Athgo

Athgo International is an apolitical, not-for-profit organization that seeks to bring together people from ages 18 to 32 in a setting where they can receive orientation and be motivated to take action in one of three focus areas: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and High Tech; Environment and Energy; and Governance [cite web |url=http://www.athgo.org |title=Athgo International |accessdate=2008-09-28] . Athgo was established in 1999 as an acronym for "Alliance Toward Harnessing Global Opportunities." Since April 2008, the organization decided to drop the acronym, and be known simply as Athgo. [ cite web |url=http://www.athgo.org/about_us/default.html |title=Athgo International: About Us |date=April 2008 |accessdate=2008-09-28]

Focus Areas

ICTs and High Tech focus area emphasizes that a rigorous academic syllabus is a prerequisite for technological advancements in the world’s developing economies. Past events that focused on this area are: “Bridging the Development G
cite news |url=http://www.idisc.net/en/Article.38599.html] |title=Yerevan: Athgo International Symposia on Sustainable Growth in ICT and Hi-tech through Education |work=Idisc |date=2007-11-19 |accessdate=2008-09-28] ” and “Information and Communication Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges in Landlocked Developing Countries,” both of which were held at the American University of Armenia. The 2007 Global Leadership and Innovation Summit, on the other hand, was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Environment and Energy focus area is aimed at promoting environmental awareness and encouraging participants to consider alternative forms of power. In the past, two events that are related to this focus area have been held. The first: “Global Warming: Change Your Attitude! Not the Weather,” was hosted by the University of California, Los Angeles, CA; while “Global Third Way: Becoming One with the Environment” was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, NY [cite web |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4twtQfRUik |author=Athgo |work=You Tube Video |title=United Nations 2007 |date=2008-03-30 |accessdate=2008-09-28 ]

Governance, the third focus area, underscores the need for cooperative action among young professionals, the private sector, and government bodies, in order to foster “good governance and [a] civil society.” So far, 12 events related to this focus area have been held, and locations vary from UCLA to the United Nations Headquarters to the American University of Armenia and the World Bank Headquarters.

Scholar Network

Apart from the three focus areas covered by Athgo, the organization also encourages its outstanding alumni to keep close contact, by joining a distinguished group of people in the Scholar Network .

Meanwhile, in order to be recognized as an alumnus/a of Athgo, participants in any event of the three focus areas will have to complete a writing assignment that relates to theme of the event attended. Momentarily, Athgo selects the top ten participants based on the quality of his/her peer evaluations, group participation, and writing sample .

Thenceforth, scholarship winners are invited to join other distinguished alumni and associates of Athgo at the Scholar Network, a distinction that prequalifies its holder to attend the most valued convention organized by Athgo, The Global Leadership and Innovation Summit. More so, members of the Scholar Network are provided with full funding to work at the Innovation and Capacity Building Centers, a state-of-the-art research facility that is suitable for conducting research on entrepreneurship, and developing actable public policies .

Affiliations

Athgo draws its support from international bodies, academia, private organizations, businesses, and its alumni. Below is a compacted list of some of the organizations that ATHGO has partnered with and/or have received funding from.

International Bodies

* World Bank Group
* World Intellectual Property Organization
* UN Global Compact
* UN’s Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID)
* UN Permanent Missions and Embassies

Academia

* American University of Armenia
* Boston College
* Centre of International Studies, Cambridge, UK
* Columbia University
* Concordia University, Canada
* Cornell University
* Georgetown University
* John Hopkins University
* London School of Economics, UK
* McGill University, Canada
* Royal Military College of Canada
* Seton Hall University
* Stanford University
* Sydney University, Australia
* Tambov Technical University, Russia
* United Nations University
* University of California, Los Angeles
* University of Bergamo, Italy
* University of Bradford, UK
* University of California, Berkeley
* University of Edinburgh, UK
* University of Genoa, Italy
* University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
* University of Southern California
* University of Vienna, Austria
* University of Waterloo, Canada
* University of York, UK
* United States Naval Academy, Maryland
* Yerevan State University, Armenia

Private Organizations

* Campus Climate Challenge
* The Climate Project
* Development Gateway Foundation
* Mertz Gilmore Foundation

Businesses

* AECOM
* British Petroleum (BP)
* Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
* Electronics Recycler
* MWH
* Nestlé USA
* Northrop Grumman Corporation
* VivaCell
* Waste Management
* Fortune 500
* Enterprise Incubator Foundation

References