One of our signature annual events, TEEEM's Leadership Symposium serves as the kick-off event for the academic year. A tremendously unique event, TEEEM students work directly with site leaders, CEOs, and executive directors from around the world to learn about the needs of their respective sites. In their pods, students collaborate with peers from other districts to develop solutions to address the site issues being faced. Students learn about empathy, social entrepreneurship, and leadership from experts in the field, while applying innovation and critical thinking skills to generate real solutions to real problems.

 

This past October, over 150 students, teachers, and administrators from 21 different districts around New Jersey gathered at Ramapo College to learn about leadership, action, and social entrepreneurship through a humanitarian lens. TEEEM was thrilled to see the attendees nearly double from last year's symposium.

 

This year, TEEEM was fortunate to be joined by several distinguished guests, including founders, CEOs, and leaders of 9 out of our 10 sites, as well as the President of Ramapo College, Dr. Cindy Jebb. The day consisted of students collaborating with their site leaders and pods to establish ways to help address community needs. 

 

To help our students understand social entrepreneurship in action, two powerful keynote speakers shared their experience in a way that awed the audience. Dillon Carroll & Mark Kreynovich, two young men who left corporate America upon the inception of the war in Ukraine, established a grassroots "boots-on-the-ground" aid organization to help provide immediate assistance and stability to Ukrainian refugees. Having flown 2,000 miles to share their story, Dillon & Mark inspired students to begin unveiling the leadership traits they themselves possess, and with the help of our site leaders, guide them into becoming action-driven agents of change.

 

We are eager to see what our students do as they explore empathy and social entrepreneurship in support of their sites this school year!