News and Events
A Conversation With Co-founder of TakingITGlobal.org
August 2004 — Michael Furdyk, Co-founder of www.TakingITGlobal.org, a global online community for youth based in Canada, recently talked with IMEY about the inspiration for the website, it’s new Arabic community and prospects for the future. “TakingITGlobal was inspired by the lack of a positive online community for young people to learn more about the world and become leaders, back in 2000, at the height of commercialism online. I think that universally across the globe, this generation of young people has many curious and ambitious individuals, and the Internet provides them a medium to communicate, collaborate, and affect positive change. We see ourselves as a facilitator and network, helping to make sure that can happen.”
The highly interactive website allows for direct communication between peers from more than 200 countries, a space for personal expression through an online magazine “Panorama”, a connection to opportunities through a comprehensive online database of thousands of youth-related organizations, and support for action through a different ‘site theme’ each month, developed together with members and external partners, exploring such issues from rural youth to human rights. A 20 year-old Arab member residing in Lebanon said of TakingITGlobal.org, “ I joined TakingITGlobal because it is an organization that offers an online community which presents valuable information to its members. Through my involvement, I hope to raise awareness regards to the achievements and problems that Arab youth face today and to get involved with projects that have an international scope, thereby creating a Global arena for youth to work with each other without prejudice or hate.”
The TakingITGlobal website was translated into French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic in 2004, thanks to the enthusiasm from volunteers who helped translate the framework of the site. According to Furdyk, “Over 1,500 of our 74,000+ registered members speak Arabic, and we are quickly growing in activity as we promote the site in Arabic-speaking countries and through our members. I would say we cater to two audiences: First, young people who are interested in global issues, learning more about other countries, and/or working on an idea to create positive social impact. Secondly, we attract a number of already-connected and involved youth leaders, who share their expertise and networks with the community, and also use the site to promote their activities or organizations.”
In addition to the home page, TakingITGlobal features country sites for every country where it has members and activity. For example, Egypt’s site, http://egypt.takingitglobal.org, has information relevant to Egyptian youths, including quick country facts, featured members, life in Egypt and featured youth projects.
As for the future of the TakingITGlobal website, the translating will not stop now. Furdyk explains, “We plan to continue to expand TakingITGlobal.org to include a number of new languages, including Chinese Simplified and Traditional, to further grow the reach we're able to have to the non-English speaking world, which is rapidly coming online. Also, we will re-launch the site later this year to become much more personalized -- empowering young people to stay in touch with and involved with their communities and friends, and continue to learn more about and get involved to address the issues that matter to them most.” The TakingITGlobal.org online community now receives over 45 million hits per month. Founded by young Canadians in 2000, TIG has launched projects with six UN agencies, and is supported by several major corporations, including HP, Microsoft, and RBC Financial Group.