To Our Valued Partners, Friends, and Global Community,

I’m writing to share that my last day with the Stevens Initiative will be May 1.

After more than ten years advancing the Initiative’s mission, this feels like the right time for my next chapter. This decision came slowly as I continued to lead and help carry this work forward. I made this decision with a familiar ethos that brought me to the Initiative in the first place: being all-in on possibility, even when the path ahead is not fully mapped.

As I step away, I carry a few truths with me. The “why” of this work still matters, and regardless of how technology evolves, the heart of virtual exchange is in the experience of human connection. Empathy, collaboration, and the ability to navigate nuance are essential leadership capacities for the world that young people are navigating now and in the future. And leadership is not only found in the loudest voices or the most visible outcomes; it is often built in smaller moments of courage, listening, trust, and initiative. Those moments accumulate, and this work has helped create the conditions for them to take root.

It has been a true privilege to work alongside you over the past decade. The Stevens Initiative’s first ten years were shaped by the strength of this community and by the many ways you supported, built, and strengthened this work through implementation; research, evaluation, and shared learning; convenings, storytelling, and field-building; and deep partnership and collaboration. Above all, you keep this effort anchored in a shared commitment to what young people want and deserve.

Together, we have built something meaningful and lasting. To date, more than 100,000 young people across 49 U.S. states and 58 countries and territories have connected through Stevens Initiative-supported virtual exchange for meaningful learning and collaboration. Alongside more than 100 core partners and countless champions, we also helped strengthen virtual exchange as a transformative experience, elevating its credibility and value. I look back on that with real pride and deep gratitude for what was only possible because of the trust, care, and rigor this community brought to the work. I look forward to seeing how the Stevens Initiative and its strong network of partners will undoubtedly build on this foundation in its second decade.

Most of all, I want to recognize the Stevens Initiative team, past and present, whose courage, care, and commitment made this work possible and helped it endure. It has been a real honor to work alongside them.

My belief in the power and necessity of this work is as strong as ever. The world will continue to need young people who are ready to listen, work across differences, and build together. I believe deeply in what the Stevens Initiative, its partners, and the broader community can continue to make possible.

As for what’s next, I’m making time for reflection and discovery. But what I’m carrying forward is the same care and joy I’ve always tried to bring to this work – creating the conditions for others to lead and helping good ideas find their way into the world. I would genuinely love to stay in touch as that next chapter takes shape.

With gratitude and appreciation,

Christine Shiau

Executive Director