In order to accelerate positive global change, we need all hands on deck. Youth from all around the world need to collaborate more and think differently than prior generations. They need a brave space to come together and share their ideas and perspectives, where they can cultivate community, advance consensus-building skills, leverage the power and intelligence of intercultural perspectives and ignite our capacity for collective action. The Doha Debates Ambassador Program is a mentored virtual convening of young leaders from across the globe who are eager to change how we conduct public discourse, solve problems and build a healthy, equitable future through majlis-style debate. Through the program, ambassadors cultivate a systems-thinking approach to understanding the current global problems that are most important to them, gaining the ability to see interconnections and analyze complex dynamics. They learn to value and embrace diverse worldviews, especially those at the margins, which play a critical role in seeking inclusive, fair solutions.
We began our first eight-week pilot program in 2021. Thirty-eight young people representing 17 nations came together online to learn how to engage in majlis-style debate. Over the next two years, we were able to serve approximately the same number of youth in two cohorts (2022 and 2023), while improving the content of the program and maintaining our alumni community through special co-created projects and events.
Our goal—and challenge—has been to scale the program without losing intimacy and quality, but by leveraging our partnership with Shared_Studios, we have now developed the capacity for two cohorts per year of up to 100 participants each. Participants complete a 12-week online program, gaining dialogue facilitation and negotiation skills using a systems-thinking lens. In addition to the 12 synchronous sessions, ambassadors also form an asynchronous community of practice through an online platform.
Upon completion of the program, ambassadors earn a certificate from Doha Debates and are invited to stay engaged with Doha Debates through events, conversations, workshops, debates and more. They may also be selected to serve as mentors for future cohorts. This mentorship model has allowed alumni to not only continue to build their own skills, but organically maintain contact with new ambassadors and fellow program graduates through resource sharing and networking.
Currently, we are able to serve up to 200 international youth leaders each year directly through the program, and are engaging upwards of 500 existing alumni within and beyond the program. Participant feedback has been overwhelmingly positive (see the testimonials of our 2024 cohort in the attached video). Graduates not only make a concerted effort to stay connected to Doha Debates, they have used the skills they learn to generate their own satellite programs and events, including a podcast, discussion groups, and debates at their universities and schools.
With each cohort of our ambassador program, we add to a growing, global community of young changemakers that is based on mutual trust and genuine belonging. Doha Debates ambassadors care deeply about each other, and they know they have skilled allies around the world who will be honest and generous in whatever collaborations might arise.
Through our alumni network, ambassadors have supported emergency relief efforts, co-authored papers, produced podcasts and shared scholarship opportunities. They plan conference meet-ups and webinar guest appearances. They have hosted each other’s traveling siblings, and written to each other’s prime ministers. They continue to share their successes and advise each other during challenging times.
This powerful and compassionate network is a key measure of our success. Our ambassadors have developed a commitment to productive, consensus-building dialogue; to deep listening; to acceptance of difference with curiosity rather than skepticism or hostility. This has, in turn, had an exponential impact on their families, schools, workplaces and peers. The program has also nurtured an alternative way of engaging in public discourse that fits the times we live in now. This generation is hungry for authentic connection, and recognises that a healthy future can only be achieved through mutuality and collaboration. Each cohort reaffirms our vision: to unite and inspire a generation to solve the world’s challenges and build a better future for generations to come.
