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The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, in association with Boston University, brought together forty outstanding young people from across the nation to take part in the Conference of Tomorrow's Leaders II: "From Indifference to Action" in December of 2000. The focal point, as with the Venice Conference, was today's youth.
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The Boston Conference centered on facilitating interaction between the participants and speakers so that young people may have a stronger voice influencing policies and programs targeting youth in the United States. Participants discussed the challenges faced by today's youth and focused on ways in which they may become more effectively engaged and motivate others in their community to move from indifference to action.
Speakers came from such areas as public service, the arts and youth development to discuss activism, barriers and opportunities for young people to join the fight against indifference, intolerance and injustice. This conference created a forum where the participants learned from inspirational role models as well as from each other and lasting friendships emerged among powerful young leaders.
At the conference, participants considered potential strategies by which education, media and politics could be used to advance youth development, in conjunction with the importance of respect for ethnic and religious diversity. Workshop proposals were created from these discussion groups and were to be presented on Capitol Hill. In addition, the Foundation allowed the young leaders the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $500 toward a project of their choice. Although some chose to work on projects already dear to them, many decided to create new projects. Conferences encouraging dialogue between local politicians and youth in the community, after-school workshops focusing on non-violence, youth run hunger drives and books read on tape for underprivileged students are just some of the projects these young leaders are working on with their grants.
The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity believes in nurturing this new generation. We hope that the Conference for Tomorrow's Leaders will inspire all young people to build a better, more harmonious and humane world.
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