Route J-1

By Kyle Trebotich and Haldis Toppen, CCI Greenheart Work and Travel Program

J-1 participant Kenyata Thomas of Jamaica helps to trim plants at the National Arboretum.

It’s about building Global Leaders: That’s why in early August, Greenheart Global hosted its third annual Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. Thirty-six J-1 participants from 15 countries attended in three tracks: social justice, environmental sustainability, and international mission driven business. These are the adventures of participants in the environment track.

The group’s first stop was Green America Exchange, an organization that provides a stage for green companies to showcase their environmentally conscious goods. Our team had great questions, and the meeting turned into a dynamic conversation with group members sharing ideas about how these concepts could be implemented in their home countries. Sicong Wei from China said: “I think when I go back to China, I will look to find a similar organization to Green America Exchange and if I cannot find one, I will work with others to try and create one.”

Staff of the Greenheart America Exchange with the J-1 participants in the environmental awareness track.

In the afternoon the group visited the U.S. Green Building Council, an organization that assesses the “greenness” of commercial and residential buildings and helps organizations find ways to reduce a building’s environmental footprint. This visit really got the participants thinking about the source of building materials. Collins from Ghana commented that “when I look at a tree, I see it as a resource for wood and building a home. Now I see the full context and understand what role that tree plays in the natural environment.”

On the following morning, we traveled to the U.S. National Arboretum where we volunteered and helped the Friends of the National Arboretum prepare plants for a new exhibit opening in the next year. Visiting one of the leading horticultural organizations in the country and working outside on a beautiful day really helped to put “Environmental Awareness” in perspective for our group.

J-1 participants of the Greenheart Global Leadership conference.

We concluded our time together experiencing the Pachamama Alliance’s “Awakening the Dreamer” symposium, a two hour exercise that helped to synthesize all the knowledge from the past week and inspire each conference attendee to make a commitment to change the world for the better. One participant, Healthy Nathan Apiri from Nigeria, shared his commitment: “I am committed to bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet as the guiding principle of our times.”

It is hard to believe that our team only spent two days together because we bonded so closely around the idea to help the environment. And if there was one thing that we learned during the conference, it’s that bringing environmental awareness to our communities and to the world is not something that can be accomplished alone. Achieving this goal will involve working with our partners to make real change we can believe in. We are excited to make that happen.

Read more stories about the Global Greenheart Leadership Conference on Greenheart Club International.

Categories: Program Spotlight