Third Cohort of Alumni Small Grants Empower Youth-Led Change

February 24, 2022

World Learning, in collaboration with the Stevens Initiative, is thrilled to announce the third cohort of Alumni Small Grant recipients! These recipients are alumni of The Experiment Digital, an award-winning two-month summer virtual exchange program that allows high school students to connect with their peers from around the world for an unforgettable intercultural exchange.

The Stevens Initiative and World Learning aim to empower Experiment Digital alumni to serve their communities by providing grants of up to $500 to individual alumni and alumni teams along with tools, resources, and support. These alumni build upon the skills they developed during their virtual exchanges to create and implement projects that make a positive social change. Past projects have focused on stopping homelessness, improving public safety, and increasing literacy.

The new cohort of alumni grantees are launching ten projects in the United States, Algeria, Egypt, the United Kingdom, and Yemen from February to October 2022. Check out the exciting projects and learn how Experiment Digital alumni are making a real impact in their communities:

Project Name: AILEM
Project Leader: Zakarya A.
Location: Llaantwit Major, Wales, UK | Yemen

AILEM is an app that aims to provide language education for refugees and asylum seekers to help them integrate into a new country. Made by refugees and asylum seekers for refugees and asylum seekers, Zakarya and his team hope that AILEM will bring a human-centric approach to bridging cultural and language divides and promote greater mutual understanding.

Project Name: Climate Change Warriors
Project Leader: Malak A.
Location: Dakahlia, Egypt

Recognizing the importance of advancing environmental health, Malak is educating Egyptian youth about the impact of climate change and inspiring them to make a change. The Climate Change Warriors Project will spread awareness online, bring together experts to discuss environmental sustainability, lead street clean-up campaigns, and organize field trips to natural protectorates.

Project Name: Concourse International
Project Leader: Jiahao G.
Location: Mason, Ohio, USA

Concourse International will implement multiple school-to-school exchanges and then expand with area-to-area exchanges for high school students in the U.S., Algeria, Brazil, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. Jiahao and his team hope to increase access to cross-cultural exchange and education for young people around the world.

Project Name: Getting Excited About STEAM
Project Leader: Brennan C.
Location: Pasadena, California, USA

Brennan will implement a series of youth-led STEAM workshops in a local elementary school and create a website of video resources. Through hands-on experiments and activities, Brennan and his team hope to spark a love of learning STEAM subjects after a year of online schooling brought on by the pandemic.

Project Name: Youth for Environmental Action’s Community Garden
Project Leader: Avonlea H.
Location: Ben Lomond, California, USA

Avonlea is determined to grow the connections between youth and community efforts focused on environmental sustainability. Youth for Environmental Action’s Community Garden will be designed and built by youth to house plants native to her community. With her student-led group, Avonlea hopes to provide a peaceful green space for youth while spreading awareness about the practical uses and benefits of indigenous plants to her community.

Project Name: Neveryone Neverywhere
Project Leader: Sophia G.
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

After observing a lack of safe spaces for multiracial youth, Sophia was inspired to start Neveryone Neverywhere, a platform for multiracial youth to connect with each other, discuss interracial matters and current social issues, and publish relatable materials. Through virtual discussions and an in-person summit, Sophia and fellow alumna Elaine hope to empower youth to affirm and explore multiracial identities.

Project Name: Programmah
Project Leader: Ahmed A.
Location: Aden, Yemen

Programmah will empower 40 young women in Aden with essential computer skills through a two-month training program, including site visits to bring their knowledge to local elementary schools and orphanages. Ahmed and his team hope to bridge the gender gap in computer literacy by not only mentoring young women in computational thinking, but by bringing these opportunities to young learners as well.

Project Name: StageCom
Project Leader: Mehdia R.
Location: Boumerdes, Algeria

After observing a lack of internship opportunities for college students in Algeria, Mehdia was motivated to create StageCom, an online platform that connects students with professional development opportunities. Mehdia and her team will also design and host events on resume and cover letter writing, networking, and discussions with local professionals of in-demand fields.

Project Name: YEMRSH
Project Leader: Wala A.
Location: Jbail, Lebanon | Aden, Yemen

Inspired by the creativity of Yemeni youth around the world, Wala was motivated to create Yemen Realm, an online platform for Yemeni youth to share their passions, dreams and ideas, and inspire others to improve their communities. Wala and her team will design and launch an online platform and plan a community event to spread awareness in Aden, Yemen.

The Experiment Digital is supported by the Stevens Initiative, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government, and is administered by the Aspen Institute. The Stevens Initiative is also supported by the Bezos Family Foundation and the governments of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.