{"id":4819,"date":"2006-10-01T15:38:47","date_gmt":"2006-10-01T19:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=4819"},"modified":"2017-06-29T14:30:54","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T18:30:54","slug":"global-leadership-and-service-projects-put-human-face-on-globalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2006\/10\/global-leadership-and-service-projects-put-human-face-on-globalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Leadership and Service Projects put human face on globalization."},"content":{"rendered":"

In just two short years, Global Leadership and Service Projects (GLSPs) have established themselves as a potent activity for shaping global business leaders who understand their obligations to the less fortunate in the world. Not only have the three projects drawn ninety students from the university as organizers and participants, but also, students from other universities have received scholarships to join in and have spread the idea to their own schools\u2014here and abroad.<\/p>\n

\"Mark
Mark Elbadramany and Milvia Suarez with Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam, who received a collage made by Suarez that included pictures from each of the three 2006 Bangkok sites and photos of Thai culture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A core activity of the International Business Honor Society (IBHS), with support from the College of Business Administration and the Center for Business Education and Research (CIBER), among others, GLSPs are \u201ca community service vehicle that we describe as a \u2018dual side experience without frontiers,\u2019\u201d said Robert Hogner<\/strong>, associate professor, Department of Management and International Business, and coordinator of the college\u2019s Civic Engagement Initiative.<\/p>\n

Two GLSPs have gone to Bangkok, and one to Nicaragua. Plans are underway for the third working trip to Bangkok in the spring of 2007 and for the second \u201cDecember of Dreams to Help Kids,\u201d to Nicaragua this year.<\/p>\n

Students see the world\u2014and its needs\u2014and apply their business background.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe created the GLSPs as part of an effort to find a niche project to separate our International Business Honor Society (IBHS) from other student organizations and to give our members an unprecedented, experiential learning opportunity through which they could apply what they\u2019ve learned in their courses,\u201d said Mark<\/strong> Elbadramany<\/strong>, a co-founder of IBHS, who will graduate in December, 2006, with a double major in International Business Honors (IB Honors) and finance. He also serves as executive director of the newly-founded international organization, IBHS, Inc., which will charter chapters worldwide, and participated in both GLSPs to Bangkok.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to study the macro-economic structure of Thailand and learn about the currency crisis and the country\u2019s resulting debt,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s another thing to see the impact of the poverty in the faces of the children.\u201d<\/p>\n

As business students, the organizers understood from the start that they needed a coherent and repeatable plan\u2014one they\u2019ve refined since they first implemented their ideas in Bangkok in 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have standardized logistics to do these projects, including fundraising, financing, marketing, organizational structuring and charts, training manuals, and cultural background materials,\u201d Elbadramany said. \u201cOur goal is for students everywhere who go through these resources or participate in a GLSP to be able to launch their own initiatives in other areas of the world\u2014further cultivating them as leaders for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another change: IBHS\u2019s vice president is charged with overseeing both GLSPs. For the current vice president, Douglas Garcia<\/strong>, an international business and finance major who expects to graduate in the spring, 2007, that means an almost-full-time commitment.<\/p>\n

\"Douglas
Douglas Garcia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am the person in charge of making the GLSPs a reality by making sure we do logistics, pubic relations, and organizational management, and I work with the IBHS board, university faculty, fellow students, and the community,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, the GLSPs represent the opportunity to experience third-world community service and enable me to gain leadership, managerial, and service skills in preparation for being a member of the international business community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Garcia and Milvia Suarez<\/strong>, current president of IBHS, are veterans of the GLSP Bangkok\u20132006, which included three sites: the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women site (APSW); the Children\u2019s Creativity Foundation (CCF), a community school; and a summer day camp at the Klong Toey Community School.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was priceless to be able to take supplies to CCF and to give the orphans there a level of contact that\u2019s missing in their daily lives,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cWe got to see something out of the everyday, which reminded us of how much we take for granted. Working on projects\u2014including fundraising, securing sponsorships, and bringing students in from other universities\u2014also is a way to implant in others the idea and its importance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Planners affected by recent events in Thailand.<\/em><\/p>\n

These global citizens who \u201cdo not want to be isolated and want to give back to the world,\u201d according to Elbadramany, are getting a lesson on the impact of distant occurrences on their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recent military coup in Thailand was seen by students not only as a global political event halfway around the world but also as a personal event involving the lives of people they know,\u201d Hogner said. \u201cOur students understand the political and social crisis that precipitated the coup; they understand by knowing much about the Thai people and how such a soft revolution could occur, and they understand how people’s lives will be changed as a new democratic constitution is established.\u201d<\/p>\n

IBHS seeks sponsors for upcoming GLSPs.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe prefer monetary donations,\u201d Elbadramany said. \u201cFor example, we will be distributing school supplies to nearly 3,000 children in Nicaragua, but it makes more sense for us to buy the items there, saving transportation costs and infusing some money into the Nicaraguan economy. Having the funds, rather than supplies, will help us the most.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In just two short years, Global Leadership and Service Projects (GLSPs) have established themselves as a potent activity for shaping global business leaders who understand their obligations to the less fortunate in the world. Not only have the three projects drawn ninety students from the university as organizers and participants, but also, students from other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[435,474,673,1028,1130,1160,1760,1916],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4819"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4819"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28737,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4819\/revisions\/28737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}