By May 2025, AFS will have enrolled 3,000 students and 120 educators in Global Up Americas, a fully-funded virtual exchange program for educators and students in the Americas to develop crucial global competence skills for the 21st century. Global Up Americas was developed in partnership with and is supported by the Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute.
This is the second year of the program that is set to prepare more than 3,000 high school students and 120 educators across the Americas with critical global skills over the two years of this program. Doubling the participant numbers from last year, the program will provide full scholarships for students and teachers in Colombia, Mexico, and the United States—fostering cross-cultural connections and nurturing a new generation of global citizens ready to address 21st-century challenges.
This program is part of AFS’s expanding portfolio of virtual exchange programs. These include Global You Changemaker, offered in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Center for Social Impact Strategy; Effect+ for educators with grant funding from the Cyril Taylor Charitable Foundation, and the suite of AFS Global STEM Changemaker programs with funding from bp. More than 25,000 professionals, educators and young people have obtained the AFS Global Competence Certificate in the past decade. In 2024 alone, nearly 5,000 participants were enrolled in AFS virtual exchange programs.
In the first year of this program, Global Up Americas reached 1,000 students and 40 educators across Colombia, Mexico and the United States. Participation numbers doubled in the second year of the program, with additional 2,000 students and 80 educators slated to enroll by May 2025. Global Up Americas is designed to provide a comprehensive journey towards global competence and collaboration. Divided into two phases, the program first prepares educators through Global Up Educator, where mixed cohorts of 10-15 teachers across partner schools engage in a foundational training. They then lead their students through Global Up Teen, a virtual exchange connecting two classrooms in transformative, real-time dialogues and asynchronous learning focused on global competence.
Designed to enhance communication, empathy, and cross-cultural understanding, the program is crucial in equipping young people with global skills urgently needed in today’s interconnected world. Through practical experience, students gain critical competencies including:
- Building cultural understanding within and beyond their classrooms;
- Enhancing cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity;
- Developing “power skills” to create positive change in their communities;
- Embracing differences as a unique strength;
- Strengthening leadership and open-mindedness.
A Global Up Americas educator reflects, “This course helped me listen to people with different perspectives. It helped me understand, empathize, and avoid making generalizations.” A student echoes this sentiment, sharing, “This program pushed me out of my comfort zone. It’s helping me become a better communicator and be more reflective of my own growth.”
Students and teachers who complete the program earn digital credentials, including the award-winning AFS Global Competence Certificate and “Americas” digital credentials, and gain access to a virtual educators community for ongoing learning and collaboration.
Based on an outcomes assessment of the first year of Global Up Americas, program graduates demonstrate greater cultural awareness, critical thinking, and communication skills, besides building meaningful connections and friendships with peers from across the continent.
Learn more about how to join the program or implement the curriculum in your classroom here and explore our resources for schools and educators here.
AFS’s Global Up Americas is funded by the Stevens Initiative, which is housed at the Aspen Institute and is supported by the Bezos Family Foundation.
