As the UWC community around the world has grown, it has also become more active. In the last few years, an increasing number of initiatives have been established by our community members: from city-based groups to professional and interest networks, large-scale mission driven events. However, traditionally there has been no way for UWC to officially endorse and support initiatives run by members of the UWC community wanting to use the UWC name and brand.

UWCx is a new form of the UWC brand that allows UWC International to endorse and provide support for initiatives run by the community that further the UWC mission. UWCx initiatives have the right to use the UWCx form of the brand and will receive support from UWC with regard to promotion, information sharing, connecting to UWC stakeholders and establishing contact with other initiatives to share lessons learned, resources and know-how.

UWCx was launched at the UWC Congress in October 2016, where it was announced that UWCx status had been granted to six initiatives by the Community Engagement Committee of the UWC International Board.

Polly Akhurst, Senior Community Engagement Officer at UWC International, says: “We are really excited to launch UWCx as a way to show that we appreciate and support the efforts of our community in acting as a force to create a peaceful and sustainable future. We would like to congratulate this first group of UWCx initiatives and hope that they will inspire even more initiatives within our community.”

The six UWC initiatives that have successfully obtained UWCx accreditation are:

UWC New York

UWC New York is a non-profit organization formed and run by UWC alumni with the purpose of providing a social and professional network to the UWC alumni in the Greater New York area.

UWC Foodies

UWC Foodies' overarching objective is to create a forum for UWC community members to engage with each other and with the world through food.

UWCx Refugees

UWCx Refugees is a group for members of the UWC community and beyond set up to enable them to share information, connect and get involved with projects and initiatives relating to the current refugee crises.

Critical Engagement

Critical Engagement is a three day conference on identity, diversity and social responsibility run by UWC alumni for first year students at UWC schools and colleges.

GoMakeADifference

GoMakeADifference is a grant scheme that allows current students across all UWC schools and colleges to run projects that put the UWC ideals into practice.

UWC Campus Volunteers

UWC Campus Volunteers allows alumni, former staff and friends of UWC to give their time and practical skills to help UWC schools and colleges with small initiatives that will improve Campus life.

Kevin Jackson, Co-founder of UWC New York (UWC-USA 2006) said: “We have this great mission that lights a fire in us to become a force for good and openness in this world, but until now we had very little structure to associate under the banner of that mission after our years at a UWC school or college. UWC New York is a modest attempt at providing a structure for local mission-driven community building. We want to associate with each other and ultimately impact positively the wider world around us and we are honored to be one of the founding UWCx initiatives. This is a great first step in making UWC a true lifelong movement and we're excited to see the UWCx brand grow to encompass varied and interesting initiatives.”

Julie Jones, coordinator of UWC Campus Volunteers said: “Having endorsement as a UWCx initiative sets us firmly within UWC International (rather than a small local group)– which will help us demonstrate the benefits to colleges and alumni – helping us identify projects and recruit new volunteers.”

UWC welcomes new applications or suggestions for UWCx initiatives at any time. All initiatives wanting to apply for UWCx status will need to go through a simple accreditation process and demonstrate that they fulfil the UWCx criteria. You can find more information on applying here.

If you have any questions about UWCx or about the process of applying, please contact Polly Akhurst, Senior Engagement Officer at UWC International, on engagement@uwcio.uwc.org