2020 Young Leaders Institute: Food Security
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In a world more interconnected than ever before, leaders need to be well-prepared with the right knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to be successful. Asia Society's Young Leaders Institute (YLI) is a week-long summer program for high school students aimed at promoting global competence as well as leadership skills.
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 uncertainty, this summer's Young Leaders Institute is moving online! Learn more about what that means. Read the FAQs »
Throughout the week, students will engage in the four tenets of global competency: investigating the world, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas, and taking action. They will learn about the global policy issues of the day from expert speakers — from Houston and around the country — then work in teams researching, debating, and presenting solutions for the challenges facing the world. Students will hone their critical research, writing, and presentation skills while receiving guidance and feedback from Asia Society staff and online mentors. On the Institute's final day, student groups will present their policy recommendations developed from all they have learned throughout the week.
Students will engage in the four tenets of global competency: investigating the world; recognizing perspectives; communicating ideas; and taking action. They will be mentored throughout the week by Asia Society staff and experts in their respective fields. On the Institute's final day, student groups will present their policy recommendations developed from what they have learned throughout the week.
Since launching in 2016, the Young Leaders Institute has provided new perspectives and strengthened skills for more than 200 students. The Institute's fifth year has broadened each session from a country-specific focus to highlight current, timely issues.
Topics discussed during the Food Security session may include the following (subject to change):
- The role of agriculture and how it impacts trade and food security in Asia and the U.S.
- How agricultural exports to developing countries contribute to food security globally
- Use of pesticides in agriculture and how it affects food safety
- The impact of climate change on access to food now and in the future, particularly in Asia
- The role of Asia's growing population in affecting food security
- Health and family impacts of food insecurity
- How different diets, such as eating meat, affect the environment
- Asia's economic development and its relationship to food security
- How food shortages in China have affected the agricultural industry and policies related to food
- Improving food access and food education locally versus nationally or globally
- Collaboration between countries to develop a more sound food security global policy
Speakers will be announced soon. For questions, please email TXYLI@asiasociety.org.
Testimonials
"What I realized was, these are all students [who] have a similar interest as you, which is why they're in the same session as you are. And really everybody around you is really invested into helping you grow as both a person and a student." — Tina Li, Carnegie Vanguard High School, 2019 YLI alumna
"No matter what job you choose to have or what you choose to major in college, leadership skills and collaboration skills are necessary in all areas of life. So whether you choose to become a political science major and work with other countries, or if you choose to do something in the U.S., the skills that you've learned from [YLI] will doubtlessly help you." — Pranav Brahmbhatt, Challenge Early College High School, 2019 YLI alumnus
"The Young Leaders Institute offered me the opportunity to work with people of different backgrounds, from different schools and different grade levels. These people taught me how to look at different perspectives, especially since they all had their own information." — James Li, Bellaire High School, 2019 YLI alumnus
"I came in expecting to learn from my peers. I left not only having done that but also having learned from prestigious individuals in this field that I would never have had a chance to meet otherwise." — Chloe Jin, The Woodlands High School, 2019 YLI alumna
"For me as a leader, this actually gave me the tools to use in my own personal projects that I'm doing right now. The Young Leaders Institute really empowered me on multiple planes, and really helped me become a better person in a number of different ways. [...] If anyone ever wanted to join the Young Leaders Institute, I would tell them that they have the right idea and they should definitely go ahead and do it because they are going to gain so much out of it. And there's really no better place to be over the summer than here at the Asia Society." — Norah Rami, Clements High School, 2019 YLI alumna
"I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the presentations, and all three of us remarked at how impressed we were with the quality of information dissemination on very specific topics in such a short timeframe. I think this is a signature series for Asia Society Texas Center and one that should only gain traction in summers to come." — 2019 YLI presentation judge
"I felt proud about the fact that Asia Society Texas Center is engaged in encouraging high school students to develop necessary leadership skills to face the real world. This is particularly true recognizing that they are going to be our future leaders." — 2019 YLI presentation judge
About the Speakers

Sarah Crulcich is a Registered Dietitian and the Health Promotion Coordinator at the Houston Food Bank. She oversees grants and programming that influence the environment in which limited resource communities access food. She also spearheads the food bank’s nutrition policy initiative, designs menus for home delivery services, and trains healthcare workers across Geater Houston to screen and address food insecurity. Sarah is passionate about designing and delivering services to be equitable. She and her co-workers hold each other accountable when pressure points are identified.
Before the food bank Sarah was an Archer Graduate Fellow in Washington, D.C. where she worked with the Academy of Nutrition Dietetics. Her portfolio consisted of Child Nutrition Reauthorization, SNAP regulations, and health disparities. She completed her dietetic internship and received her Master of Public Health in Health Promotion and Health Education from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Prior to graduate school, Sarah received a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience Psychology and Post-Baccalaureate in Dietetics from Purdue University.

