Leaders in Action: Steve Culbertson, founder of Global Youth Service Day

Leaders in Action: Steve Culbertson, founder of Global Youth Service Day

Josh: While there are many events dedicated to service, such as MLK Day and National Volunteer Week, GYSD is the only day specifically dedicated to getting the youth involved in service. Why is it so important for this group in particular to get involved?

Steve: GYSD is unique in that way, and it motivates and mobilizes kids across six continents and more than 100 countries. But we also want GYSD to celebrate and thank the millions of children and youth who are already contributing to their communities 365 days of the year across the United States and around the world.

Habits of the heart and mind start young, and there’s a very narrow window for learning them. Whether you’re learning to read or learning to a play a musical instrument, it’s important to start young. The 28 year old conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic claims he’s neither a prodigy nor a genius. “Someone handed me a violin when I was four,” he explains. Young people have incredible energy, commitment, and idealism. They are extremely innovative. They are open to exploring processes and solutions that adults are likely to dismiss. The great thing about service-learning is that it teaches kids how to solve problems – something most of us are forced to learn in the school of hard-knocks. By guiding young people through the process of “investigation, preparation, action, reflection, demonstration, and celebration”, we give them valuable skills they can use in school, the workplace, and the community for the rest of their lives.

Youth service is also the classic pipeline to lifelong service and philanthropy. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of Americans who gave over $300 billion to charitable causes last year are also volunteers. And the vast majority of those adult volunteers started as children.

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Like Steve the CEO of GYSD, I believe that habits of the hear and mind start early. These a lot of potential and energy young people possess. My job as a facilitator is to help them channel it to greater social change.

I love being part of this larger movement of Global Youth Service! The response from the community, parents, educators, and women of all ages has been tremendous.