Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
This Capacity Building Workshop presented by Janith Perera was recorded on Thursday, October 17, 2024, during the Charter for Compassion's Global Youth Conference.
The session aimed to empower youth with skills in nonviolent communication and servant leadership to become effective, compassionate leaders and advocates for social change.
Young people around the world were emerging as crucial agents of societal transformation. By harnessing their creativity and innovation, they transcended socio-political boundaries, advocated for social justice, and engaged in positive activism. This contemporary perspective contrasted with the traditional narrative that often depicted youth mainly as perpetrators or victims of violence. Instead, this new narrative highlighted young people as catalysts for change—a view that gained recognition through the Youth, Peace, and Security agenda of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). For young people to be effective changemakers, they needed the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to help them become effective leaders and messengers of peace and development. In this regard, knowledge and skills in nonviolent communication and servant leadership were valuable.
Nonviolent communication, a communication framework influenced and popularized by Marshall Rosenberg, emphasized empathy, active listening, and compassionate expression to foster understanding and resolve tensions peacefully. This approach encouraged youth to connect with others in a way that promoted mutual respect and cooperation, rather than resorting to judgment or aggression. The Gandhian Approach to nonviolent communication focused on a way of life that emphasized the inherent worth and dignity of all life, advocating for living without harm, with a commitment to truth, human interconnectedness, and deeper engagement in relationships, fostering mutual understanding and emotional bridge-building. A basic understanding of nonviolent communication and how it could further the aims of youth advocacy and activism was beneficial for youth, ensuring that they won their demands nonviolently without resorting to violence.
Equally important was the leadership style known as servant leadership, a term coined by Robert K. Greenleaf. Servant leadership was a unique style in which a leader sought to serve first and then lead with a passion for service. Although the terms "servant" and "leader" seemed paradoxical, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “he who is greatest among you shall be a servant.” This new definition of greatness in a leader could be profoundly found in the concept of servant leadership, where leaders put the well-being and welfare of those they served before themselves. By empowering youth to be servant leaders, they could become change agents who prioritized service for the betterment of their communities.
In this session, youth were introduced to these two important concepts, and by cultivating a synergy between them, they could become leaders capable of making a meaningful difference in the world.
Learn more about the Youth Conference here: charterforcompassion.org/global-youth-conference-2024/global-youth-conference-2024.html
#CFCYouthConf
This Capacity Building Workshop presented by Janith Perera was recorded on Thursday, October 17, 2024, during the Charter for Compassion's Global Youth Conference.
The session aimed to empower youth with skills in nonviolent communication and servant leadership to become effective, compassionate leaders and advocates for social change.
Young people around the world were emerging as crucial agents of societal transformation. By harnessing their creativity and innovation, they transcended socio-political boundaries, advocated for social justice, and engaged in positive activism. This contemporary perspective contrasted with the traditional narrative that often depicted youth mainly as perpetrators or victims of violence. Instead, this new narrative highlighted young people as catalysts for change—a view that gained recognition through the Youth, Peace, and Security agenda of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). For young people to be effective changemakers, they needed the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to help them become effective leaders and messengers of peace and development. In this regard, knowledge and skills in nonviolent communication and servant leadership were valuable.
Nonviolent communication, a communication framework influenced and popularized by Marshall Rosenberg, emphasized empathy, active listening, and compassionate expression to foster understanding and resolve tensions peacefully. This approach encouraged youth to connect with others in a way that promoted mutual respect and cooperation, rather than resorting to judgment or aggression. The Gandhian Approach to nonviolent communication focused on a way of life that emphasized the inherent worth and dignity of all life, advocating for living without harm, with a commitment to truth, human interconnectedness, and deeper engagement in relationships, fostering mutual understanding and emotional bridge-building. A basic understanding of nonviolent communication and how it could further the aims of youth advocacy and activism was beneficial for youth, ensuring that they won their demands nonviolently without resorting to violence.
Equally important was the leadership style known as servant leadership, a term coined by Robert K. Greenleaf. Servant leadership was a unique style in which a leader sought to serve first and then lead with a passion for service. Although the terms "servant" and "leader" seemed paradoxical, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “he who is greatest among you shall be a servant.” This new definition of greatness in a leader could be profoundly found in the concept of servant leadership, where leaders put the well-being and welfare of those they served before themselves. By empowering youth to be servant leaders, they could become change agents who prioritized service for the betterment of their communities.
In this session, youth were introduced to these two important concepts, and by cultivating a synergy between them, they could become leaders capable of making a meaningful difference in the world.
Learn more about the Youth Conference here: charterforcompassion.org/global-youth-conference-2024/global-youth-conference-2024.html
#CFCYouthConf
