The world is big enough for everyone to feel at home in it - yet many American youth struggle to love and accept themselves and those around them. Bullying, suicide, and violence are symptoms of a larger problem - and we believe travel and exposure to diverse cultures can help our young people feel more connected and less alone.
As one of the few American students at an international school, The Alliance Project’s founder, Phoebe Zilko, learned first-hand what being different felt like.
When her father was promoted to a new job and moved her family from Oregon to Singapore, she was one of the few minorities at her international school. During her time there, she became fully immersed in the local culture, eating and playing with friends who lived in homes that had plywood walls and tarp roofing and who washed their clothes in the river, broadened her perspective. Though the locals lived differently than her, they laughed and loved just as she did. Though Phoebe was impacted by the culture shock that many expats experience, she also recognized that not all people are as wrapped up in the consumer culture as Americans are. This experience gave her a unique perspective at an early age - and what she learned then still informs how she views and treats others now.
Exposure to a different culture at an early age changed Phoebe's life for the better. She believes it can also transform the lives of today’s youth. Like our founder, The Alliance Project knows that acquainting young people with the customs, achievements, and traditions of others will widen their scope of global understanding, increase their cultural sensitivity, and promote widespread empathy. We are here to provide students of all ages with the the education they need to bridge gaps and become powerful, empathetic global citizens.