Global Outreach (GO!)
Global Outreach (GO!) is a service and cultural immersion program at Fordham University focused on social justice, community engagement, and anti-oppression work. Rooted in Fordham’s Jesuit mission, it empowers students to engage with communities in the U.S. and globally, and address systems of inequality.
Projects are offered in winter, spring, and summer, each led by a team leader and accompanied by a chaperone. Teams participate in a pre-immersion formation process, co-created with Mission staff and global partners, to support spiritual, academic, and ethical growth.
The Global Outreach (GO!) program ensures participants integrate these outcomes intentionally into their academic pursuits and future professional lives, contributing toward their development as change-makers and leaders dedicated to uplifting society. This focus on cultivating men and women for and with others, who apply their experiential learning to complex global challenges, is deeply aligned with the Universal Apostolic Preferences, particularly those of walking with the poor and marginalized and journeying with youth in creating a hope-filled future.
A central lesson learned across the Global Outreach (GO!) program’s implementation is the imperative for continuous, discerned review across all operational areas to maintain fidelity to the Jesuit mission. This involves constantly reviewing community partners, ensuring the relationship is one of mutual benefit and genuine service—a process guided by the principle of Magis to seek the greater good and avoid harmful imposition. Furthermore, staff learned the necessity of radical transparency and prudent assessment of program costs to ensure responsible stewardship of resources and maximize program accessibility. Finally, program assessment has shifted from measuring simple output to focusing on transformational learning and long-term impact, requiring robust metrics to measure growth in students’ commitment to social justice and the effective application of their experiences, thereby fulfilling the call to the service of faith and the promotion of justice through sustained intentionality.
To effectively demonstrate the Global Outreach (GO!) program’s effectiveness, which has been an integral part of the Fordham experience for 63 years, the most compelling data connects participant experience to post-graduate career outcomes rooted in the Jesuit mission. By linking with Career Services and Alumni Relations, the program can track sector placement (e.g., non-profit, social enterprise, education) and the percentage of alumni whose careers require mission-aligned skills, such as ethical decision-making and cross-cultural competency, providing concrete evidence that GO! successfully prepares students for lives of service. Furthermore, longitudinal surveys can capture how alumni credit the GO! experience for shaping their career choices and sustaining their commitment to social justice, proving that the program successfully cultivates graduates who are dedicated to uplifting society in alignment with Jesuit values like the service of faith and the promotion of justice.