There’s something electric about watching a room full of strangers slowly become a community.

Today, 36 students from eight different countries: India, the US, France, South Africa, Egypt, Bhutan, Ghana, and Madagascar, came together for Day 1 of the Leadership Collective 2025. The room was buzzing with quiet nervousness at first. New names, unfamiliar accents, long journeys. But by the end of the day, there was laughter, shared playlists, group photos, and promises of friendship.

That’s what this program is about. When young people come together across borders, they carry their own stories but they also open themselves up to each other’s. And in that space, something shifts. You can feel it. A spark of understanding, a question that goes deeper, an idea that wasn’t there before.

This year, we're asking them to explore Climate Citizenship, not just as a concept, but as a lived responsibility. What does it mean to care for a planet that doesn’t belong to just you? How do you take that sense of care back to your community, your classroom, your kitchen table?

It’s only Day 1. But already, the room feels lighter. Like something important has begun.