After some months of discussing, working, writing and rewriting, we now have our website and the first edition ready. Clarifying “our”, we have to state that this journal is not owned by the editors or founding members, but it belongs to everyone interested in youth development and leadership.
The idea of this project with a focus on young people was born during the summer of 2008 when approximately ninety people met for an international gathering. After having the chance to interact with a large multicultural group full of creative and charismatic youth, we wished to repeat this experience in our journal, uniting us and all our potential collaborators in cyberspace and around our ideal. Our journal became international at its birth, being the result of the discussions, debates, and cooperation of people from more than twenty countries. This international experience can give us an incredible array of opportunities in economic terms, network opportunities, greater education and personal development. Globalization has naturally created problems that still have to be solved, but on the other hand has given active youth the opportunity to move easily between borders and their ideas to be discussed. The leadership element is crucial for our project. A leader is someone that can make people achieve their highest potential, and that is what we are willing to accomplish: to develop in every edition and to help every collaborator and reader to achieve their targets and set higher ones.
This is how the International journal of Young Leadership became a reality. We are finally able to publish the first edition of this journal, written and edited by young leaders to a greater audience. A journal produced by the young for the young without the traditional intermediation. We try to bring up leading experiences of young people around the globe, but most importantly we are trying to unite the young. Our target is to set up an open forum where different, creative and contrasting ideas will be published and shared. Of course all of you are more than welcome not only to read it and expand it, but also to write and feel a part of it.
Our first edition is focused on the world of university and leadership, a reality which is part of the life of most of our collaborators. You can find information and experiences from many student associations and organizations.
To conclude this first editorial, we would like to thank our supporters for believing in our idea and also our editors, collaborators, website consultants and editing advisors for their great commitment and hard work. We believe that the result justifies our vision. We hope that you will enjoy it and become a member of our growing community by reading, expanding our network, writing or taking part in any other way that you feel like. Feel free to give us your feedback, suggestions and help.
Have a nice experience,
Armando M. B. de Castro and Babis Makrinikolas
Founders and Chief Editors
