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IMAGINELEADERSHIPIMPACT REPORT

RE IMAGINE LEADERSHIPThere are many ways to imagine leadership.Who gets to be a leader? What does goodleadership look like? How can leadership makea difference in the world?Over the last 85 years, World Learning Inc.has continually challenged itself to reimagineleadership through its programs that impactmore than 150 countries and emphasizecollaboration, respect, and cross-culturalunderstanding. World Learning Inc. encouragespeople to solve problems—local and global—together.It started in the summer of 1932, when a groupof young Americans sailed to Europe witha mission to foster peace. The Experimentin International Living founder Donald Wattbelieved people of all ages could make adifference if they worked collectively.Our ideas for leadership expanded with ourorganization. World Learning Inc. is now theparent company of The Experiment, School forInternational Training—which includes SIT StudyAbroad and SIT Graduate Institute—and theglobal development and exchange nonprofitWorld Learning. As we’ve grown, we’ve refinedour approach to leadership and become leadersourselves in practicing inclusion.We amplify the voices of youth, women,people with disabilities, and people fromcommunities traditionally excluded from publiclife. Our education, exchange, and sustainabledevelopment programs provide these leaderswith the tools, connections, and confidence theyneed to remake their communities and forgetheir futures.In the pages ahead, you’ll read about someof these trailblazers, what they’ve alreadyaccomplished, and how they plan to make theworld a better place. They include: High school students who reimagined thepossibilities of cross-cultural experienceduring their summer with The Experiment. A team of Mongolian activists whoreimagined their community bypersuading employers to adopt inclusivehiring practices. A research scientist-turned-cardiologist whoreimagined a classroom outside of the labduring a year abroad with SIT’s InternationalHonors Program.Since that first Experiment trip, World LearningInc. has not wavered in its pursuit of a morepeaceful and just world. We remain committedto helping emerging leaders of all kinds tacklethe many challenges of a complex world—together.PLEASE JOIN US.World learning Inc. works with global citizens from over150 countries on six continents. The countries in greenrepresent where we have programs or participants.

IMPACT REPORTA LETTER FROMCONTENTSCAROLJENKINSWELCOME FROM THE INTERIM CEO5SECTION 1:THE EXPERIMENT IN INTERNATIONAL LIVING6SECTION 2:SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAINING20SECTION 3:GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT & EXCHANGE36SECTION 4:FINANCIALS, BOARD, PHILANTHROPY56 World Learning Inc.November 2017Front Cover: Glass/World Learning/The Experiment Leadership Institute/Public Health &Community Development/IndiaWelcome to World Learning Inc.'s 2017Impact Report, celebrating our 85thanniversary. I am honored to write to youas World Learning Inc.'s interim CEO, asDonald Steinberg transitions to his newsenior advisor role. I want to express mygratitude for his years of service to thisorganization and its mission, and lookforward to working closely with him in themonths ahead.The School for International Trainingalso continues to evolve. This spring, wewere delighted to welcome Dr. SophiaHowlett as our new president. Under herleadership, the school is preparing tolaunch new SIT Graduate Institute andSIT Study Abroad programs focused oncritical issues including climate change,digital and social innovation, andyouth leadership.This summer, our flagship program,The Experiment in International Living,continued to provide high schoolstudents with meaningful, immersivestudy abroad opportunities, by sending504 students to 25 countries. Theseinspiring young people spent theirsummer breaks building vital interculturaland leadership skills and developingcross-cultural friendships. Next summer,The Experiment will continue expandingits portfolio with three new programs intwo new countries, and will introduceinbound exchanges to the United States.We are also looking to the future ofour Global Development & Exchangeprograms with our Vision Toward 2020,which aims to expand and strengthenour reputation as a leader in programsseeking local pluralistic solutions to theworld’s most pressing challenges. We’reworking toward diversifying our fundingsources, and this year, we implementedinnovative programs dedicated to virtualexchange, girls’ STEAM education, anddemocratic leadership.Though the world is facing manychallenges, the results I have seen fromour programs demonstrate that there isWELCOME FROM THE CEO5still so much to be hopeful about. I amfortunate to lead an organization full ofsuch dedicated and hard-working staffmembers, who are truly passionate aboutimproving their communities and theworld. I hope with this report’s stories,photographs, and impact data you willsee that together, we can continue tomake this world a better place.Carol JenkinsInterim CEO, World Learning Inc.

