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-In 2023 alone, they led 85 participants on seven programs, served and learned in six countries, and, through generosity, provided scholarships for 16 individuals.

Hello, I'm Tom Britt.

On this edition of Tennessee Is Talking, the topic is the Global Citizen Adventure Corps.

This program is shaping the next generation of leaders, and inspiring action, compassion, and collaboration on a worldwide scale.

Let the conversation begin.

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-West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee Is Talking.

Let the conversation begin.

-Thanks for joining the discussion here on Tennessee Is Talking.

Hello, everybody.

I'm Tom Britt.

The Global Citizen Adventure Corps is an empowering program that encourages young individuals to blend adventure, community service, and cross-cultural exchange to tackle some of the world's most urgent challenges.

Here to tell us more are co-founders, Stacie Freeman and Dr. Julie Hill.

Thank you both for joining us here today.

-Thank you for having us.

-Thank you for having us.

-Share what the inspiration was to start such a program.

-We had a mutual friend that said, "You two need to get to know each other, you've got some common passions," and we sat out on my back deck in July of 2022, I believe, and suddenly learned we were destined to be together and just had very similar life paths.

We both had a lot of experience, decades of experience, taking students to other countries and so we had a whole lot of overlap.

Then we also both wanted to serve more students, and the way to do that is through the vehicle of a nonprofit and then being able to raise money for scholarships.

Then, three months later, we had written all the 501(c)(3)-- We learned a lot on that, that paperwork.

-[laughs] That's always an adventure, isn't it?

[laughter] -It was.

That was an adventure unto its own.

Yes, and we got approval very quickly, and then that's how we started.

-What challenges do you face, or did you face, in the early days of founding the program and the organization and how did you overcome them?

-I don't think we're unique in that many new nonprofit organizations, our primary issue was funding.

-As for all nonprofits, that's the issue.

[laughs] -As for all nonprofits, and even several years in, the issue, the hurdle, is still funding.

To tackle that or to overcome it, what we did was we reached out to our community.

We reached out to our family.

We reached out to our friends.

We reached out to former travelers.

I had a lot of students who traveled with me via the Bethel University Global Studies vehicle, and so we had a community that we could reach out to for support and that worked out quite well for ..

It continues to support us today.

[chuckles] -Was the response pr.. -It was.

-Thank [?].

[crosstalk] -Yes.

Thank goodness it was, and it conti.. We identify ourselves as a global organization, but the truth is that our roots right here in West Tennessee are strong and they're deep.

That's why we're here with you today.

-In your vision, what role does adventure play in shaping global citizens?

-Adventure plays a big part of everything.

We are big believers in change happens through getting out of your zip codes.

If you are in the same place that you were born in and you stay in that same place your whole life, I guess it could be pretty adventurous, but perhaps going to another country and seeing people who worship different than you, eat different than you, dance different than you, look different than you, speak different languages,- -They talk diffe.. --that is an adventure.

Once you're awakened to that-- -It's a learning adventure.

-It's a learning adventure.

It is, and it's an adventure of friendship and discovery.

Then we are all about the adventure abroad but then bringing that back home to our home community and sharing that passion and love with our students' families so that they can maybe inspire that in the people near them.

-Don't you think it's a growing adventure?

-A growing adventure?

-Yes.

-Yes.

Yes, indeed.

-You learn, you grow, right?

From different-- -Yes, and we do.

We're inspired by the students,.

We have adventured and learned a lot in the past two years together.

[laughs] -Speak to maybe the personal and so.. of maybe some of the students and people who have gone with you on some of these trips.

-Oh, yes.

There's no substitute for hands-on learning.

What we do, in the industry, it's called "global service learning and citizenship."

What that really amounts to is getting out into the world and learning about how it operates firsthand.

This is interesting, this is one of the things that makes our program unique, is that our travelers, especially our students, take a course through Bethel University's Global Studies program where they learn about the history and the culture of the place that we're going to visit.

That's wonderful, right?

