The Global Youth Excellence & Leadership Program (GYEL) emerged a decade ago as a multilateral and multistakeholder initiative of intergovernmental organizations, permanent observers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and organizations with official special consultative status in the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
United Nations stakeholders had key insights: while the UN system primarily focuses its resources on supporting individuals from the most vulnerable populations and underserved communities—particularly children lacking access to fundamental human rights such as clean water, adequate nutrition, healthcare, education, and sanitation—there remains a critical need for complementary programs serving talented students from underprivileged and under-resourced backgrounds.
At GYEL, we are deeply passionate about bridging the gap between extraordinary potential and the world’s leading diplomats, change makers, business leaders, scientists, government leaders, and experts in the arts and sciences. While providing food and water is undeniably vital, our UN stakeholders also recognize an urgent responsibility to support the future Nobel Peace Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize recipients, Turing Award computer scientists, Fields Medal mathematicians, ground-breaking medical researchers, Academy Award filmmakers, and, yes, the next Thomas Edison. These young visionaries deserve more than a basic safety net—they need best-in-class mentorship, immersive leadership training, and direct connections to global experts and institutions. By equipping them with these transformative tools, we’re not just shaping individual success stories—we’re fueling breakthroughs that can uplift entire communities and redefine what’s possible for future generations.
We recognize that in today’s increasingly complex world, excelling in just one discipline is no longer enough. Leaders must become adept across multiple fields, combining insights from different subject matters.
Our Coalition Partners to the UN are deeply passionate in leveraging their decades of global networks and resources to provide students with leaders in diverse sectors— from diplomacy to business, technology to the arts. In learning from high-performing mentors in such varied domains, participants gain a rare ability to piece together insights in ways others cannot.
In our early days serving New York City youth, GYEL operated solely through benefactors and sustained by the dedication of passionate volunteers who found joy in nurturing each student’s potential. As our program slowly expanded, growth brought both opportunities and challenges. While we celebrated reaching more students, maintaining consistent volunteer staffing and securing reliable funding became increasingly difficult.
Then, the global pandemic presented an unprecedented challenge, forcing us to pause operations for two years as donations declined and our volunteer network was stretched thin. Yet, this difficult period proved transformative. During our hiatus, we thoroughly reimagined our approach, emerging with a stronger, more sustainable structure that preserved our core mission while expanding our capacity to serve.
In 2023, we marked a significant milestone with the appointment of Ms. Joanne Jones as Executive Director and the granting of United Nations credentials. Her talent for growing programs that benefit society has been proven through her decades of nonprofit experience, and most importantly, through her growth of the Feeding NY program from hundreds when it began to today serving meals to 10,000+ families each year. Ms. Jones’s mandate from the Coalition Partners to the UN focuses on expanding our impact while maintaining the specialized attention that sets our program apart.
Recognizing the need for a more sustainable operational framework, Ms. Jones and our Coalition Partners to the UN took inspiration from successful models such as Model United Nations, which has thrived through participant funding. Programs like GYEL and Model UN have gained significant recognition precisely because they fill this crucial gap through a self-funded model, allowing us to maintain excellence while serving populations that fall outside traditional aid frameworks. This approach has also enabled us to hire dozens of full-time team members—including session leaders with graduate degrees from top political science universities worldwide.
Executive Director, Global Youth Excellence
and Leadership (GYEL) Program
This model has enabled us to sustainably fulfill our mission of providing free resources and generous financial support to promising students in need, while other families contribute their equitable share. With ongoing support from families who share administrative costs, dedicated United Nations stakeholders, and international partners, we are able to build a legacy of leadership that transcends socioeconomic boundaries.
For families among the world’s wealthiest 1% of highest-income families (those earning $200,000+ annually), we ask that they contribute their equitable share of administrative costs. These contributions typically range from 0.1% to 2% of annual income, an amount comparable to standard utility expenses. Thus, we are able to sustainably provide substantial need-based assistance and full subsidies to households earning under $200,000 annually—a generous threshold established by our UN stakeholders. This equitable structure ensures that promising students from all backgrounds can access our program while maintaining its excellence and sustainability. Through this carefully calibrated approach, we have created a framework that enables our program to remain available not just for years, but for decades, ensuring that no student is deprived of this exceptional opportunity due to global pandemics, external world events, or economic fluctuations.
GYEL maintains a deliberate focus on identifying high-achieving students who demonstrate exceptional promise and exponentially growing their potential by providing intensive mentorship, direct engagement with U.N. frameworks and officials, and practical leadership knowledge that prepares them for success at the highest level of educational institutions and furthermore in their careers.
Today, GYEL stands as a testament to the power of targeted youth leadership development.
Through our balanced approach to programming and funding, we unite a diverse community of future leaders driven to shape a more sustainable, equitable, and peaceful world. We believe that while talent knows no socioeconomic boundaries, opportunity too often does.