World Smarts Changemakers connects young people from the United States and Latin America in bilingual conversation and a problem-based learning experience that inspires cultural awareness, language immersion, and community development.

World Smarts Changemakers (WSC) joins middle and high school students in Guatemala and the United States for conversational language learning in online collaboration spaces. Students form binational teams design solution ideas for real problems, facilitated by classroom teachers trained in WSC’s curriculum focused on UN Sustainable Development Goals, design thinking, and conversations. Throughout the project-based learning experience, participants develop skills such as digital literacy, cross-cultural communication, cooperation, and critical thinking. After each cohort, students participate in a Student Reflection and Community Celebration Event, which is a showcase of sustainable solution ideas, bilingual conversational moves, and foundational skills.  

• Prepare students from underrepresented and marginalized communities to prosper in an interconnected world.
• Build sustainable, transferable skills and boost confidence for under-represented intermediate school learners through access to cross cultural communication and conversational language learning, empowering them with the experience of creating authentic solutions to real world problems.
• Develop virtual exchange facilitation skills and understanding of design thinking through training and weekly coaching sessions with facilitators and school sponsors.
• Build capacity of a local partner in Guatemala to implement virtual exchange programs through improved performance in operational systems, and measurement and evaluation.

• Virtual Facilitator Training: Selected facilitators attend virtual training sessions where they will learn about the 10-week challenge modules and how to implement them.
• 10-Week Binational Virtual Exchange: World Smarts teams engage in bilingual conversations and develop a solution to a global challenge from the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Community Celebration and Student Reflections Event:  To conclude, the World Smarts teams will participate in culminating events to share their solutions and celebration of conversational moves and foundational skills 

World Smarts Changemakers is funded by the Stevens Initiative, which is housed at the Aspen Institute and is supported by the Bezos Family Foundation. The program is implemented by IREX with partnership from Empresarios por la Educación.

worldsmartsprogram@irex.org