FOBISIA Race4Good Global School League ®
Real People — Real Problems — Real Impact Mary Mills-Brown Operations Manager, Race4Good & Janine Minchin Student Events Executive, FOBISIA HQ
FOBISIA Race4Good 2021 Race 1 Winners - Regents International School Bangkok
I
magine being told that in the span of five weeks, students in your school could create vital new business, improve healthcare, uplift numerous families, and put smiles on the faces of pupils in a remote school on the other side of the world – all without having to leave their homes or classrooms. Through her unique leadership programme – Race4Good - Linda Cruse has made this a reality for hundreds of students across the world and in March 2021 teams from six FOBISIA schools became these students.
Designed to get everyone involved, the race format provided numerous opportunities for students to contribute their skills, passion, time, and expertise. Each student chose to support one or more of six race Hubs within their school team. The hubs are designed to cover a range of interests and disciplines including finance, technology, creativity, wellness, language, and research. Some students opted to lead a Hub, share leadership with others, others simply volunteered their available time.
The existing FOBISIA Race4Good programme has been designed for pupils in years 10-12. Students from these year groups in our six participating schools came together to form dynamic teams, supported by international business mentors. They competed against each other for the chance to sustainably uplift a carefully chosen community. By having the opportunity to engage and uplift a vulnerable village - in this case families living in the village of Bung, in the High Himalayas of Nepal - the students had a unique platform to develop critical life skills, including leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurial thinking, observation, cultural sensitivity, compassion, empathy, and emotional intelligence.
Over five weeks and three exhilarating rounds, our six school teams - Discovery Bay Hong Kong, Dulwich College Seoul, Dulwich College (Singapore), Epsom College in Malaysia, Prince of Wales Island International School, Penang, and The Regents International School Bangkok, drew on the wide range of talents and interests found within the group and channelled these into tackling a diverse range of challenges. In a short space of time they developed family-level uplift plans and cooperatives, improved healthcare in the village, enhanced education for young pupils, and devised sustainable uplift for the wider community. But this was no paper exercise! Winning plans were implemented in a matter of days and shared with teams in the form of inspirational and unforgettable videos. 28
