Why Having a Global Lens is Important To Create Local Change

In our rapidly-changing world, our communities are beginning to look more and more different. If you live in a bigger city, you don’t have to travel far to experience international cuisine, or hear people speak languages you’ve never heard before. As our communities change, it is our social responsibility to understand the fabric in which they are made of, as well as how they evolve.

You’ve probably heard the quote “You don’t know what you don’t know.” In the context of impacting communities, while not knowing is the first step in the cultural competence continuum, it is imperative to develop a global understanding in order to create lasting change in our local communities.

It is said that people will always fear what they don’t understand. You can make the argument that most racial conflicts that take place in countries around the world come from lack of understanding. In our societies, we tend to seek comfort through the similarities of others; but to truly develop empathy, one must make the effort to seek to understand the differences as much as the similarities.

Through the YMCA175 global experience in England, 42 young leaders from YMCAs all over the world had the rare opportunity to come together in one place and learn about each other through the Change Agents program. Most of them, like myself, work or volunteer in local Ys and are finding the need to adapt to better respond to their changing communities. Through this experience we have found that while we come from different countries, we face similar issues, from immigration to mental health crises.

It is only by talking about our countries that we were able to truly learn and understand the complex issues that give meaning to the work that we do with the Y around the world. Knowledge is power, and in today’s world, where our neighborhoods are made up of diverse languages and cultures, looking at our communities through a global lens will help our efforts to strengthen their foundations and authentically live out our mission.