7 IMAGINEEXPERIENCE

THE EXPERIMENT ININTERNATIONAL LIVINGIn the 85 years since our first group ofstudents sailed to Europe, The Experimentin International Living has designed singularexperiences for young people wishing toexplore the world.Our immersive summer programs give highschool students the opportunity—manyfor the first time—to discover new culturesand skills, while forging lifelong friendships.Experimenters live with host families, engagein community service, and take part in sportsor the arts.The Experiment is also leadership, reimagined.We believe young leaders are instrumentalto remaking a more peaceful and just world.We nurture youth leadership with programsexploring critical global themes such as artsand social change; sustainability and theenvironment; language and culturaldiscovery; and peace, politics, andhuman rights.In 2017, The Experiment offered 34 programsin 25 countries around the world. Studentsexamined LGBTQ rights in the Netherlands,studied sustainability in Ecuador, andpracticed their anime in Japan. TheExperiment Leadership Institute taughtstudents how to become advocates in fieldslike public health and human rights.Students return home transformed.Their new understanding of the world givesthem the flexibility, tolerance, and practicalskills to flourish in school and in life. Learnabout their experiences—in their own words—in the pages ahead.

2017 WORLD LEARNING INC.IMPACT REPORTSTUDENT VOICESTANZANIA: AFRICAN CULTURES& LANDSCAPESWhen we push ourselves to our limits, wefind that we can go even further than we ever thought wecould. Like a difficult stretch, we always find the strengthto push an extra inch.Back home, I fancied myself living a simple life. I rarelyshop for clothes, recycle like a demon, and turn off thewater while I brush my teeth. This trip, I imagined, wouldonly be a slightly more difficult extension of my already“simple” life. After the first few days in country, I feltsatisfied that I had been correct. Secretly, I was proudthat I had adjusted so well.I was in for a rude awakening when the group arrived forour rural homestay in Stahabu. Gone were the nightlyshowers, the luxury of chairs, the promise of light tojournal by in the evening. Even the simplest pleasures,like acquiring chocolate, were now monumentalundertakings, requiring ten times the effort anddetermination they might have taken back home.I was in awe of the villagers living around me. Luggingheavy jugs of water across the village from the pit well,wrestling with a goat for the evening meal, walking milesTHE EXPERIMENTin the blazing sun to reach school or the next village—how humbling for me, a girl who thought her life wasno-frills, to see a truer vision of a simple life.Yet, life in Stahabu was neither backwards nor austere.The villagers seemed to have everything they neededand wanted, and were more than happy to shower megenerously with home-cooked food and genuine lovein their homes. Adjusting to life in the village was anexperience that opened my eyes to the excesses in myown life. Back home, I told myself that I had stretchedenough, met my limit. But to witness a lifestyle so pareddown from the over-the-top extravagance we all know athome was a reality check. I realized I could stretch thatextra inch—an extra few inches, perhaps.Maybe I can get others to stretch a few inches as well.— SophiaFRANCE: FRENCH LANGUAGE& CULINARY ARTSOn our way to see the Eiffel Tower, I wasso excited. I knew emotions were going to be shown, butI never thought I’d cry. As my group left the Métro and10walked closer, I began to see a goldlight that shined like a bright moonin a dark night. I then realized thatthis wasn’t a dream. I was actuallyin PARIS! I was actually seeing theEIFFEL TOWER!I thought of the moment my parentstold me how proud they were thatI was the first in the family to go toEurope. At that moment, I felt thehappiness they felt. — LauraVIETNAM: ECOLOGY &CONSERVATIONWhen I first arrivedin Vietnam, I knew nothing ofthe language. Sure, I could say“hello,” “goodbye,” and “thank you,”but I could not truly understandthem. However, I started to noticesomething: Everywhere we traveled,from the bustling metropolis of HoChi Minh City to the rural villagesof the Mekong Delta, there waspassion shared by the Vietnamesepeople that even I, who had neverleft North America, could completelyunderstand. Our mutual connectionwas not made by language butdeveloped through a love for thebeautiful game that captivatesmillions around the globe.Walk down any street in Ho ChiMinh City and you’re bound to seeany number of football fans proudlytoting their favorite club’s jersey,from Real Madrid to Juventus;there is an unspoken solidaritybetween them. Start to look closelyin any Vietnamese city and you areguaranteed to find football pitchestucked between buildings; maybeyou will even be lucky enough seea match.I was fortunate enough to stumbleacross one of these stadiums in theTHE EXPERIMENT11middle of a match and what I sawmade me feel more at home thananything I had experienced so far.I saw two competing sides tryingdesperately to defeat the other,playing not only with passion andferocity but enjoying themselves asthey played the game they love.Later in the trip, once in Ho Chi MinhCity and twice in the Mekong Delta, Iwas able to share my own infatuationwith the game with local studentswe met. Playing with them mademe realize that, through sports andcompetition, we are able to makemeaningful and lasting connectionswith people thousands of milesaway from home. While we spokea different language, we all lived aninternational language: the languageof football. — Jeff