Going Global with Barbara
Paris - November 2023GOING GLOBAL WITH BARBARA:
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
WIF is proud to partner with Going Global with Barbara (GGwB), an organization devoted to exposing African-American youth to the possibilities that exist through travel and study abroad, on its International Youth Leadership Program. This organization is normalizing the conversation around college admissions and expanding it to include the possibility of studying abroad.
The November 2023 trip is GGwB’s fourth successful excursion to Paris. WIF organized visits to the American University of Paris (AUP) and Sciences Po, a women-centric Entrée to Black Paris tour, and a networking event with Black university students from several universities that was coordinated by AUP’s Black and Abroad student group.
Nine (9) female high school students aged 14-18 participated in this excursion.
Copyright for the images on this page belongs to one of the following organizations or individuals: the Wells International Foundation, Going Global with Barbara, Candy Hayes, or Entrée to Black Paris.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF PARIS
Camille Davis, Student Recruitment Counselor, presented the university to the students and fielded their initial questions.
Afterward, two co-presidents of the student group Black and Abroad led the group on a campus tour. Blu Clara Rapps-O’Dea Valey and Laurène Châtelain were excellent, engaging guides.
ENTREE TO BLACK PARIS WALKING TOUR
WIF Founder & CEO, Dr. Monique Y. Wells, is also a co-owner of Entrée to Black Paris. She led the group on ETBP’s Black History in and around the Luxembourg Garden tour, which focuses the contributions of Afro-descendent women from multiple continents to Paris history, culture, and contemporary life.
SCIENCES PO
For the second time this year, WIF organized a visit to Sciences Po – a research university in the social sciences that is ranked No. 1 in the European Union and No. 3 globally in political science and international studies.
Marusa Godina, International Affairs Manager for Canada, took the group on a tour of the campus. Recent Sciences Po graduate Aniya Hamilton accompanied the students and provided commentary along the route.
The students visited the historic Saint-Guillaume building, the new facility at 1, place Saint Thomas d’Aquin, and the adjacent building on rue de l’Université. Afterward, they returned to the building on rue de la Chaise, where Sciences Po Summer School Program Managers Chloé Pradal-Morand and Anita Perez talked to the students about all that the summer school program offers to high school and college students.
BLACK AND ABROAD NETWORKING EVENT AT AUP
Black and Abroad, a student organization at the American University of Paris, organized a mixer for the Going Global with Barbara cohort. Students from the Sorbonne and Parsons Paris as well as recent graduates from AUP, the University of Paris 8, and Sciences Po came out in force to meet the high schoolers.
WIF and GGwB thank the co-presidents of Black and Abroad for contributing several photos to this gallery.
THANKSGIVING DINNER
The Going Global cohort, their chaperones, students and alumni from the Sorbonne, the University of Paris 8, the American University of Paris, a University of Paris professor, and WIF celebrated Thanksgiving with a traditional meal, karaoke, and games.
MAYA KEYS ON FLUTE
One of the guests at Thanksgiving dinner was Maya Keys, a musicology student at the Sorbonne who is also pursuing a musical studies diploma in flute at the Niedermeyer Conservatory in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux.
Maya regaled the students and other guests with brief excerpts from movie scores and talked about her accomplishments in recent competitions such as the Concours Prestige Art (2nd prize with honors) and the Concours Les Clés d’Or (1st honorable mention in the Superior Degree).
THANKSGIVING GIVEAWAY – LETTERS TO MY YOUNGER SOUL
In keeping with WIF’s focus on mentoring for women and girls, Dr. Wells gave students and guests copies of an anthology called Letters to My Younger Soul, compiled by Maureen Weekes and published by EIV Publishing. She autographed her contribution to the book, a letter entitled “I Am Worthy.”
