2007 International Youth Leadership Conference
In May, the City of Burlington, Ontario was proud to host 91 of the world’s best and brightest young leaders at the 2007 International Youth Leadership Conference. The event brought together students from 19 countries representing five continents to discuss important world issues, develop significant leadership skills and network with their counterparts from other countries.
The 10-day conference brought together this diverse group of students to learn more about leadership and to share experiences brought from their home countries. Through lectures and workshops, these students learned about key leadership values, including styles of leadership, speaking effectively and teambuilding. They also got coaching on how to solve problems through action plans and community involvement.
A highlight of the conference was the participation of Leaders Today, a world-renowned youth leadership training organization founded by Craig and Marc Kielburger. Leaders Today is the worldwide leader in empowering youth with leadership education, inspiration and action tools.
By examining issues such as youth engagement, world council, multi-culturalism, inclusion, leadership and education, the team of youth leaders worked towards creating a different future for our world by championing projects in their communities that could benefit both the local and global community.
The action-oriented nature of the conference ultimately helped local leaders to develop skills necessary to achieve a life-long commitment to social engagement and community giving and to promote a model for youth engagement that is worthy of use around the world.
The conference was two years in the making and built on the success of a similar meeting held in Burlington’s twin city of Apeldoorn, the Netherlands in 2005. Local delegates from that 2005 conference were among the driving forces to bring this experience to Burlington.