After going through the Young Leaders Conference in 2021, I have learned many things from cultural awareness, leadership, diversity and inclusion, and other topics essential for impacting the online community. My project is solely based on preventing digital authoritarianism and investigates the root causes of authoritarianism, and builds solutions through advocacy, campaigns, and education. Empowering the internet users and digital advocacy helped me make these skills from the Young Leaders Conference, and I hope that these learnings will help me strengthen the project that I am working on. I would recommend others to learn as much as possible because this program helped me expand my leadership capabilities, meet with other fellows from the US and Canada, and work with mentors on my project, which have helped guide my project. One of my best advice is to be open-minded and encourage others to gain much experience from this program because it can help with your personal and professional development in the future.

These three days were more useful than the months I spent in college. I learned about business and leadership. I learned so many things you can’t imagine. I was able to come up with a vision plan and strategies for action. The Young Leaders Conference exceed my expectations.

I never thought I could make a strategic plan, study my stakeholders, and learn about obstacles for my small idea. This is my first time at a foreign conference and it was a pleasure and an honor to be a part of the conference. This has been an amazing experience.

YLC was the first time I had the opportunity to share my ideas for making a real change in my community. Definitely, the best part was getting to know more young people from around South America. I made friends for life and the networking we accomplished is really important for the development of our own projects. Thank you MCW for giving me this opportunity and believing in me!

Young Leaders Conference for me was an unforgettable experience that expanded my network regionally and globally. I have made great friends and today I even have the pleasure to collaborate with some participants of the conference. It created a community of like-minded change-makers that support each other no matter what.

Being part of the three day conference in Kosovo was a life changing experience for me and also my first step in my long journey with MCW. During this time I got to learn more about topics that I am interested in and most importantly learn how to write a project which I later implemented in my hometown in Albania. During the conference I got to meet other likeminded youngsters from Europe and I also got to know more about MCW organization and their opportunities.

YLC was an unforgettable experience, as it allowed me to expand my knowledge of mental health, gender equality and leadership. I also got to meet incredible young people with the same conviction to make a social impact in their community. I am very happy to have been a part of YLC, Peru.