FIE’s Student Global Leadership Conference (SGLC) is all about cultivating global citizens and inspiring future thought leaders, and part of that is giving delegates a platform for their own Big Idea. FIE feels it’s important for conferences to literally put their money where their mouth is and encourage participants to use what they’ve learned to take action. SGLC isn’t just a weekend – it’s a beginning.
Big Ideas began at the 2019 SGLC when the conference committee realized there was an opportunity to get participants taking action on the ground, during the weekend itself on the final day. The Student Global Leadership Conference is always based on one of FIE’s core values, and if we could get people living those values in the moment then they would be more likely to continue on their journey after the fact. While winning would be exciting, the real goal was to get delegates involved, creating, and taking steps on their leadership journeys right away, building momentum and motivation to keep going once they returned home from London.
We recently sat down with the inaugural Big Ideas winner Inna Chilik to have a conversation about her experience with the Big Ideas competition, to see how winning has impacted her career, and to find out where her idea is now. Below is a preview of what Inna had to say:
Inna’s Big Idea was a social action platform where people could connect to actually take the actions that often get discussed on social media but don’t often get done. She used her £100 prize money to invest in a Miro license, a product that helps to flesh out and plan ideas, and continued to work on the idea, however it has since had to take on some new shape after discovering her original thought wasn’t working – all part of the changemaker process and an excellent lesson to learn. Inna has not given up and is still using her idea and the plans in her current job. In fact, she was actually hired by her current employer due to the fact that she had Big Ideas on her resume and explained to them her idea and the process! You can listen to the full conversation with Inna on the FIE Podcast here.
Many people have great ideas that they don’t pursue out of fear, and to them Inna advises, “go bold, go strong, don’t make yourself smaller because all the fears are not real, they are just in our heads. And if you really are passionate about it make sure that the world hears about it and learns about it. There’s so much need for those kind of thoughts and ideas where we are right now.”
If you have a Big Idea that you just can’t shake, make sure you are registered for the Student Global Leadership Conference and submit your idea for consideration. You can participate in person in London, or online from anywhere in the world! You can find all of the information on SGLC here.
