We recently caught up with Brett Rosenblum, a Global Leadership Adventures alumni from 2006, to hear how his GLA experience abroad shaped his journey.
Imagine looking back on your Global Leadership Adventures summer 20 years later and realizing it still helps you make sense of your life’s path.
For Alum Brett Rosenblum, that memory is South Africa in 2006, one of GLA’s earliest programs, and a summer that stayed relevant long after he got home.
Since then, he returned to Southern Africa for an HIV/AIDS internship in Johannesburg, served in the Peace Corps in Swaziland and kept service at the center of his life through work with organizations like Water By Women and Lions Clubs International. Today, he works in the nonprofit world, helping support mission-driven programs that connect people with community, culture and place.
We caught up with Brett to talk about where it started, how GLA ties into his career path and what he’d tell students heading out on their first program this summer.
| QUESTION |
| You were part of one of GLA’s earliest programs in South Africa. How did you come to find Global Leadership Adventures in the first place and how was convincing your parents to let you go? |
| ANSWER |
| I found GLA the old-fashioned way! I googled “global summer leadership camp for teens.” The educational focus immediately appealed to my parents. While my friends and siblings were heading off to sports or sailing camps, GLA felt more intellectually challenging.
I think it surprised my parents that I wanted to spend part of my summer in an educational program, but they recognized the value in cultural exposure and learning how the world really works beyond a sheltered bubble. |
| QUESTION |
| When you think about your teenage self landing there for the first time, what memory stands out most today, and how has it shaped the way you see the world? |
| ANSWER |
| After the long flight to Cape Town, the moment that stands out most was at the customs desk. The agent looked at my passport, glanced behind me, and asked, “Where’s your family?” Expecting to see people who looked like me among the hundreds of weary travelers, he seemed surprised when I explained that I was there on my own as part of an educational program. I remember answering with a twinge of pride in my voice. He raised his eyebrows, stamped my passport next to the South African visa, and waved me through.
It was the first time I truly advocated for myself, and I’ve carried that confidence ever since. |
| QUESTION |
| There is a clear geographic thread in your early adulthood: GLA in South Africa in 2006, an HIV/AIDS internship in Johannesburg in 2009, and later the Peace Corps in Swaziland. What first drew you to Southern Africa, and what do you love most about that part of the world? |
| ANSWER |
| What first drew me to Southern Africa was how absent it was from our textbooks. We simply didn’t study it, and that gap sparked my curiosity.
What I love most about the region is the deep emphasis on familial relationships, community support and respect for elders that exists. These values that are deeply woven into daily life. It stands in stark contrast to the individualism and “getting ahead” mentality that dominates much of our culture. |
| QUESTION |
| As you probably know, GLA was co-founded by a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer to bring that same spirit of service learning and immersion to high school students. In what ways did your time with GLA prepare you for the Peace Corps? |
| ANSWER |
| Even before GLA, I knew I wanted to serve in the Peace Corps after college. I actually wrote about my GLA experience in my Peace Corps application essay. During the GLA program, we were paired with a shelter for abused women and children in Cape Town. As part of a needs assessment, common requests included new plumbing and roof repairs—things none of us had the skills, budget, or time to accomplish. Instead, we repainted the daycare with murals, played soccer with the children, and helped clean the sewing room where women learned marketable skills.
That experience was a crash course in service learning. It taught me how to manage expectations, listen carefully, and collaborate creatively to find solutions that fit real constraints. These skills proved invaluable in the Peace Corps. |
| QUESTION |
| What were your biggest takeaways about service from your experiences with GLA and the Peace Corps? |
| ANSWER |
| Anyone, anywhere can do community service. That belief led me to join Lions Clubs International, where I continue to address unmet needs both locally and globally. GLA helped shape me into a global citizen. In an era of political polarization and online isolation, genuine human connection and relationship-building remain the most powerful ways to find common ground across cultures, backgrounds, and belief systems. |
| QUESTION |
| What did you study in college, and what motivated you to choose that major? |
| ANSWER |
| Surprisingly, I initially chose African Studies as my major. When the program was discontinued due to lack of interest, (I was the only student enrolled!) I pivoted to Outdoor Education. At the time, I dreamed of becoming an interpretive park ranger and helping people connect more deeply with the natural world. |
| QUESTION |
| Can you tell us about your current role and how you arrived at what you are doing professionally today? |
| ANSWER |
| I recently started a new role as Development Coordinator for Josephine Sculpture Park, Kentucky’s first and largest sculpture park. This 40 acre park creates opportunities for people to connect with the land through art.
Throughout my career, no matter the role, I’ve been driven to build organizational cultures deeply rooted in their mission where people understand not just what they do, but why showing up every day to make a difference truly matters. |
| QUESTION |
| You’ve gone from being hands-on with projects in the field to helping with the behind-the-scenes work that makes them possible. How has your personal definition of “impact” changed over time? |
| ANSWER |
| Impact can be something as small as pooling money with fellow GLA students to buy a vacuum cleaner for a women’s shelter. It can also be something far larger—like empowering rural women and mothers to provide clean, safe drinking water through organizations such as Water By Women. You don’t need to be wealthy to make an impact. |
| QUESTION |
| We talk a lot about leadership with our students. Based on your experience leading teams over the years, what do you think makes someone a strong leader? |
| ANSWER |
| Empathy is the foundation of strong leadership. You don’t need gray hair or a title to lead—you need the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, understand their perspective, and consider how action or inaction can shape outcomes.
I’d also add that strong leaders have strong convictions. I vividly remember a guest lecturer at GLA who helped finance the film Blood Diamond. Many of my classmates challenged his viewpoints passionately. It was the first time I had experienced that kind of intellectual exchange in a classroom, and I’ve never forgotten it. |
| QUESTION |
| It has been nearly 20 years since your GLA program. If you could sit next to your teenage self on the flight home from South Africa in 2006, what would you tell him about the journey ahead? |
| ANSWER |
| I would tell him: You’re returning home as a global citizen. The past few weeks have opened your mind to ways of thinking radically different from your own. Your grades will improve. Your parents will notice that you’re not the same teenager who left. Be confident. Don’t doubt yourself. The people you met at GLA will continue to inspire you for a long time. |
| QUESTION |
| For students heading out on their first GLA program this summer, what advice would you give them before they go? |
| ANSWER |
| Be courageous. Put your phone down. Speak boldly but listen even more closely. Stay open-minded, and always say yes to new experiences. |
So here’s the question worth sitting with: when you look back 20 years from now, what will you see as the summer that helped shape you?
Will it be a summer built around learning, impact and adventure, the kind that shows up later in your confidence, your choices and the person you become? Join us this summer to find out!
Inspired by Brett’s story? Check out our program in South Africa and how it’s evolved to now!
