Lynn's Celebration of Nations fosters a global community

On Nov. 30, Lynn University's Celebration of Nations facilitated a gathering of cultures with diverse activities, bringing cultural awareness to students, faculty and staff. The day was filled with festivities such as the Civility Summit, the Global Village Holiday Market, the annual parade of flags and a motivating dialogue speaker series event with animal rescue advocate Lee Asher.

The day kicked off with high school students gathered in Elaine's with Robert Watson, distinguished professor of American history and the moderator for Lynn's annual Civility Summit. An event that encourages the Lynn community and local high schools to participate in acts of civility. Students from Saint Andrew's School, Donna Klein Jewish Academy, Grandview Preparatory School, American Heritage and North Broward Preparatory School enjoyed early snacks and drinks as Watson took the podium and addressed a wide array of current world issues, including domestic and international threats, climate change, old business practices, and a lack of civility, dialogue and collaboration worldwide. Before presenting the day's itinerary to students, he offered encouraging wisdom to the group:

"Consumers are demanding that businesses do more than just make money. They want to support businesses and products that reflect important values and promote social good," said Watson. "And what's just as important is that many of the leaders of this new social justice movement of business, are you … all of you."

After Watson's opening remarks, students heard from three Watson Institute social entrepreneur students who owned their startups, developed apps, and received copyrights, and even patents. After the speeches, students were split into groups and asked to brainstorm ideas on promoting stability, social justice and positive change in their respective schools and communities. Members of each team took the stage to pitch their group ideas in a Shark Tank-like scenario to three experts: Joanna Sackel, assistant professor; Sholondo Campbell, dean of students; and Kirsten Stevens, CEO of Kannico.

Christine's Park was transformed for the day as a showcase of organizations—curated by Lynn's Social Impact Lab—gathered in the park for the Global Village Holiday Market. The atmosphere was vibrant with live music and colorful displays of paintings, spices, handwoven attire, exotic jewelry and more, all for sale. In addition to the beautiful collections, signs at each tent explained how their organization fulfilled one or more of the 17 unique United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including quality education, no poverty, gender equality, responsible consumption and production, and decent work and economic growth.

Some businesses that were at the market have partnerships with non-profit organizations. Merline's Caribbean Hot Sauce uses sales to fund Haiti Partners Children's Academy, while ScentsAbility Candles supports the IDDeal Foundation. Empowering women worldwide, Global Goddess sources products from women in various countries and contributes part of the proceeds to their non-profit in South Africa, giving women interest-free small loans and business mentorship.

Other organizations showed how making a difference can start right at home. Second Chance Initiatives, located in Boca Raton, began at Lynn's Social Impact Lab. The organization provides women in recovery stable employment in a safe environment, where the women create craft items for sale on Etsy. They also help women improve their resumes and skills to obtain jobs once they leave the program.

Nabiya's Second Life is another social impact initiative that started at Lynn. Nabiya Alexandra, a current Lynn Watson Institute student, shared how her business contributes to responsible consumption and production, "I take clothing and textile donations and give them a second life by turning them into fashionable bags," said Alexandra. "My mission is to build community by educating people about sustainable fashion while making it trendier and more affordable."

The annual parade of flags allowed students to proudly wave their countries' flags as they marched into the heart of campus. Leading the parade were colorful Bollywood dancers, who gave a spectacular performance at the closing of the parade, where attendees joined in to dance and celebrate center stage in Christine's Park.

Following the parade was a Dialogues Speaker Series event at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center, featuring animal rescue advocate Lee Asher, who shared his experience and gave words of advice. Asher's journey began in 2017 when he dedicated himself to rescuing dogs, traveling in an R.V. across 49 U.S. states and Canada. While starring on Animal Planet's My Pack Life, he created The Asher House, an animal sanctuary that has grown from having 30 dogs to currently 100.

After realizing the positive impact he was making, Asher was motivated to never stop moving forward. He emphasized the importance of focusing on a mission and making time for it at least five days a week. Asher firmly believes success is attainable once you "do the right thing and lead with love." He encouraged every audience member to add value regardless of their situation. "You must do an act of service, and an act means action," said Asher. "You must add value, and there's no better day to do that than today."