Global Citizen Adventure Corps

Cultivating global citizens through education, service, and travel.

Get to Know Us

Global Citizen Adventure Corps is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization, designed to cultivate global citizen leaders through education, travel, and service opportunities, increasing mutual respect for people, places, and planet. Our programs combine travel and service-learning in collaboration with our university and international nonprofit partners. Our vision is to create a global community in which the world’s challenges and opportunities are met by educated, compassionate leaders and thinkers.

Vision

Our vision is to create a global community in which the world’s challenges and opportunities are met by educated, compassionate leaders and thinkers.

Mission

The mission of Global Citizen Adventure Corps is to cultivate global citizen leaders through education, travel, and service opportunities, increasing mutual respect for people, places, and planet.

Statement of Purpose

Global Citizen Adventure Corps (GCAC) provides college credit and scholarships for service-learning and travel opportunities to high school and university students in rural communities, bringing their voices and personal experiences to global issues. GCAC participants become leaders, who also bring a global perspective back to their home communities, resulting in exponential change for all people, places, and planet. 

Everyone has a role to play in creating a better world; GCAC programs are open to all students and community members worldwide. However, we primarily serve rural students from economically challenged communities in the Mid-South and Ohio Valley regions.  

In recent decades, as the “nightly news” became a 24-hour stream and social media allowed for unedited and, unfortunately, often uninformed voices to shout loudly, divisions of thought and practice have become more evident across the U.S. GCAC founders and board members easily recognized the impact on the rural South. Systemic issues such as poverty, addiction, and racism continue to grow, and traditional responses to counteract the negativity do not appear to be working.

Rural youth collectively comprise twenty percent of public school students in the United States. Many are enrolled in Title I high schools and if they attend college, are often the first generation to do so. Rural school districts are small with constrained resources often based on population, and, therefore, underserved as compared to their urban counterparts. Furthermore, in recent decades, urban and suburban communities have experienced an increase in ethnically diverse populations which is not true in rural settings further limiting exposure to significant cultural influences.

These complex challenges beg the question: how might a young person develop cultural competency without access to do so? Global Citizen Adventure Corps strives to fill that void.

According to the SYTA Student Travel Digest, 74% of school teachers surveyed believe travel has a very positive impact on a student’s personal development and positively impacts students’ performance at school. Additionally, educators and career/technical school administrators underscore students are completing degrees still lacking critical soft skills like problem-solving and communicating effectively. 

By offering college credit and scholarships, GCAC builds pathways between rural high schools, universities and our robust network of global nonprofit partners, in order to provide global service-learning  and citizenship travel opportunities to underserved students. 

Our ultimate goal is to build a more equitable playing field for rural students. By providing access to international education, we provide the next generation of compassionate leaders and innovators the tools to solve the world’s most pressing challenges, at home and abroad.

Grow + Go With Us

View our destinations and upcoming adventures.

Colombia

Details here

Costa Rica

Details here

Guatemala

Details here

Our Gallery

Take a look at photos from our travels.

Photo of GCAC group in Guatemala

Our Impact

5/5
“Global travel teaches you cultural diversity in ways you couldn’t imagine just in textbooks. It provides you with a greater appreciation for life and all it has to offer.”
Kaneesshia Wade
5/5
“While I served as a teacher at Colegio Americano, I actually learned many lessons myself. Immersed in Colombian culture, I learned about the people, heard intriguing stories, experienced new foods, danced to new music, and practiced different traditions. One of the most valuable lessons I learned while traveling abroad is that the very best currency we can share with others is our love and a smile. Travel changes you. It gives you a whole new perspective on the world and fosters an appreciation for others.”
Ginger Terry
5/5
“My time in Costa Rica changed my outlook on life and so many other things. I realized my full potential and made life-changing decisions to accomplish my dreams!.”
Staci Beecham
5/5
“Immersing yourself in another culture is a life-changing experience. You learn a whole lot about ourself on the journey.”
Dylan Nash

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