“Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., March for Integrated Schools, April 18, 1959.

The Exchange Initiative is a six-weeks program where participants begin with a one-week virtual program component that sets the foundation and prepares them for a two-week academic residency in the US and then another two-weeks in India for the experiential learning. The US-based academic residency preferably takes place at an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) campus and is complemented by off-campus site visits that reinforce the rigorous academic sessions. The India-based experiential learning component takes place after the US-based academic residency includes educational travel to relevant communities and historical sites around India that highlight and explore the program theme. The Exchange also includes a multi-day closing forum that connects Exchange participants with experts, professionals, and civic leaders from the United States and India. All components of the Exchange include academic sessions, group discussions, and experiential learning activities that focus on relevant topics and include opportunities to practice leadership, team building, collective problem-solving, effective communication, and management skills. Therefore, participants gain both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. The Exchange fosters an inclusive environment by incorporating speakers from diverse backgrounds and by encouraging open and collaborative discussions.

This multifaceted program is skillfully prepared to facilitate lively debate, review lessons of history, listen to lived experiences, and offer experiential learning opportunities and art activities. It aims to advance civil rights and social justice while thematically preparing and training selected participants who want to solidify their voice, find meaning in their work, and make a difference in the lives of others. These participants will be receiving multidimensional preparation (achieved through curriculum, engagement with speakers, visits to historical and museum sites, leadership skills training, and art applications) to become the future leaders in schools and communities. In today’s world of distress, conflicts, marginalization of communities, hatred and widespread violence based on race, caste, gender, ethnicity and so on, this program offers necessary insight and training to develop leaders of tomorrow. If Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were alive today, what advice would they offer to effectively navigate our contemporary issues? What systemic change efforts would they suggest to help our marginalized communities? We envision pondering on such questions as we teach about the legacies and lessons of Gandhi and MLK.