Sonia Garza-Monarchi is a leading expert in the specialized world of protocol and diplomacy. She started her company Garza Protocol Associates in 2004after working 16 years with the City of Houston’s protocol office in various positions and serving as the chief of protocol for ten years. She helped coordinate over 2000 visits, events, and meetings, from Queen Elizabeth II to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, President Putin, and the Economic Summit. Ms. Garza-Monarchi has advised hundreds of government officials and corporate leaders on matters of protocol, diplomacy and cross-cultural issues.
Her small business specializes in creating customized solutions for her clients including several Fortune 500 corporations. Project highlights include: coordinating the visit of a chief of state and the ceremonial opening of a consulate in two weeks’ time; overseeing the protocol aspects of a gala dinner for 300 business leaders, ministers of energy and ambassadors in Barcelona; training medical professionals on cross-cultural issues to make them more effective when dealing with international patients and spearheading Houston’s Latin Grammy host committee.
Ms. Garza-Monarchi believes that better understanding of people’s cultures leads to better business and a better world. With her help Garza Protocol’s clients apply key protocol, diplomatic, and cross-cultural skills that lead to long-term success in today’s global economy. She serves asa trustee on the board of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and is on the advisory board of the Asia Society Texas Center.

Saher Hasnain is the Research and Community of Practice Coordinator for the Foresight4Food Initiative based at the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute. With the Foresight4Food Initiative, she is focused on developing a mechanism to better understand and synthesize key trends and possible futures in global food systems and to support informed and strategic decision making between food systems stakeholders.
Formally trained as an environmental scientist, she has conducted research on food systems and environmental health in urban areas. For her doctoral research at Oxford, she examined the influence of factors like energy system disruption, urban design, and regional and global food system transformation on food environments in urban Pakistan. She has also been involved with the Interdisciplinary Food Systems Teaching and Learning programme (IFSTAL), where she collaborated with colleagues from the IFSTAL consortium to help equip students with the critical interdisciplinary systems thinking needed to re-orient food systems.
Saher has previously worked on exploring environmental health issues through photovoice and mapping at the University of Pennsylvania, and the development of national energy management cultures at Bahria University, Pakistan.

Caitlin Welsh is the director of the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she provides insights and policy solutions to global food security challenges. She brings over a decade of U.S. government experience to this role. She served most recently in the National Security Council and National Economic Council as director of global economic engagement, where she coordinated U.S. policy in the G7 and G20 across multiple summits. Prior to the White House, Ms. Welsh spent over seven years in the Department of State’s Office of Global Food Security, including as acting director, offering guidance to the secretary of state on global food security and its relationship to urbanization, climate change, and conflict. As a presidential management fellow, Ms. Welsh oversaw a portfolio of agriculture-related grants at the U.S. African Development Foundation. Ms. Welsh also lived and worked in Morocco’s breadbasket region as a Peace Corps volunteer, witnessing the complex causes and effects of food insecurity and working to improve lives through education. Ms. Welsh received her B.A. from the University of Virginia and M.P.A. from Columbia University’s School of International Public Affairs. She hails from Erie, Pennsylvania, and speaks Arabic and French.
Additional Sessions
Session 1: Energy and the Environment
Monday – Friday, July 13–17, 2020
Learn about the business of energy and growing demand in Asia, including the future of renewable fuels and intersections with sustainability goals in light of environmental and climate change concerns.
Session 3: COVID-19: Reflections and New Realities
Monday – Friday, August 3–7, 2020
Examine the local, national, and international impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the role of technology, social disruption, and effects on international students.
Education and Outreach programs at Asia Society Texas Center are made possible through generous funding from BP America and the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation. Additional support is provided by Friends of Asia Society Texas Center, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing the best in exhibitions and public programming to Houston.
Lead Sponsors

Event Details
For event details visit https://asiasociety.org/texas/events/2020-young-leaders-institute-food-security For event details visit https://asiasociety.org/texas/events/2020-young-leaders-institute-food-security