Global Youth Summit

S.B. Fundraiser for Global Youth Peace Summit

The Amala Foundation, based in Texas, focuses on working with international youth, refugees living inside the United States, and American students who want to discover their leadership abilities and do more for the world. Every year, the foundation holds a Global Youth Peace Summit, a weeklong program for about 70 kids from more than 20 countries. “The summit is an opportunity for youth from all over the world to come heal and share what’s happened in their life and learn the tools that they need to rise up as leaders in their own communities,” said Shauna Mistretta, codirector of the California Global Youth Peace Summit and director of the Kenya Global Youth Peace Summit.

On May 28, a fundraiser will be held in Santa Barbara at a private home to support the Second Global Youth Peace Summit, which takes place in July in Foresthill, near Sacramento. Eighty percent of all those who attend the summit need scholarships, and several youth from Santa Barbara will be at the conference. The fundraiser will include a concert by musicians Todd Hannigan from Ojai and David Courtney from Santa Barbara, a silent auction with items from area businesses, and several international youth discussing their experiences. The founder of the Amala Foundation, Vanessa Stone, will also be in attendance.

Mistretta said that she hopes that the fundraiser will help people learn about “this incredible program that has the potential to create ripple effects around the world. The Amala Foundation is different from so many other nonprofits because it isn’t about foreign aid; it’s about direct healing for those who have been through traumatic events. It’s one of the most powerful things I have ever seen.”