ASD And ACS Of Abu Dhabi Host Inaugural UAE Schools Changemaker Collaboration Conference

Two UAE schools, American School of Dubai (ASD) and American Community School in Abu Dhabi (ACS), have joined forces to create virtual connections

ASD and ACS Abu Dhabi, with the support of the JUMP! Foundation, have formed a partnership during this difficult time to introduce a positive new initiative designed to bring students together, connect ideas, and share changemaker projects, all through an online platform and inspired by the JUMP! connected virtual suite of leadership programs and conferences. The combined partnership, ‘The Changemaker Collaboration Conference’, connects students who are passionate about making changes in the world and want to take action on important issues.

After hosting a successful virtual workshop between the students at the two schools on Google Meet – the platform which complies with ASD’s child protection guidelines – more than twenty students were tasked with developing the mission statement and aligning the concept with opportunity for students to grow leadership and change making capacity. Students were invited to join the initiative based on their desire to make a difference in the world along with their active involvement and participation in current student organisations across both schools.

The range of topics discussed was vast and showed the real passions and motivations that students brought to the collaborative and will continue to bring in future workshops. Current student changemaker projects include beach clean-up initiatives around the UAE, work to support gender equality and ideas tackling human trafficking around the world.

The virtual workshops will happen every month and ASD and ACS hope this partnership will build the foundation for continued virtual collaborations as well as in-person meetings between the schools once it is safe to do so. They also want to encourage other schools to take part and join the initiative to create a growing student community which will make a difference to their world and their futures.

Commenting on the collaboration, student from ASD Nathalie said; “It is so inspiring to meet with other students who are willing and passionate enough to make a collective change to our world. I appreciated the chance and opportunity from ASD to meet and collaborate with other like-minded people and I’m looking forward to continuing with the project in the future.”

Zoe at ACS Abu Dhabi said: “I have really appreciated how open this community is to everyone's ideas and passions. To a great extent, I have also appreciated the opportunity to meet people during this time when we don’t have much of a chance to do this as part of our daily lives. I’m looking forward to meeting with everyone involved in the future and making a change together.”

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