skills.
At the outset of the workshops, students brainstormed on the qualities of good leaders. The rest of the sessions were devoted to developing those skills. Students took part in creative team-building exercises that required them to think through challenging tasks, to develop a plan, and to work togerther to achieve success. High school and university students took part in thoughtful discussions of topics meaningful to them, such as how they can improve their schools, how teachers can help students, and what issues in their communities needed to be addressed. Participation in the workshops was uniformly enthusiastic, and many students thanked Ms. Young and Ms. Ortiz for the valuable lessons they had learned. Teachers praised the innovative teaching techniques Ms. Young and Ms. Ortiz had introduced and hoped to be able to use them in their own classrooms.