12 Things We Learned at CGI U
By Valeria Fuentes (MASD ‘18), Maria Isabel Garcia Diaz, Smile Indias, and Rachel Serra (MASD’17)
This past month, the Clinton Global Foundation hosted its tenth Clinton Global Initiative University, better known as CGI U. In this three day gathering, CGI U recognizes university students who have made Commitments to Action to address five focus areas: Education, Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, and Public Health.
We were selected to represent MICA at this year’s CGI U at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Our commitments to action included reducing STI rates among Baltimore youth (Rachel & Maria), designing pathways to creating smoke free homes in Baltimore (Smile), and inspiring youth to lead healthy lifestyles through Kinetic Kitchen (Valeria).
While there are funding opportunities during CGI U to take commitments to action to the next level, the meeting also offers plenary sessions, working sessions, and other special events that promote skill-building, networking and future collaboration.
After the conference we sifted through countless notes reminiscing about the many inspiring moments and lessons from CGI U. Here are our 12 highlights:
- Alleviate anguish with laughter.
Daryl Davis, an African American blues musician, author, and race relations expert, spoke about his journey of becoming friends with Klu Klux Klan members. Through relationship-building and dialogue, Daryl has convinced 200 Klansman to give up the KKK. During the CGI U opening plenary, he shared his first experience interviewing a Klansman. While in a very intense Q&A session in a hotel room, Daryl mentioned the moment the room became strained and silent as they heard a strange noise. A security guard who was with the Klansman immediately went towards the weapon in his jacket while staring at Daryl, thinking he was the culprit. However, everyone realized that the noise simply came from the ice bucket when the bottles shifted. Laughter ensued and alleviated the strained feeling from the room. It was refreshing to hear Daryl’s story and to learn how laughter could be a was the unifying force for two people with very distinct and divided viewpoints.
2. Ignorance → Fear → Hatred → Destruction
In the same panel, Daryl shared his belief that ignorance breeds fear, and if we do not hold that fear in check, it becomes hatred. That hatred then leads to destruction. He suggested that in dealing with conflict, we should objectively learn as much as we can about the other side. By doing this, we create respect and generate knowledge of who they are and the values they fight for. This ultimately helps us to better engage the opposition especially today where divisiveness is present in most conversations.
3. “Instead of thinking ‘we need to live in this house together,’ think ‘we need to build this house together.”
During another plenary session, the esteemed Madeleine Albright, David Milibrand (current President and CEO of International Rescue Committee) and Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca (Founder and CEO of Dreamers Roadmap) discussed the many issues surrounding the issue of immigration and refugees in the US and throughout the world. David shared that “the world is more connected than ever, but we are more focused on our divisions,” thus resulting in the fear and misconceptions that plague many people when they hear of refugees and immigrants coming into their country. We “other” people in these situations, ignoring the similarities we all share as human beings to instead focus on the differences.
Especially in America, we overlook the fact that immigrants, refugees, and dreamers have made this country what it is today. In order to create a peaceful future that works for the rainbow of people and cultures that exist in the world, we need to go about building this better world together.
4. “An attack on dreamers is an attack on all types of immigration.”
One of the most striking points Sarahi made as she described her journey navigating through the implementation of Dreamers Roadmap is the importance of not blurring the lines between the terms “undocumented immigrant” and “refugee.” This is an important distinction that has to be made because these are two groups may have similar experiences but completely different situations in the United States and that by lumping them into one huge group we lose the opportunity to honor and acknowledge their individual stories.
5. “We can get excited about growth or expansion but you have to ask yourself, is it in line with your mission and vision? Don’t say yes to every opportunity.”
In a breakout session about monitoring and evaluating results, Esther Ngumbi (Postdoctoral Researcher at Auburn University) gave a meaningful reminder to make sure the opportunities we say yes to are those that point back to the mission and vision of our project. Sometimes opportunities can be very tempting but not all of these build on the work that we’ve done so far and can take us off the course. She said that we have to keep our eyes on the prize and remember why we started the project to begin with.