It's wonderful to sit in an online classroom.. and to watch videos and to attend lectures, but there is no substitute for exploring Machu Picchu with a local guide teaching you about the Inca Empire and how that citadel was constructed and the geometry and the astronomy and all that was involved.

The personal growth that we mentioned earlier, the academic growth, the emotional growth that occurs as a result of our programming, I think, is strong.

-The core mission, is that growth and understanding and learning about what is happening?

-Yes, serving, learning, and becoming a citizen of the world, that is our core mission.

The more students that we can expose to that and the more community members that we can bring through serving that mission is what we exist for.

Then, of course, the fact Stacie and I are both from small towns in Northw.. so some of this is we had education-- I had music as a means of seeing the world, and we see so many young people who don't have that opportunity.

Our mission is really to serve those who have the desire and know that they crave this kind of adventure and learning, but they don't have the financial means to achieve it.

That is essentially why we formed.

-You probably find, too, that people who do go, they find out that they did crave that and didn't even know it, right?

-That's right.

-That's a discovery, right?

-Yes, it is a discovery.

-Yes, it certainly is.

How do you define "global citizenship" and how is it integrated into your programs?

-We have adopted the Oxfam definition of global citizenship, and essentially what it means is that a person is able to consider themselves a citizen of the global community.

A global citizen is a person who recognizes that we, as individuals, have the potential to have a broad impact.

The local impacts the global, the global impacts the local and what we're trying to equip students and travelers with is the capacity to intervene.

We face some pretty challenging global problems, global issues in this day and time, and what we hope is that the program we've created will give students and travelers the opportunity and the tools that they need to make a difference.

-I was fortunate, earlier this year, to travel to Europe and to Scotland and Ireland and I learned a whole lot that I didn't know.

I thought I knew a little bit about history and people and things, but once you get there and interact with people one-on-one, it really changes your perspective, doesn't it?

-It does.

-We all have these preconceived ideas of what we hear and what we see on TV or something-- or view on the news or whatever is going on.

What specific impact do you hope that the organization will have in, say, 5 to 10 years?

-Stacie and I talk about that a lot, how long can we do this?

[laughter] We are not 20 anymore, but we have such an immediate impact with the students that travel with us, seeing the ocean for the first time, going on a plane for the first time.

Some of them, the soft skills we talk about, but they have never navigated an airport.

The short-term ramifications and benefits are quite good, but, ideally, what we would love is to see local, state, federal, perhaps, resources know that we exist.

We're still pretty new in the world of non-profits.

People have to know you exist and know what your mission is and what you're about in order to help you and so we would love to partner with more organizations-- with more civic organizations, but also, state, again, local, federal groups that can then exponentially help us help more students.

-I think what I'm hearing, you have to really explain your organization a lot to people, right?

-We do.

[crosstalk] -Yes, and we love doing that, and we hope this will help.

-Yes, and part of the program right here, today.

That's what you're doing right here.

-Yes, exactly.

-Right, exactly.

-That's what we're doing.

-What kind of a legacy are.. -Oh, wow, what kind of legacy are we hoping to leave?

As we think about the future and some of the issues that we face as, not only a country but as a planet, I think both Julie and I hope that the legacy we leave is one of education and of service, that what's left behind when we're gone-- we hope to pass this on to a leader beyond us, is that this organization was built for change, that it served as an inspiration for change and to leave a positive impact.

I think that's ultimately what we hope.

-Yes.

Good legacy to leave behind.

How do you measure the success of the program, and do you have stories and examples of some of that success that has happened already?

-We've got some pretty traditional ways that we measure su.. We have a post-service survey, for instance, that all of our travelers complete-- or at least we try to get all of our travelers to complete the po.. -Yes, nobody likes [?].

[laughs] -I know, nobody wants to fill out another survey, but we try.

We do have a pretty high participation rate in our post-service survey to measure things like your understanding of global citizenship and, "Do you have a better understanding of the role you play in world affairs?"

And, "Do you feel more culturally competent?"

We ask those kinds of questions.

