The Young Initiative invites foreign policy experts and guest speakers to campus to engage in discussions on international relations and the global political economy with students and faculty.
Upcoming Events
Annually: United Nations Week
With the William and Elizabeth Kahane United Nations Program, the Young Initiative supports the annual United Nations Week at Occidental College, each spring. We are passionate in maintaining students involvement and engagement in sustainable development. Our students choose topics that link Global Political Economy, Social Justice, and Sustainable Development.
One Day Conference - Data and the Feminist City Conference - September 30, 2025
The Young Initiative will host invited representatives from city governments from around the world for a one-day conference on the Oxy campus. Attendants will share experiences and best practices on reporting mechanisms to gather data, identify gaps in data collection, and help develop strategies for data-driven, actionable solutions.
Ongoing Young Speakers Events
Young Initiative speakers give students and faculty an opportunity to expand their understanding of global issues. The Young Initiative sponsors several speakers each academic year highlighting particular aspects of global affairs and the global political economy. The Young Speakers program is devoted to highlighting the work and success of eminent international affairs experts and Oxy alumni in public service and academia.
On March 6, 2025, the Young Initiative co-sponsored, Dr. Michael Méndez's lecture about Sonoma County wildfires and the effect on migrant workers.
On January 29th, 2025 the Young Initiative at Occidental College hosted a panel webinar titled, “How Cities Can Defend Human Rights in the Face of Mass Deportations.”
On February 4th, 2025, the Young Initiative hosted a talk by Dr. Camilo Umaña Hernández, Colombia's Former Deputy Minister of Justice.
On Thursday, November 21st, 2024, the Young Initiative proudly hosted the director of the documentary Powerlands, Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, and the producer, Jordan Flaherty, to discuss the filmmaking process and then screen the film itself.
On November 11th, the Young Initiative at Occidental College hosted a talk by Dr. Huss Banai, the Zahedi Fellow at Stanford University and Associate Professor at Indiana University.
On October 24, Professor Igor Logvinenko moderated a panel about the 2024 United States election that featured Oxy faculty and former California State Assemblymember Mary Chung Hayashi.
On Thursday October 17th, the Young Initiative at Occidental College hosted a talk by Dr. Jenny Guardado, an assistant professor at the Center for Latin American Studies / Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Professor Igor Logvinenko visited New York City on Friday, September 13, 2024, to meet with some in this year’s cohort of the esteemed Kahane Oxy-at-the-U.N. Program.
Photo from left to right: Peter Vartanian (DWA’25, Costa Rican Mission), Nathaniel Lundstrom (DWA’25, Costa Rican Mission), Professor Igor Logvinenko (DWA), Matthew Vickers (DWA’25, UN Secretariat Anti-Racism Office), Jacob Whitney...
“Incredible suffering has been enabled by our money. At the end of the day there are human beings who are suffering, and that is where our focus should be.”
On Thursday, April 13th, 2024, the Young Initiative at Occidental College hosted a talk by Dr. Benjamin Brake, the Director of the Office of Cyber Affairs and Emerging Technology at the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research.