This simple guiding principle is one of the reasons why we've been successful in enabling youth leaders. How this blueprint is achieved differs for everyone, but they all emerge from this process with the same results. Inspiration from a global community of their peers builds self-confidence. Information provided by tools and resources accelerates their transformation into better agents of change. Involvement through opportunities enables their capacity as active citizens.

The following milestones track our development from the beginning to today:

• Michael Furdyk and Jennifer Corriero are rollerblading after a conference in Ottawa and reflect on their experiences and opportunities accessed as teenagers to make a difference. For Michael, his experiences growing internet companies and the sale of mydesktop.com spurred his interest in helping other young people grow their ideas. For Jennifer, her involvement with local community volunteerism, advisory roles with the City of Vaughan and the development of a website to promote Canadian Women's history influenced her desire to be a greater catalyst for community involvement.
• The idea and action plan for TakingITGlobal was formed and then shared with mentors including Don Tapscott (author of Growing up Digital - Mike and Jen were part of this book launch back in 1997), and Charles Coffey (then Senior Vice President of the Royal Bank Financial Group).
• Concept of TIG is submitted to the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) as a means of addressing the digital divide through providing meaningful content, context and community. Jennifer is invited to travel to Malaysia and take part in the GK3 conference and Youth Forum.

• Don Tapscott shares TakingITGlobal's action plan with Microsoft, who then hires Mike and Jen on a 6 month consulting project in Redmond to study the Net Generation.
• Media coverage is released discussing both the Microsoft consulting and concept for TakingITGlobal (including a 14 page spread in Fast Company Magazine).
• Version 1 of the takingitglobal.org website launches at the end of August 2000; features include member profiles, discussion boards, events and organization databases. Many early members join after reading the Fast Company article.
• Incorporated as a non-profit organization (September 15, 2000).
• TakingITGlobal founders attend conferences including Expanding Learning Horizons in Australia the Make Our World conference organized by the Global Youth Action Network, and establish a strategic partnership with GYAN as TakingITGlobal's organizational outreach partner.

• TakingITGlobal moves into the 5th floor of the YMCA; in exchange for 'free' office space team members are responsible for running the computer lab.
• New online community sections including Global Gallery, TIG Messenger, Updates (later called blogs), Articles (later called Panorama), Volunteer Program and Featured Members.
• RBC Financial Group provides support to TIG's first three staff as part of the Career Edge internship
• Jennifer delivers keynote at the Sky Dome for a Youth Empowerment event.
• First major website development project for Sunnybrook and women's Health Sciences Centre - the PARTY Program (Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth).
• Nation1, an initiative founded during the MIT Media Lab's Junior Summit, merges with TakingITGlobal and their 501(c)3 US organization is used by the Global Youth Action Network, which becomes TakingITGlobal's U.S. fiscal agent.

• With support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, TakingITGlobal develops a workshop series that involves over 43 workshops and reaches over 530 participants in the Greater Toronto Area. Topics relate to Technology and New Media, Leadership and Organizational Skills, Self-Expression Through the Arts and Connecting to Your Career.
• TIG takes on a partnership role with the Youth Caucus for the World Summit on Sustainable Development and three team members travel to South Africa with support from UNICEF.
• Project pages and Country Sites launch at the Youth Employment Summit in Alexandria, Egypt to support 60 country networks focused on creating 500 million sustainable livelihoods for youth.
• World Economic Forum recognizes Jennifer as a Global Leader for Tomorrow.
• TakingITGlobal receives recognition as a Finalist in the 2002 Showcase Ontario Voluntary Sector Awards, a Finalist in the Stockholm Challenge (Education Category) and receives an Award of Merit in the 2002 Awards for Innovative Learning Environments.
• Michael develops initial vision for TIG in the classroom while teaching and working with St. Stephens Community House in delivering a high school technology and new media course.

