Laidlaw Scholars UK Conference Group LiA Proposal: Individualism and Tribalism Sunday, October 16 Background Our discussions focused on the innate tensions between the terms ‘tribalism’ and ‘individualism.’ Yet, we also came to the conclusion that they are not mutually exclusive ideas: one can be an individual within a tribe, and a tribe is composed of individuals. As such, our project focuses on bridging the gap between groups that may be excluded from society, finding ways for communities to work together through any perceived differences. Proposal The Leadership in Action project that we chose to create is a community-oriented sports program that brings together excluded or potentially opposing groups in society. Although our discussions focused on issues facing refugees in communities, other potential groups could be certain ethnic communities, youth groups, sex workers, and others. Why is it the most important one to address? This is something we can have an impact on on a small scale, which can both make a tangible impact in a specific community while also having a ripple effect on the broader community – individuals’ families, cultures, and networks. As such, it is manageable to do as an individual and would be an educational opportunity for the individual scholar. A more stable community creates a more stable world order. Finally, this project does not aim to change a culture but rather to work with an existing organization as a liaison between communities. What would a good LiA look like? The goal is bringing together distinct groups together through sports, despite their tensions. A strong Leadership in Action project to address these issues would provide an avenue for sports teams to be created and to play matches against each other in good spirit. Who is already in the space with whom we might partner? We believe such a project would be most effective if the scholar works with an existing organization, whether this be with youth, refugees, sex workers, or any other marginalized or excluded groups. With this flexibility, the scholar could choose to work with an organization in any location they are interested in, have ties to, or want to get involved: from their hometown or school to across the world. This proposal allows for scholars to find an organization to partner with, but several suggestions we have come up with are:  Integration of Refugees Through Sport, an international networking platform for various groups that work with refugees. Windle International Kenya, an organization in Kenya that works with communities Peace Players What is our proposal to them? Our proposal to these organizations is to host one or several scholars for the six-week Leadership in Action period, providing students with training and mentorship to support them during the project. It should be noted that the student should, themselves, be committed to the project and to researching and understanding the communities they entered. What is the ask of the Foundation? We would ask for the Foundation to partner with several existing organizations and to provide the following resources for scholars: individual materials for football matches training funding cultural background research coach, if needed