What compels a young person to become a social entrepreneur?Over
the past 12 years, YouthActionNet has traced the social change journeys
of hundreds of young leaders, ages 18-29, in 70-plus countries. Their
motivations for taking action range from profound personal experiences
of human suffering and social and political upheaval to growing up in
families and environments that nurtured a strong sense of social
responsibility. As
development agencies, donors, and academic institutions look to support
the growth of youth-led social innovation, the experiences of
YouthActionNet Fellows offer valuable lessons. Below are the “Six Key
Drivers” most commonly cited by Fellows in describing their motivation
for taking action to address a particular issue.
1. Profound personal experience.
Fredrick Ouku
Many YouthActionNet Fellows have themselves experienced injustice,
illness, discrimination, inequality, and/or personal tragedy and were
driven to find answers to challenges they themselves know all too well.
Disabled as a result of childhood polio, Fredrick Ouku, knew first-hand
the challenges that young people with disabilities face in accessing
services and securing employment. To advance the wellbeing of youth with
disabilities in Kenya, he founded the Action Network for the Disabled.
Similarly, Agustín Rodriguez Aké was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at
the age of 12 and experienced the emotional and physical challenges
faced by thousands of children hospitalized with serious illnesses in
Mexico each year. Today, Agustín is the founder of Caza Sonrisas, which
trains volunteers to deliver play therapy to hospitalized children. Read
more in Agustin’s blog.
2. Exposure to an urgent, unmet need.
Whether it’s through exploring challenges in their own communities or
traveling halfway across the globe, other Fellows speak of the
life-changing impact of seeing and experiencing first-hand the effects
of poverty, ill health, discrimination, and lack of opportunity on
people and communities. It was after volunteering for a girls
empowerment initiative in India that Alex Budek was inspired to co-found
StartSomeGood,
a website that offers social innovators a platform for communicating –
and raising support for – world-changing ideas. Following a 12-week
study tour of Kenya, Canadian college students Jessica Lax and Jocelyn
Land-Murphy took action to launch the Otesha Project.
Otesha uses performances and workshops to raise awareness among high
school students of everyday actions they can take to address social and
environmental issues.
3. Applying a passion or talent to a cause.
Other Fellows have found ways to apply their interests and passions to
make the world a better place. Their social change work becomes, in
effect, an extension of that passion. Lachlan Ritchie in Australia loves
to ride bikes. He also cares deeply about the environment, people’s
health, and the needs of disadvantaged youth. Through Dismantle,
Lachlan translated his love of cycling into a social enterprise that
uses bicycles as powerful tools for social change. Karina Peña is
passionate about design. Trained as an architect and deeply concerned
about the environment, she began looking at ways of nurturing a culture
of sustainability in Barcelona. The result? Karina co-founded MAKA GREEN BCN, an online magazine, to promote sustainable design and spark dialogue around creative solutions to local environmental issues.
4. Transforming university education into social action.
Marita Cheng
Whether studying to be a doctor, an engineer, or a journalist, many
YouthActionNet Fellows were motivated to take action during their
university years, applying their knowledge and passion to a social need
connected to their field of study. While in her second year of
university, Marita Cheng created Robogals
in Australia to empower more young women to pursue careers in the
engineering field. Similarly, Jennifer Staple-Clarke was inspired to
create Unite for Sight
(UFS) in the U.S. as a result of a summer job with an eye doctor
following her freshman year at college. Today, UFS is a global
organization that has provided eye care to more than 1.5 million people,
performing more than 60,000sight-restoring surgeries.
5. Action rooted in political or social injustice.
YouthActionNet Fellows who have grown up in environments characterized
by political unrest or social injustice have developed responses based
on their first-hand understanding of the root causes and systems that
perpetuate such environments. Besa Luci grew up at a time of violent
conflict in her native Kosovo. The journalists she met during those
years inspired her to pursue a career in journalism. At the same time,
Besa knew that the future of her country depended on the active
engagement of today’s youth. She founded Kosovo 2.0
as an independent, youth-led media outlet though which young people
express their voices on critical issues. Similarly, Afif Tabsh grew up
in a divisive Lebanon and was motivated to promote the values of
respect, acceptance, and love. Through Aie Serve,
Afif is spreading a spirit of volunteerism among Lebanese youth, ages
15 to 30, through equipping them with the skills they need to develop
their communities.
6. Action grounded in strong spiritual, religious, or social values.
Faith
and deeply-held personal values have a strong role to play in the
decision of a young person to take action to address an urgent social
need. Driven by a passion for peace-building grounded in his Buddhist
faith, Freeman Trebilcock founded the InterAction Multifaith Youth Network
in Australia as a means of bringing together youth from diverse
cultural, spiritual and religious backgrounds to enact social change.
Similarly, Muhammad Shahzad founded the Chanan Development Association
(CDA) in Pakistan to empower youth to combat violence, discrimination,
and social injustice, based on his own deep-seated commitment to
promoting the rights of women in particular.
By Sheila Kinkade
