For over fifty years, the ACTION Student Leadership Workshop, now called the ACTION Ambassador's Workshop, has evolved and changed to meet the signs of the times and the learning needs of our students.

From October 10-13, more than 75 students and faculty and staff members from Edmund Rice schools in the U.S., Canada, Uruguay, Argentina and Ireland, traveled to Kearny, NJ, to participate in the 2024 ACTION Ambassador Workshop. Through this 4-day workshop, students had the opportunity to reflect on their shared experiences as Edmund Rice Christian Brother students, and to learn about how they will help to lead their peers and school communities in creating systemic change through advocacy.

Students had the opportunity to learn about environmental concerns and the need for climate action through a day spent at the Meadowlands; participated in a session on understanding the concerns faced by the unhoused and ways to advocate for an end to homelessness; and competed in a “Shark Tank” activity where students presented their ideas on possible school-based advocacy campaigns.

At this year’s ACTION Workshop, Super Senior students from Iona Prep (1st Place), St. Thomas More Collegiate (2nd Place), and Brother Rice Chicago (Honorable Mention) were presented with the Tom Gambardella ACTION Advocacy Awards from 2023-2024.