• New website sections and features launch including Understanding Issues and Monthly Themes, Petitions, Voice, eCards and Groups (mailing lists). The volunteer program is taken down due to overload in interest and need for increased virtual volunteer management capacity.
• Guide to Action is developed for a high school leadership class and posted online as a resource.
• TIG partners with IISD and GKP to form the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities Coalition and facilitates the Youth Caucus for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). National Campaigns are run in over 30 countries and youth participation at the global level influences adopting of youth paragraph in WSIS Declaration that states 'young people need to be empowered as learners, developers, contributors and decision-makers in the information society'.
• TIG Solutions web development projects are taken on with a range of partners including Banking on Youth (with Correctional Services Canada), UNESCO Youth Forum, Chat the Planet, Gay Evolution, Ontario Young People's Alliance, Spirit Magazine and Outpost Magazine.
• Presentations and participation at key conferences and events including the Youth Employment Summit Regional Forum, National Youth Leadership and Technology Forum, Fast Company Magazine's Woman to Woman Conference, PlaNetwork Conference, Canadian Community Newspapers Association.

• TIG develops and launches its multilingual platform - French and Spanish are first languages.
• Creating Local Connections Russia is launched as a local engagement model along with an Open Forums guide and online tool.
• Board of Directors membership grows from 3 to 8, and becomes fully independent and strengthened.
• Launch of Monthly Themes; includes interactive multimedia-based learning on key issues.
• With support from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, TakingITGlobal launches the International Youth Internship program with partners in Paris, Sydney, New York, Boston, London and Rome.
• Macklin Public School becomes partner in pilot project for early version of TIGed.org and the development of Globalize This Film Festival. Outcomes include Scrapbook and Film Festival Guide.
• Membership survey conducted on the Impact of TakingITGlobal with report and publication.

• Website revamp launched at 5 year anniversary and includes MyTIG and updates to Projects & Groups.
• With support from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, TIG conducts a Cross Canada Mapping of Youth-Led and Highly Youth Engaged Initiatives. Results form the foundation of 3-year project: Creating Local Connections Canada.
• The Global Youth Action Network receives Special Consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• With support from the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), TakingITGlobal develops a project to support students in learning about issues of stigma, stereotype and discrimination through photography and image-analysis workshops: TIG Xpress HIV/AIDS.
• TakingITGlobal receives 3 year support for TIGed from Microsoft Partners in Learning program.
• TakingITGlobal provides the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) with a young Canadian intern as part of CIDA's Youth Internship Program.
• TIG Solutions projects include PictureChange.ca (with the Canadian Coalition on HIV/AIDS and Youth in Africa), BeyondKyoto, Global Youth Service Day, Journalists for Human Rights, Oxfam International Youth Parliament and UNESCO Costal Regions & Small Islands.
• In partnership with the International Society for Technology in Education, TakingITGlobal hosts an online consultation on technology and the future of education.
• Active coordination and support role for the WSIS Youth Caucus, GKP Youth and ICT Awards and World Summit Youth Award.
• In partnership with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), TakingITGlobal incubates the telecentre.org website and manages website editors.
• The Digital Divide Network moves from the Education Development Center to TakingITGlobal.
• In partnership with the United Nations Millennium Campaign and Global Youth Action Network, TakingITGlobal launches the MDG Youth Campaign Kit at the World Youth Congress in Scotland.

• TakingITGlobal is part of the coordinating committee for the Toronto YouthForce, strengthening youth voices at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Responsibilities included co-development of advocacy materials, management of youth pavilion and production of 25-minute film with InSync Video.
• TakingITGlobal develops theme page on urban sustainability and partners with the Environmental Youth Alliance to support youth voices at the World Urban Forum.
• TIGed's thematic virtual classrooms are launched including Tobacco Control in partnership with the University of Toronto's TeenNet Research Project, Ayiti: The Cost of Life in partnership with Global Kids and the Orange Revolution in partnership with ABEL and TEACH Magazine.
• Creating Local Connections West Africa launches in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Guinea with support from the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute of West Africa.
• TIG Magazine entitled 'As One' is launched on the theme of the role of youth in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
• TIG Solutions projects include an online chapter management system with Free the Children, an online forum for the United Nations Association of Canada, an online campaign platform for Greenpeace's Save the Whales campaign and a platform for International Polar Year.

