Founded by sisters Kaitlin and Cassidy Murray, OdysseyHQ is "a global youth-led educational platform and community" that seeks to empower youth around the world and give them the skills and resources they need to make a positive impact in their communities and to do their part in creating a more peaceful, just, and harmonious world. Kaitlin and Cassidy's humanitarian efforts began with volunteering to aid refugees and when they started their family-led non-profit charity, Kids Unite 4 Hope, in 2015. Kaitlin and Cassidy were just 14 and 16 at the time, but even at that age they knew how much they wanted to help those in need.
It was our pleasure here at Hello World to work with OdysseyHQ to help run and host their very first 8-week summer program, Global Youth Hub. The Global Youth Hub program started on June 1st, 2021 and was designed to spark global conversations and dialogue between young people around the world, so that they might learn from each other and begin working together toward global peace; rolling admissions were handled through the Hello World app and programming was conducted via Discord. Leveraging the flexibility of Discord's instant messaging and dedicated channels, the Global Youth Hub program was designed to be entirely self-paced so that users could join discussions at any time and continuously exchange ideas, no matter their geographical location or time zone.
After the Global Youth Hub program ended we got together with Kaitlin and Cassidy to discuss how things went, what we learned, our Hello World moments, and how we can both empower more youth around the world.
Some highlights from our interview:
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Kaitlin and Cassidy we are so inspired by your work and your dedication to helping others and making the world a better place! You're showing the world that helping others isn't limited to those who are older or more experienced. OdysseyHQ's motto that "No one is unqualified when it comes to serving humanity" is truly beautiful and we cannot wait to see how you'll continue to change the world, touch the lives of all those around you, and inspire more people to do what they can to serve humanity. We absolutely loved working with you and look forward to future partnerships!