About Jason

At the fresh young age of 20, Jason Connell was a content, ambitious, and confident liberal arts student in sunny Florida.  And like many other young people in similarly cozy situation, he thought his future would be relatively comfortable and straightforward: graduate from college, find a good job, and generally enjoy the rather hospitable hand that destiny had dealt him.  Then….he spent a semester abroad in China. 

And everything changed.

Mesmerized at the core by a world “outside of America,” – a world that featured unbelievable cultural wealth, contrasted with stark economic poverty and impenetrable sociopolitical obstacles – Jason resolved to explore all he could until his dried-up savings forced him to stop. 

And while dropping out of college was a necessary consequence of this “change in life plan,” any disappointment was far outweighed by the array of astonishing new experiences, and nourishing personal relationships, that he cultivated during this seminal time. 

Now 24 years old, and equipped with a Political Science degree, Jason has volunteered in some of the world’s poorest areas. He has seen, heard, felt, and experienced things so removed from his quaint college life, that it’s hard to believe that it was only a handful of years ago; it truly feels like a handful of lives ago.

Dedicated to applying what he has experienced to change the world, an abbreviated list of Jason’s volunteer efforts to-date include: developing a microlending program in Uganda, conducting research on the effects of globalization in Thailand, and teaching HIV/AIDS prevention classes for high risk children in South Africa.  He has also created the “Changing the World 101” program, which provides American college students with insights and strategies on volunteering abroad so that they can effectively -- as the program name promises -- change the world.