I started Students of the World when I was a sophomore at Duke University with the intention of creating a new way for students to engage in the world and ultimately inspire others to do the same. Since the program's inception, this mission has been carried out through teams of college students who spend four weeks immersed in developing countries, working with communities and nonprofit organizations. There they discover and document solutions to social problems in order to tell the stories of organizations effecting change in the global community. Upon their return, the students become advocates for understanding and change through their films, journalism and photography.

By 2003, students at the University of Michigan and the University of Texas had started their own chapters. SOW had begun to flourish on the strength and originality of the idea, and I began working full time to establish a national organization to support this movement. We now have seven university chapters and have sent nearly 250 students to work with 30 different NGOs world-wide. Our work has been screened at documentary film festivals, on our university campuses and leveraged to raise funds for our NGO partners. Our students have gone on to become Fulbright scholars, documentary filmmakers, Peace Corps volunteers and successful professionals/entrepreneurs.

In 2006 we began working with the Clinton Global Initiative. Together with CGI, we select NGO partners who have made a CGI commitment to provide practical and innovative solutions to the world's most pressing problems. Our NGO partners have addressed issues ranging from climate change, education, poverty alleviation, healthcare, and religious and conflict reconciliation. We select our partners based on their innovative approach to solving an issue, their capacity for and interest in working with our students, and their ability to collaborate with us to create media that communicates what they do.

The past few years have been exceptional in the growth and maturity of our organization, as we have found our ultimate purpose - to create media that spotlights our NGO partners and leverage that media to raise awareness and funds. This year, we have started a new initiative - a web-based platform, where stories of success are told and used to garner support for our NGO partners. Each donor will be updated through media including photography, blog entries and video footage, enabling them to follow their dollar as it makes a difference. This initiative is See Change.

Students Of the World aims to connect people through the power of media and story telling. Students of the World is committed to telling the stories of success, of those who are on the front lines every day, fighting for human dignity, rights and life. Students of the World believes in the necessity to celebrate successes - big and small - to provide hope and incentive to people around the world to get up, get out there and do something positive for the world... so that we can all be and see the change we want in this world.

Courtney Spence
Founder and CEO