That's one way we measure success, but there are other ways that we measure success as well, and I can give you an example from this weekend.

I actually went hiking with a former traveler of mi..

Her name is Natalie Marvel, and she was a psychology major at Bethel.

She graduated.

We traveled together on three programs, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Colombia.

Now she's a counselor at the high school where she graduated from in her own little, tiny hometown in Southern Illinois.

We spent the day together, Saturday, just catching up, but we ended the day with her asking questions about how she can go back to her employer, to the high school where she graduated, and put together a group of students who can travel with Global Citizen Adventure Corps.

To know that our program had enough impact on her that she wants to come back now, not as a traveler, but as a leader, that's success.

-Yes, that certainly is.

Can you walk us through one of your programs and how does it work, how much it costs, and that sort of thing?

-Sure.

I guess the "where" would be the first thing, and we will go anywhere.

Stacie's traveled more than me, but we've both traveled a good bit, and so we'll put a program together pretty much anywhere.

We do gravitate a lot to Central and South America, and we've had some programs, recently, in Europe, and then also programs comin.. in the Philippines and Japan.

We will put programs together most anywhere people want to go, but that's to name a few.

The "who" is we primarily serve high school students, rising juniors and seniors, and also college students, university students of any age, including nontraditional students, but then we also serve community members.

Our programs are very enriched by taking-- you, Tom, we would love for you to come with us.

[laughter] Really, we would.

The scholarships are not for you.

The scholarships are for the students, but, really, we will take anyone who's out there that has a heart, a spirit of travel, and maybe is afraid to go on their own.

We would love to have them join us.

Now, the cost differs in terms of t.. Flights are going to differ on that.

I would say our average is about $3,000 a program and a week long.

Some of them are longer.

When we go to Italy, that's a longer program.

Brazil is longer.

It just depends on the time to get there.

The cost, in most cases, it includes the flights, the lodging, the ground transportation, local guides, which we are absolute believers in spending our money locally.

It covers our service learning project where we volunteer.

Sometimes we have to buy concrete cinder blocks to build a staircase in a muddy landscape of Costa Rica at an animal rescue center, which I just did, by the way.

[laughter] We pay for those supplies.

We believe in serving responsibly, and that does come as a cost.

That's a great lesson for the student participants to know that, "Hey, part of my program is actually helping save baby sloths," and that does happen-- and food.

Of course, they need to eat.

-Yes, we feed our participants.

[laughs] -I think I left out meals.

We feed them.

We do feed them, so it includes all the meals.

It's really everything other than the souvenirs.

We only require a 10% deposit, so that's very affordable.

Sometimes, you tell the cost, initially, to a student, especially from a low-income family and they're like, "Whoa," but, "Wait a minute, let's talk about the resources you have.

It's just a deposit.

We have no interest payments.

We have scholarships to help offset, and most of the stud.. and so then it becomes very digestible for all students, which is what we aspire to do, yes.

-Absolutely, that's the goal.

-How do you balance fun and work in the program?

-It's funny, we call it "global service learning," but really the way we do it, it's "global learning and service" because the class comes first and then we serve in a country.

That's part of the formula, I guess, that we use, is we learn and then we serve.

Really, it's a three-pronged approach because we learn and we serve, but we also have fun.

What I love about our program, though, is that we've even been able to find ways to have fun and.. so often our-- -That makes learning fun.

[laughter] -Yes, fun.

Just to give you some examples and one other thing we try to do is to make sure that the fun we're having is culturally unique.

When we're in Colombia, we take salsa dancing lessons in Cali, which is the salsa-dancing capital of the world, from some of the best salsa dancers on the planet.

I was watching the Su.. as Jennifer Lopez and Shakira- -Do you mind standing up and--?

No, I'm just kidding.

Go on.

Go ahead.

-[laughs] -were performing and I recognized t.. and I'm thinking to myself, "I know these people."

-It's a small world.

