Every year, thousands of students arrive at Dallas College with big dreams but little guidance on how to navigate a globalized world. Programs like the Global Leaders Gateway aim to change that.
Dallas College’s Global Leaders Gateway Program serves to help students develop skills needed for the future as well as the confidence needed to succeed in an increasingly global workforce. The program combines limited on-campus employment with leadership workshops, self-reflection, and cultural engagement opportunities.
Larisa Olin Ortiz, associate dean of intercultural & global student engagement said the gateway program allows students to strengthen their skills so that they can reach their full potential.
“Students don’t always realize they’ve been leading all along. This program helps them name the skills they already have and understand how to use them,” Ortiz said.
This program has two main goals. Director of IGSE Andrina Jackson said, “I would describe the mission to be really twofold.
The first part of the mission is to provide expanded opportunities for campus employment,” she said. “The second part is to help them expand their professionalism.”
Jessica Padilla, senior manager of IGSE global function, who works alongside Jackson, said the program also offers community-building experiences that unite students across Dallas College’s seven campuses. “It’s a complimentary leadership program,” she said. It is designed to blend the skills students gain in their on-campus jobs with professional development and cohort-based experiences. The program provides access to a wide range of campus events, from International Education Week to cultural celebrations and “Courageous Conversations.”
Jackson said, “These activities fall into four tiers, which are community building, empowerment, immersion and global engagement.”
Fall 2025 marked the launch of this program, which is intentionally designed to grow and adapt in future years.
In the coming year, GLG will expand beyond its current cohort of 26 students and will open participation to student employees, including work-study students interested in building global perspectives and engaged citizenship.
Students, like Muhammad Ahmed, a computer science major from Pakistan, have found the program boosts their confidence and helps them navigate a new campus culture.
“The more I started making conversation with different people, the more I noticed that I was improving myself and polishing my skills,” Ahmed said.
He also credited the program with helping him develop leadership and time management skills.
“I have to lead the events and make sure I complete everything before the deadline,” Ahmed said. The connections he’s made with other students have been invaluable. “I believe friendship really matters because that’s where your understanding comes from. If you don’t have a really good friendship, it means that you don’t really have a good understanding, which means that you’re going to mess up,” Ahmed added.
For students like Ahmed, the Global Leaders Gateway program is more than a job, it fosters personal growth, professional development and a sense of belonging on campus.
