Behold The Greenshirts: Zenith Global Citizenship Conference For Kids

The first ever Zenith Global Citizenship Conference, an initiative designed to build leadership and inspiration in youth between the ages of 15 and 25, will take place at the River Rock Resort Casino next week.

This day-long event will engage more than 400 high school students, university students and young businesspeople in themes relevant to today's youth in the hope of fostering more globally-minded citizens.

"The plan was to have half secondary students and half post-secondary students. We feel that this mixture really contributes to the concept of mentorship, which is really important for students leaving high school," said Ian Law, co-chair of the May 15 conference.

The keynote speaker is Khalil Shariff, a former Richmond resident who was the youngest elected school trustee when he ran at age 19 in Richmond in 1993.

Since that time Shariff has become the CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation, which is a non-profit agency that supports social development in Asia and Africa.

"The presentation will explore why the world needs more Canada, and the role that young Canadians can play in becoming outstanding global leaders," Law said.

Kwantlen University College's Juergen Dankwort will speak on why good people engage in violence and explore the link between violence perpetrated by a nation and violence in the home.

Community developer Romi Chandra will speak on the theme of human rights by examining roles in race, class, gender, sexuality, age and ability issues.

"Creating change takes time; spend your time educating each other on how to effectively and meaningfully include inclusive practices into your projects and life," Chandra said.

Other workshops are planned along the themes of the conference: Anti-Violence, Athleticism (Olympics), Environmentalism, Human Rights, International Development, Leadership and Social Responsibility.

"What's very special about our conference is that after it we have something called the volunteerism fair, where we invited over 40 organizations to come in to showcase their opportunities.

"What that means is, after gaining knowledge and being inspired at the conference, they can actually take an active role and engage themselves immediately, right after the conference," Law said.

"Our vision is to make sure Zenith is not just a conference, but that it is a platform for youth to synergize and to step out into their community, whether it's on a small scale or a large scale."

The Red Cross, World Vision, Rotary Youth Leadership Award, Developing World Connections and Oxfam will be among the 40 organizations at the fair.

The conference is a partnership between Rotary District 5040, Richmond Community Foundation, Rotaract Club of Richmond and the Richmond Youth Foundation.

Eiston Lo and Ian Law are co-organizers of the event. For more information see www.zenithconference.org.