Athgo International is a political, non-profit organization that seeks to bring together people from ages 18 to 32 to take action in one of three focus areas: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and High Tech, Environment and Energy, and Governance. Athgo was established in 1999 as an acronym for "Alliance Toward Harnessing Global Opportunities." In April 2008, the organization dropped the acronym, and became known simply as Athgo.
Focus Areas
The ICTs and High Tech focus area emphasizes that a rigorous academic syllabus is a prerequisite for technological advancements in the world’s developing economies. Past events that focused on this area are: “Bridging the Development Gap: Sustainable Growth in Information and Communication Technologies and Hi-tech through Education ” and “Information and Communication Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges in Landlocked Developing Countries,” both of which were held at the American University of Armenia. The 2007 Global Leadership and Innovation Summit, on the other hand, was held in Geneva, Switzerland.
Environment and Energy focus area is aimed at promoting environmental awareness and encouraging participants to consider alternative forms of energy. In the past, two events that are related to this area of focus have been held. The first: “Global Warming: Change Your Attitude! Not the Weather,” was hosted by the University of California, Los Angeles, CA; while “Global Third Way: Becoming One with the Environment” was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, NY
Scholar Network
Apart from the three focus areas covered by Athgo, the organization also encourages its outstanding alumni to keep close contact, by joining a distinguished group of people in the Scholar Network.
Meanwhile, in order to be recognized as an alumnus/a of Athgo, participants in any event of the three focus areas will have to complete a written assignment that relates to theme of the event attended. Momentarily, Athgo selects the top ten participants based on the quality of his/her peer evaluations, group participation, and writing sample.
Thenceforth, scholarship winners are invited to join other distinguished alumni and associates of Athgo at the Scholar Network, a distinction that prequalifies its holder to attend the most valued convention organized by Athgo, The Global Leadership and Innovation Summit. More so, members of the Scholar Network are provided with full funding to work at the Innovation and Capacity Building Centers, a state-of-the-art research facility that is suitable for conducting research on entrepreneurship, and developing actable public policies.
Affiliations
Athgo draws its support from international bodies, academia, private organizations, businesses, and its alumni. Below is a compacted list of some of the organizations that ATHGO has partnered with and/or have received funding from.
International Bodies
World Bank Group
World Intellectual Property Organization
UN Global Compact
UN’s Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) UN Permanent Missions and Embassies
Academia
American University of Armenia
Boston College
Centre of International Studies, Cambridge, UK
Columbia University
Concordia University, Canada
Cornell University
Georgetown University
Johns Hopkins University
London School of Economics, UK
McGill University, Canada
Royal Military College of Canada
Seton Hall University
Stanford University
Sydney University, Australia
Tambov Technical University, Russia
United Nations University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Bergamo, Italy
University of Bradford, UK
University of California, Berkeley
University of Edinburgh, UK
University of Genoa, Italy
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
University of Southern California
University of Vienna, Austria
University of Waterloo, Canada
University of York, UK
United States Naval Academy, Maryland
Yerevan State University, Armenia
Private Organizations
Campus Climate Challenge
The Climate Project
Development Gateway Foundation
Mertz Gilmore Foundation
Businesses
AECOM
British Petroleum (BP) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Electronics Recycler MWH Nestlé USA Northrop Grumman Corporation VivaCell Waste Management Fortune 500 Enterprise Incubator Foundation