May 1, 2015 –This year, I helped create The Global Issues Forum, a one-day event at my high school, Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia, where we brought in incredible speakers to teach students from Richmond about pressing global issues.

My school had done a Global Issues Forum the year before, but it was my job to revamp the program and improve it. This year’s theme was Human Rights. We were able to get speakers from all over the country to attend. If you are a high school student setting up an event like the Global Issues Forum, it may seem complicated and impossible, but I promise you it’s not. Here are some steps I took and that may help you organize a similar event.

The first thing I did was find a teacher at my school who I knew would be interested in helping me and my club.  Luckily, my school has a global education program and the director of the program was more than willing to help.

Then, I found a group of seniors that I knew were interested in Human Rights and global issues. I asked them if they wanted to help me; what I’ve found is that anything that may look good on a college application will get people on board. My circumstances for creating this conference may be a little different because there was a pre-existing Global Issues Forum conference, but the first thing to do once you have your team and your teacher is to find funding.

Students brainstorm forms of peacebuilding action during the Global Issues Forum
Students brainstorm forms of peacebuilding action during the Global Issues Forum.

Funding could be from grants, endowments, or even just fundraising. A lot of the time you can get people to speak for free, especially if they are from your own community or city, so the funding can go to other needs, like food and publicity. Food is especially important if it’s a daylong event. The best thing to do with an event like this is to get people to donate anything. Get your school or another school to donate the space, try and get people to donate food and, most importantly, get people to donate their time.

To get speakers, my teacher and I considered who we thought was interesting and then just sent emails. You would be surprised how many people want to speak about their experiences to high school students. The best way to get speakers is to find someone who has an incentive; for instance, we had Chris Temple, whose second movie is coming out this year, speak at this year’s Global Issues Forum. We knew that he wanted to publicize his new movie, so we asked him to come speak, and it benefitted both of us. Another great way to get interesting speakers is to find organizations working on a topic that you’re interested in. They will want to show off their organization and what they do.

After the event is organized (or maybe even before it’s finished), publicity is very important to get the word out. I’ve found that creating a Facebook event and Twitter account—and using social media in general—is the best way to get high schoolers to know about the event.

Most of all, what you need to create an amazing event is support: support from peers, teachers, and your community. Support from the Global Peacebuilding Center at USIP throughout the year prepared me with facilitation skills and a peacebuilding framework to think about global issues. Also, the Global Peacebuilding Center's workshop during the Global Issues Forum helped add a peacebuilding lens to our human rights focus. With this support, your event will be successful.

USIP's Public Education staff facilitate a workshop on peacebuilding and human rights during the Global Issues Forum
USIP's Public Education staff facilitate a workshop on peacebuilding and human rights during the Global Issues Forum.

Allie Douma is a high school senior in Richmond, VA. She has participated in Global Peacebuilding Center workshops since spring 2014, and applied the facilitation skills and peacebuilding perspective learned at USIP to help create greater global awareness at her high school throughout the 2014-2015 academic year. Plan your own visit to the Global Peacebuilding Center at USIP today.