TCKid: Building Cross Cultural Bridges

TCKid is a home for Third Culture Kids (TCKs) of all ages

At its heart, TCKid is a not-for-profit organization that serves the community of third culture kids (TCKs) adult and youth and those who serve this community.   TCKid’s mission is to increase and support the individual and general awareness of the TCK experience and unique gifts by facilitating connection and community engagement. In existence now since 2008, TCKid has a community membership of almost 30,000, including local chapters around the world, social networking members  and its central virtual community on TCKid.com.

TCKid’s vision is to:

1. Provide comprehensive resources to increase understanding of the TCK experience and  challenges.

2. Celebrate unique experiences of TCKs while fostering a sense of community, self-expression, dialogue and peer-support.

3. Support discovery of unique skills and talents related to the TCK experience and facilitate opportunities for expressing or applying them in various sectors of the community.

How it started:

In 2006, a tight-knit online group of TCKs began meeting and discussing TCK topics regularly. Out of this online discussion commuity, Brice Royer created a broader-reaching, TCK-specific platform. By 2008, Royer founded TCKid.com, a private forum to help TCKs connect and find a sense of belonging. TCKid then opened more than 50 local groups around the world on Facebook. TCKid also became a partner of TED.com as it adopted its Charter of Compassion and encouraged TCKs to help with humanitarian efforts. TCKid has been featured on the BBC, ABC News, The Telegraph, the U.S Department of Defense and Education Week, and has developed partnerships with organizations like CULTURS Global Multicultural magazine that serve the third culture kid, cross cultural kid and global nomad community.

In 2011, Brice Royer passed the leadership torch to Myra Dumapias, currently Executive Director of TCKid. Dumapias developed the administrative structure and management tools to transform TCKid.com into TCKid: A Home for Third Culture Kids, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity with the capacity to be self-sustaining. While TCKid’s initial purpose was to help TCKs discover more about their identities and find a sense of belonging, TCKid’s current purpose is to address the question,

“Now that I know I am a TCK, now what?”

Dumapias implemented new programs to answer this question, such as TCKid Research Bridge, which aims to promote global cross-cultural research studies and cultivate the relationship between researchers and the public, and TCKid TV, to inform and entertain the TCK and cross-cultural community and the general public about all things TCK and CCK (Cross Cultural Kid).

To find out more, visit here. or  here.