Kate first learned about the Children’s International Summer Village (CISV) when she was nine and her mom visited a Village open house. When she was 11 years old, Kate was one of only four American delegates at a Village in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The experience was transformative, and now Kate is the president of the Junior Branch of the only chapter in California.

CISV, a global community of volunteers, is founded on the belief that peace is possible through friendship, that real difference can be made by starting with children, and that effective learning happens through engaging firsthand experiences. Its cornerstone program is the Village, a month-long international camp for students from across the globe.

At her first Village in Brazil, Kate took part in games, discussions and simulations that covered topics such as human rights, the environment, cross-cultural understanding and current international conflicts. Kate emphasized that debriefing is central to the program. “I was probably the most shy kid there, but I became friends with the kids from Norway and the Philippines,” she says. When she returned, she joined the Bay Area Junior Branch and served on its council. She was elected president earlier this year.

The Bay Area Junior Branch organizes events for its members such as the ever popular cookiethon—no, they don’t eat all the cookies but donate them to local homeless shelters. They design and sell t-shirts and donate the proceeds; they take part in beach cleanups and events such as Global Youth Service Day. “For Peace One Day, we drew a giant map of the world and placed markers for people we know around the world while we talked about current global affairs.”

As president of the branch, Kate helped plan the Western Regional Mini Camp in Colorado this fall. Kate explains, “I planned an almost two-hour session about gender stereotypes and equality, for about 45 kids ages 10-18. It’s great, because the younger kids get to have the same experience the older kids are having.”

At Menlo, Kate has joined clubs like GEM (Gender Equality Matters) and Spectrum, clubs she says she might not have joined if she hadn’t done CISV—and she’s certainly not the shyest person in the room anymore. “What I love most about CSIV is the culture, because if you’re open-minded and willing to take a risk and get to know people, you get to gain a family. If you’re willing to put yourself into it, you get so much out of it.”