Launch Project Exchange

Hi there! My name is Ashley Lin and I’m a student and social entrepreneur from Union High School in Vancouver, WA. Earlier this year, I studied abroad in Uruguay with a scholarship program of the U.S. Department of State called Youth Ambassadors. This experience opened my eyes to the importance of study abroad to broaden worldview and foster inclusion, promote tolerance, and eradicate stereotypes. At the same time, it exposed me to how many high school and college students in the U.S. and abroad who don’t have access to these opportunities. This lead to Project Exchange (@myprojectexchange on Instagram), that aims to make the study abroad experience more accessible to students from different communities through a “digital” study abroad experience. Furthermore, we will supplement the study abroad experience and provide students a medium to investigate theirs and others' cultures through a blog/ podcast series amplifying the voices of students around the globe.

We invite you to join us in democratizing access to study abroad experiences, foster global literacy, and strengthen multicultural education. It should not be a privilege to learn about culture and celebrate diversity! Our vision is a world where multicultural education is available to every student, where every culture is recognized and celebrated, and where students serve as allied to diverse communities to tackle today’s critical global issues through cross cultural collaboration. As Founder & Executive Director of Project Exchange, I'm currently working with more than 20 high school students around the United States to make this vision a reality. Our website will be released on December 1, and our first cohort of Digital Exchange Participants will launch mid-January (with the start of second semester).

Project Exchange is currently a registered nonprofit corporation in Washington state. In order to take our work to the next level, we need your support. By making a monetary donation today, you will help our student team:
1. Purchase a website domain name/ host our website on Wix
2. Purchase professional emails (e.g., [email redacted])
3. Apply for nonprofit status (503c3)
4. Register with the Washington State Charitable Solicitations Program
5. Expand our programming (e.g., get a professional logo, establish Project Exchange chapters)

If you're interested in offering your support another way (pro-bono volunteering/ legal consulting), joining our leadership team (if you're a high school/ college student), joining our Board of Trustees, partnering with your students, etc. please reach out to Founder & Executive Director Ashley Lin at [email redacted]. We hope you hear from you soon!