idealist.org

Soliya is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing a new generation of leaders with the cross-cultural knowledge, communication skills, and international connections to create a more informed, peaceful and just global society.

Soliya’s Connect Program is a unique cross-cultural education program that directly connects university students in the United States, the Middle East, Europe and Asia via groundbreaking online collaboration and communication technology. Using a web-based videoconferencing application, participating students collaboratively explore the issues that currently divide Western and predominantly Muslim societies by engaging in intensive dialogue, and creating videos and other media projects addressing relevant themes. After completing the Connect Program, students can continue to engage in dialogue by participating in activities such as facilitation training and weblog editing with other alumni from the Connect Program.

In the last six years, Soliya has gone from being the idea of two young social entrepreneurs with backgrounds in new media and conflict resolution to an established organization with more than 60 universities in over 25 countries participating in the Connect Program and strong established funding relationships in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

In the coming years, Soliya plans to take its program to scale, connecting thousands of students each semester. The alumni from this program will form the foundation for the Soliya Network – a cross-cultural online social network which will enable young adults around the globe to learn about these issues, express their perspectives on them, and engage in dialogue and collaborative
action to address them.