[laughs] -Then a banner pops up across-- it just unfolds across the bottom of the screen, and it says, "Cali, Columbia, Swing Latino," and they're our salsa-dancing teachers in Cali.

We salsa dance in Cali.

We just got back from two programs in Guatemala where we paddle-boarded across Lake Atitlan in the shadow of multiple volcanoes.

In Mexico, we take cooking lessons in the home of a local family.

We do have a good time.

Especially when we're working with high school and college kids, these programs take place on their spring and fall breaks, so we want it to be fun.

-It's a little different than the classroom, right?

-Yes.

-Back here in West Tennessee or where.. -The world is our classroom.

-That's our hashtag, actually.

We use that a lot, "The world is our classroom.

-Yes, that's for sure.

I know you've had some probably memorable, transformative experiences for you and the students that go.

Tell us about that.

-Oh, Stacie's mentioned a few already, actually, but I do think when that student, first, you see them on a plane, and we sit next to the ones we know, we've identified, and we're like, "All right, may I hold your hand?"

Then they're like, "Oh, my gosh," and that's where it starts.

Then, "That's the ocean."

This happens where we have students that have not been to the ocean, so there are these moments that are just immediately gratifying.

Then there are the ones where they realize, "Oh, okay.

When we're serving, it's not okay to go up and pet the baby sloth because the baby sloth needs to be rehabilitated."

It's been taken away from its natural habitat, and so they go, sometimes they're like, "We're going to volunteer at an animal rescue center," and they've got these visions of holding baby sloths.

-Yes, rocking them to sl.. -Yes, and that's not what we do.

That's a very important learning moment for them, they're like, "Can't take selfies with the sloths either?"

"No," it's all about them, that this should not be happening to them.

Then they start to feel pride in that and learning that, "Oh, my gosh.

My preconceived notion of what this should have been is wrong," and you see growth.

That is what is so gratifying to us,- -That's what we're there for, yes.

--is the personal growth.

Then it becomes addictive.

Then they want it again and again, and they want to travel again and again and keep learning, as do we all.

-That's a good thing.

-As do we all.

It's a great addiction to have.

-You work to respect the cultural-- -Yes, always, as a priority.

--culture of the countries and the people and all those sort of things, too?

-Yes.

-Do you collaborate with other organizations, governments, or community leaders to expand your reach and impact?

-Yes, we do.

We partner with organizations within the country.

Again, they're experts in their field, and we're making sure that the projects in which we volunteer are community-identified projects.

We're not going in going, "We know what's best for you," and that is true to our mission.

-Very important.

-Then also organizations here at home we partner with.

We work with-- how many Rotaries have we spoken to?

-Oh, gosh.

I think all of them.

[chuckles] -If anyone hears us and would like for us to come speak, please ask us.

Rotary groups, Kiwanis Club, Lions Club, Girl Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Club.

Many hands do make light work, and all these organizations are trying to support a lot of different people, so if we can work together, then we can exponentially help more growth opportunities for young people.

-What has been the most rewarding aspect of running the Global Citizen Adventure Corps do you think?

That's a big question.

[laughs] -Gosh, Julie's going to be sick of hearing me say this, but I'll say it because it's true.

On the surface, it looks like the fun part or the rewarding part would be all the different places that we get to travel and all the things we get to do, but it's not the places.

It's the people.

It just is.

It's the Natalie Marvels of the world that I was just telling you about, really and truly the young people and the community members that sign up to travel with us.

It's not every person that wants to take their spring break or their fall break to go volunteer in another country.

-It takes a little different mindset to do that, yes.

-It does.

It takes someone with a little ..

I'm always so proud of the students who choose to do this with their break.

With their school break.

They have to have a little bit different mindset.

They have to have a mindset of service.

They have to be brave.

Like Julie said, a lot of these kids, they're leaving their parents for the first time, they're leaving their homes for the first time.

-Traveling around the world.

Right.

[laughs] -They're traveling around the world.

Many of our kids have never been on a plane.

Like Julie said, they've never been in an airport, and so that is, by far, the most rewarding part of the work, both professionally and personally.

