Deven Chitkara is a high school junior from New York City, and the founder of Bronx Out Loud. In 2022, Deven attended the Global Citizens Initiative Fellowship at St. Andrew’s University, where he was tasked with taking a global issue and applying it locally. Having attended school in the Bronx since kindergarten and witnessing marginalization and underrepresentation in his community, Deven chose to take this issue and break down how historical and ongoing marginalization of minorities has affected historical representation of the Bronx community.
At school, Deven is the co-leader of the Invictus Boys of Color affinity group. He is also a member of the Academic Integrity Board. Outside of school, in 2022 he was a student ambassador and peer facilitator for the annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference held in San Antonio Texas. Deven was also a Next Generation Politics Fellow from 2021-22, for which he produced content for the Next Gen blog on issues regarding how history is taught in U.S. schools.
In his free time, Deven enjoys playing basketball for his school’s team and spending time with friends and family.
Deven Chitkara
The Global Citizens Initiative Fellowship
“We empower young global citizens from all sectors of society to be lifelong leaders of positive change.”
Fellowship
“The GCI Fellowship begins at the GCI Summit, GCI's flagship event. In 2022, the Summit was held at the University of St Andrews in Scotland for the first year. At the Summit, fellows explored global issues through the lenses of engagement, ethics, excellence and leadership and identified the pressing global issue that they chose to address "glocally:" thinking globally, but acting locally, as part of their "Glocal" Service Project (GSP). Fellows used Design Thinking to outline an initial action plan that they refined throughout the 10-month Fellowship.” (Global Citizens Initiative Page)
Discussion Based Learning
“A key element of the GCI Method is Discussion-Based Learning (Harkness® Sessions). These student-centric academic sessions nurture important skills, such as critical thinking, in addition to honing each student’s ability to listen, provide constructive criticism and collaborate. Harkness® encourages sharing and respecting diverse and unique perspectives and experiences. Harkness® is a registered trademark of Phillips Exeter Academy.” (Global Citizens Initiative Page)
Design Thinking
“The Design Thinking process forms the basis for Fellows to develop their Glocal Service Projects (GSPs). Design Thinking is a human-centric approach to problem-solving. It is an iterative process that also deepens students' understanding of how global issues affect their local communities as they develop solutions to these challenges. Students define the problem they seek to address, observe the population they wish to serve, identify key insights based on their research, brainstorm potential solutions, and test those solutions until they arrive at an implementable project.” (Global Citizens Initiative Page)