High Resolves (or the High Resolves Initiative) is an

International non-governmental organization An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope. NGOs are independent of government ...

for young people. The aim of High Resolves programs are to educate high-school aged students in the meaning of being a

global citizen Global citizenship is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives ...

. High Resolves programs emerged from simulations developed by co-founder Mehrdad Baghai and Nobel Laureate

Thomas Schelling Thomas Crombie Schelling (April 14, 1921 – December 13, 2016) was an American economist and professor of foreign policy, national security, nuclear strategy, and arms control at the School of Public Policy at University of Maryland, College ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

History

High Resolves was founded in 2005 by Mehrdad Baghai author of ''The Alchemy of Growth''Baghai, Mehrdad, et al. (2000). ''The Alchemy of Growth''. Da Capo Press. and his wife Roya. High Resolves started as an experiment in Baghai's son's school in Sydney, Australia, and had expanded to at least 350 Australian schools by 2018, having engaged more than 200,000 Australian students since its inception. In 2014 the

Australian Council for Educational Research The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), established in 1930, is an independent educational research organisation based in Camberwell, Victoria (Melbourne) and with offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Dubai, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Lond ...

conducted an independent evaluation of the programs and found: "High Resolves is meeting its intended purposes, namely it is effectively engaging and helping to empower young Australians to take part and be active in their communities".

Program

Collective Action: a series of High Resolves programs for students, which teach personal decision-making skills and encourage critical thinking about social change. Collective Identity: an investigation of

cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizens ...

. Justice: an exploration of fairness, especially in the distribution of wealth and poverty.

Awards and honours

Author and

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

entrepreneur Mehrdad Baghai, a member of the Initiative, was short-listed as a finalist for the first

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

, John P. McNulty Prize in 2008, and ultimately was the winner of the award in 2018, the prize's eleventh year, citing extraordinary leadership. High Resolves won the 2015 Patrons Prize in the national Good Design Awards.

Videos for Change Challenge

High Resolves created Videos for Change in 2015 to help students to take action and feel empowered to create change in the world. The challenge is for young people from high school years 7 to 12 to create a one-minute video on a social issue they feel passionate about. Past participants have covered issues such as social inclusion, racism, domestic violence, gender equality, LGBTQI rights, and bullying.

Charity status

High Resolves has the charity status of Deductible Gift Recipients (DGR) in Australia and High Resolves America has

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

status in the US which allows for US federal tax exemption of nonprofit organizations, specifically those that are considered public charities.

References

External links

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Videos for Change Challenge website