It's just I have so much more hope for the future than I think I would otherwise.

[laughs] These kids really do make a differen.. -Oh, what's next for the program?

-Oh, wow.

-Do you mean geographically or philosophically?

-Expand world or all of the above, I guess.

-Goodness.

Well, we are looking, always, at more locations to go to, but, honestly, we need more funding.

Nonprofits are all in the same boat with that.

They always want to do more the next year, and we are no different from anyone else.

As we mentioned, we'd like to partner with organizations to do that, but it also takes individuals and foundations who see this and believe in the power of service, learning, and travel, who share in our desire to help replace fear of the unknown with love and respect, and mutual respect for everyone.

That is our main goal and desire.

-What advice would you give to young people who are interested in becoming a part and taking part?

-One of the things Julie just mentioned is fear.

When I'm out recruiting students, which I do quite a lot-- I'm in the high schools through Bethel University's Dual Enrollment program.

Of course, I'm in the classroom at Bethel teaching sociology, and as I'm recruiting students, I run into two things.

Fear and finances.

I think I would say to those folks who are thinking about traveling with Global Citizen Adventure Corps, in terms of finances, it's why we exist.

We've talked about that.

We do offer scholarships.

We offer payment plans with no interest.

You can make a small deposit to secure your spot on a program.

Then, in terms of fear, I think that we're the perfect vehicle for stepping out for the first time into the world.

-Stepping outside of your comfort zone- -Stepping outside of your comfort zone, yes.

-Exactly, yes.

--because we all settle in.

-Yes, we provide a safe place to do that.

-Yes.

You've got college professors, National.. educators, world-travelers.

I'm a parent.

I understand the anxiety that a lot of people feel, that parents feel, so I think we're just the perfect vehicle for that first step out into the world for kids.

There's, "We got you.

We'll take care of you."

-What role does Global Citizen play in the world do you think, right now?

-I think, actually, it's what we just mentio.. as the priority because there is a lot of fear and anxiety right now, more than I've felt in my lifetime, in the country and around the world.

I think a lot of that comes from not being able to humanize people who are different from you because you've never had a chance to be friends with them.

How could you think that Pablo from Costa Rica is a super awesome guy if you've never met Pablo?

Just really opening up doors for those who want to step through them to break down those stereotypes and those fears, and replace those with respect and love and, sometimes, lifelong friendships.

It's amazing, you'll see a student go from being scared to then going, "I'm learning," to then going, "Oh my God, I'm so sad because we are- -"We're finished," yes.

"We're going home," yes.

--coming home and I want to do this again," and that happens in a week, and it is just beautiful to see that happ.. -Transformational.

-Transformational for us and, most especially, for the students.

-That's right.

If someone wanted to contact you and talk with you about the program, what should they do?

-Our URL is the longest one in the history of Man.

-Ever.

[laughter] -The Peace Corps was taken, as we often say.

[laughter] Our website is the best place to find us, or you can Google search this, but it is globalcitizen, singular, adventurecorps, C-O-R-P-S, .org.

That is the best place to find our contact info, and we are happy to speak with anyone.

With school groups, individuals, retirement homes, churches.

Anyone watching this who would like to partner or go with us, bring it on.

We'd love to speak with you.

-That's right,.

Leave the information, you'll get back .. All right.

[chuckles] -We will get back.

We will.

-Particularly if you want to get.. To help you out a little bit, [laughter] to make it-- -We always get back with folks.

-I understand.

I understand.

Thank you both.

Our time has run out today.

For this edition of Tennessee Is Talking, we want to say thanks to Dr. Julia Hill and Stacie Freeman for stopping by and telling us about the Global Citizen Adventure Corps.

If you want to re-watch this program or share it with a friend, remember, it can be streamed anytime on the PBS app, along with all local Channel 11 programs.

You can also watch it on westtnpbs.org.

Keep the conversation going by following West Tennessee PBS on social media.

Until the next time, keep on talking, Tennessee.

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