Challenge:

Career-ready skills are difficult to build in theory. Young people need opportunities to practice introducing themselves, asking questions, navigating professional spaces, and building confidence with people they have never met.

Working alongside Student Youth Travel Association conference, the challenge was to create an experience where youth could build those skills and then immediately put them into practice within a live travel and tourism industry environment.

Approach:

International Connector brought the Global Citizens Challenge on location to Pittsburgh (previously to Washington DC, Savannah, New York, Winnipeg), combining career-readiness workshops, industry exposure, and hands-on practice.

Youth worked on communication, networking, confidence, curiosity, and how to approach professionals and start meaningful conversations. Sessions expanded beyond traditional career training, including workshops with GivingTuesday and the National Aviary.

What made the experience unique was the participation of the SYTA community itself. Industry professionals became part of the learning environment, sharing their experience, answering questions, encouraging participants, and giving youth a safe place to practice skills in the real world.

Impact:

Youth then took those skills directly onto the SYTA conference trade floor.

They introduced themselves and networked with professionals representing organizations across the travel ecosystem from Broadway and Universal to EF, destinations and tour operators, gaining exposure to career paths they may never previously have considered.

The conference became more than an event young people attended. It became a live career-readiness environment where they could learn, practice, connect and build confidence alongside the professionals shaping the industry.