6. The messenger is as is important as the message.
During a panel on designing a healthy and sustainable future, Dr. M. Sanjayan (CEO of Conservation International) emphasized the importance of the messenger. He made it a point to recognize the diversity of the panel, from race to age to professional background. That’s something we really enjoyed about CGI U. Each panel was extremely diverse. Each panel provided different perspectives to the topic at hand, but they certainly kept in mind Dr. M. Sanjayan’s words, valuing their role as messengers.
7. Innovation is thinking about social justice in delivering health of people and planet.
In the same panel, Paul Farmer (co-founder and chief strategist of Partners In Health) reflected on the fact that innovation today is mostly seen through the development of some new tool. But for all different fields, like public health, innovation should always include the social justice needs of end-users. Technology is not always the solution, but it can play a huge part in addressing challenges if we first seek out the right people and engage with them as innovation is happening, to avoid a top-down approach to providing “solutions.”
8. “We have power to heal with our ability to lead with love and to reflect our values with authenticity.”
In the session on “Designing a Healthy and Sustainable Future,” a second panel of individuals addressed the opioid epidemic. Vivek Murthy (the 19th Surgeon General of the U.S.) gave great insight into his practice. around addressing addiction through providing compassion “to outpass our biases.”
9. “Stigma is changed by stories.”
Having worked on several socially focused projects and issue areas where stigma played a large role in the problem (such as sexual health and sexual assault), this comment, spoken during the panel that addressed the national opioid crisis, really struck us. Finding one or more stories of people impacted by the issue makes it more tangible, and allows those not directly affected by the issue to feel connected to the problem. When we begin to see social issues through the lens of the people they affect we can begin to work to create positive social change. As a participant in a previous panel stated, we must craft “messages that engage with the heart first!”
10. “Successful interventions are based on place.”
President Clinton, during the final formal session of the weekend, discussed how successful interventions are not “one size fits all.” Understanding a “place” means understanding the people, their culture, their values and morals, and all of the problems they face. Without understanding all of these key pieces, none of us will be successful in our work. It’s important to recognize that no one understands an issue better or what needs to be done to fix it then the people experiencing it everyday. Understand them as complex, multi-dimensional people and your intervention has a better chance of creating positive, sustainable social change.
11. Engage authentically and never compromise your values.
During the same closing panel, President Clinton also said that, “Every great problem, at its root, is an identity question, because it shows who we are and who we have chosen to be.” In these divisive times where conflict is present in most conversations, we have to engage authentically by providing arguments that uplift our values. So how do we find the middle ground amidst all the divisiveness? Chelsea Clinton emphasized being aware of what is on the either side of the middle ground we’re looking for. For example, some things just don’t have middle grounds: there is no middle ground to bigotry; no middle ground if you’re denying someone’s humanity. Amidst all these, we have to remember to engage with compassion and lead with love. We do these things by understanding motivations and finding the underlying frustrations of the people we engage with without compromising our own values.
12. “People are more inclined to listen if you listen to them.”
This is not new to us, especially as listening and making space for others is a core piece of social design. Knowing that we were in a room with a diverse set of perspectives and fields, it was very refreshing to hear this note. While this does not sound new to us as listening and making the space for others to share their stories are at the core of our social design practice, it was still very refreshing to hear this note coming from someone like Representative Joe Kennedy III, who represents the 4th District of Massachusetts. Listening is just as important as tracking data points. This throughout the whole conference, from renowned researchers and politicians to grassroots activists. Many spoke about the power of storytelling as a tool for change.
The entire CGI U weekend was truly inspiring. Not only were we able to witness the brilliance and dedication to social change of President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, we were also able to spend time with other passionate young changemakers. There’s more work to be done but it was good to be reminded that we are not alone. CGI U is a fire that ignites other fires and we are excited to see how the everyone’s commitments to action will bring about a better tomorrow.
The Center for Social Design at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is committed to demonstrating the value of design in addressing complex social problems, and preparing the next generation of creative changemakers. We place a high value on critical reflection and on learning from everything we do. This is a platform where our students, fellows, alumni, staff, faculty and partners can openly reflect, critique and share their experiences.
The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Center for Social Design or of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
