TakingITGlobal

TakingITGlobal Annual Report 2010 5 2010 was a big year for TakingITGlobal as it marked our tenth anniversary. We did a lot of thoughtful reflection throughout this milestone year and focused on revitalizing the TakingITGlobal online community in order to expand and strengthen membership engagement. The Theory of Change continued to play a strong, influencing role in our activities and goals, in fact, we chose to model this Annual Report to reflect how all of our programs and initiatives fit into the Theory of Change. We were thrilled when the United Nations desig- nated 2010 the International Year of Youth. To honour our own ten year milestone and tie in the International Year of Youth, we launched a global art contest titled Our Year, Our Dream, Our Mark. The contest challenged youth to submit digital artwork speaking to their hopes and dreams for the International Year of Youth. The artwork submitted was inspiring and allowed us to gain further insight on the aspirations and goals of youth from around the world. The year was marked bye a series of significant back-to-back international conferences and events in which we had a highly visible role as either a plenary speaker or partner. Some of the most significant events include the World Youth Congress in Turkey and World Youth Conference in México, COP16 in Cancún, México, the Microsoft Innovative Student Forum in Singapore, the Arab Youth Forum in Egypt and International Conference and Youth Summit (iEARN) here in Canada. Having the opportunity to present at such monumental events highlights the influence of the TakingITGlobal community. One of our major areas of focus this year was youth participation at the International AIDS confer- ence in Austria. We had a strong presence at the conference and were supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNAIDS and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). It was a great opportunity for our Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA) program to expand its reach and strengthen relationships with key supporters. We truly believe that youth partici- pation and engagement is key in the international fight against AIDS and we're grateful that we can provide a platform for youth to address the issue in a meaningful way. We ended this milestone year with a great sense of excitement for what is to come in the next ten years of TakingITGlobal! Each year we have been able to expand our scope of work and allow for more young people to use the web as a tool for social change. We are so grateful to all of our partners and supporters who have helped TakingITGlobal get to where it is today. Join us as we recap our milestone year and help us celebrate what young people have accomplished in 2010! Jennifer Corriero Executive Director Michael Furdyk Director of Technology and Finance MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDERS

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