• The Tech Museum Awards recognize TakingITGlobal as a winner in the Education Category.
• Digital Divide Network is a finalist in the Webby Awards.
• TIGed.org launches a contest called Take Your Classroom Global and prepares a book of best practices.
• Career Edge recognizes TakingITGlobal with the 2007 Spirit Award.
• In partnership with Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network, TIG develops the Bandwidth 4 Belonging project with support from the Laidlaw Foundation, to learn how online tools can reach youth with disabilities and create a sense of belonging.
• CLC Canada team organizes over 200 workshops; CLC West Africa team conducts training sessions on ICT Basics, ICT & Entrepreneurship and ICT & Leadership.
• With support from the Longview Foundation, TakingITGlobal redesigns the Understanding Issues section, and revitalize issue section content with issue editors working with Academic Advisors.
• With support from the Gordon Foundation, the Climate Change: Youth Take Action project launches to strengthen youth involvement in the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia.
• TIG Solutions projects with GetUp Australia, Diamond Road Online and Peel Environmental Youth Alliance.
• TakingITGlobal is recognized as one of the WorldBlu Most Democratic Workplaces.

• TakingITGlobal and the Global Youth Action Network develop a strategic alliance and streamline operations across both organizations.
• As a coordinating committee member of the YouthForce for the International AIDS Conference in Mexico, TakingITGlobal is responsible for the Media and Communications Committee and develops youth website that features photos, video interviews and blogs developed by the young journalists team.
• TakingITGlobal is an organizing partner of the World Youth Congress in Quebec City which includes a virtual congress featuring session webcasts, video interviews, photo feeds, and blogging.
• TakingITGlobal develops Adobe Youth Voices project involving coordination of digital media workshops in 10 countries. Along with an online Global Gallery Contest on Climate Change and Culture & Identity, the project culminates with the launch of another issue of TIG Magazine.
• With support from the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, TakingITGlobal launches ymex.org (Youth Media Exchange), a joint project with Global Kids and Asia Society. ymex.org leverages social networking and digital media to promote media literacy and increased engagement on global issues.
• Community Connectors initiative launches with volunteer interns in Europe, Latin America and Eastern Africa.

• With generous support from the Staples Foundation for Learning, TakingITGlobal launches Tread Lightly, a climate education program. As part of Tread Lightly, TIG's 120-member delegation gives insider reports on the happenings at the world's largest climate change conference – COP15 in Denmark, Copenhagen.
• Second phase of TakingITGlobal's Sprout e-course begins, providing an online learning experience for young aspiring social entrepreneurs.
• Together with the Biblioteca Alexandria, TakingITGlobal's Youth for Change program awards mini-grants to 26 Arab youth participants, five of which whose projects will be showcase at the 5th World Youth Congress in Turkey in 2010.
• With support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, the CLC Report – Weaving A Movement – is published.
• The Global Youth Coalition (GYCA) on HIV/AIDS becomes a fully integrated project of TakingITGlobal, and TIG and GYCA work together to restructure strategic focus into three main pillars: networking and sharing of best practices; technical assistance and capacity building; and political advocacy.
• With support from the UNFPA and the UN Foundation and in partnership with the aids2031 campaign, GYCA organizes screenings and local dialogues with policy makers to promote the award-winning documentary series Love in a Time of HIV.
• The Global Youth Action Network (GYAN) conducts a membership survey for insight into youth's roles in decision-making within their own communities and within GYAN and the youthlink.org site is redesigned.
• The Online Volunteering Guide to Action is developed, outlining all the important phases in virtual volunteering and connecting volunteers to meaningful opportunities to contribute.
• TakingITGlobal launches Version 3 of the Global Gallery, with impressive new design and functionality including the ability to import content from YouTube and Flickr.
• WorldBlu recognizes TakingITGlobal as one of its "Most Democratic Workplaces" for the third year in a row.
• At the 5th Microsoft Partners in Learning Regional Innovative Teachers' Conference/Innovative Students' Forum, Asia Pacific youth present their educational-technology group projects. Three groups are awarded grants from Microsoft and a member of each group is invited to participate in TakingITGlobal's Sprout e-course.