Clinton conference gives leadership opportunities

The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) conference is “an opportunity full of opportunities,” said Keyla Souza, a Honduran SEED student at Mt. Hood Community College.

On Wednesday, the six MHCC students who attended the CGI U shared with their Mount Hood peers the numerous opportunities that they gained during the March event in Miami, Fla.

The SEED students told the audience the reason their projects – efforts to address urgent issues of education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty and public health in their home countries – were so successful was because of social media and word of mouth.

“You talk with your friend, your friend talks with another friend. That’s why this (funding gained for their projects through the CGI) was possible,” said Ana Blandon, one of the SEED students who traveled to Miami, and whose own proposed project made it to the fifth round of the conference’s competitive format.

At the conference, they had “many different opportunities,” according to Blandon. One such opportunity was office hours spent with experts, where Blandon got to talk with another philanthropic-oriented individual. This expert sat for an hour explaining the success of her project – helping to fight poverty around the world. “She started in the beginning by going to Guatemala, and then she moved to Africa, helping people with clothes and food – teaching them how to grow (food).”

The SEED students agreed, though, that the biggest opportunity offered to them through the CGI U were the potential networking options.

“Everything isn’t about the money,” said Souza, commenting on advice from a mentor. “You can find money everywhere. You need to know where to go to ask for money, (who) you are going to ask for money, and (how to) be strategic to ask for money.

“If you want to do something, just do it. And try to do it, not just because you benefit, try to do it because you want to benefit the community,” she said.

Souza said networking was important because although people might not always give out donations, they might have an idea to share with you on how to better that project.

Blandon discussed her project to add recycling bins in her hometown of Estilé, Nicaragua, where garbage has polluted the river and contributed to mosquito and disease problems.

Her project made it to the final round of the conference, where she finished second overall – which allowed Blandon to meet former President Bill Clinton, founder of the CGI.

“What I said to him was, ‘I really want to thank you, because what you have done (and) this foundation which has given me the opportunity to make a difference in my country and to help my community,” Blandon said.

Blandon’s project earned $3,970 through new donations she got at the CGI U. “With that money, I will buy the material” to make the recycling bins for her project, she said.

Blandon said she tells other students thinking about applying for the CGI U to “remember that every single one of us can make a change.”