CLF held its first "2019 Agents of Change" Global Scholars Summit, from April 5-7 in New York City. The summit was designed to unleash scholars' potential by educating, inspiring and connecting the program's seventeen dynamic and talented students with the resources to help them more successfully navigate their college careers.

Throughout the long weekend, scholars joined each other in workshops and listened to engaging personal and professional stories from leaders from a variety of fields. The young men and women learned about how to connect their personal values with their professional paths, as well as participated in a speed mentoring session where they continued to network with individuals and receive career advice.

Part of the Summit included talks by sector leaders and practitioners who shared stories about the challenges and highlights of their individual and professional journeys to create social change. Highlights of the weekend included a Q&A with author, social entrepreneur and presidential appointee, Jim St. Germain, and discussion with writer and civil rights activist, Shaun King, who spoke about the nuances of advocacy and global change. King urged scholars to connect their values with their passion, and to lean into tackling social challenges with the sense of urgency that they deserve.

Over the course of three days, scholars were encouraged to push their creativity and self-expression, as well as their comfort zone. The group wrote letters of commitment to themselves, and even ventured to a nearby park where they asked New Yorkers to share their stories of change with them. The weekend closed out with a healthy cooking class team building activity, where conversations about entrepreneurship and social responsibility flourished.

CLF will continue to build on the lessons learned and relationships forged through year-round programming that will strengthen the connections and commitments CLF scholars made to each other and to the foundation. To learn more about our seventeen global scholars, follow @ClaraLionelFdn on Instagram.