iChange: Ateneo de Manila, Quezon City work together for social entrepreneurship

MANILA, Philippines - Building the nation one step at a time, The Ateneo de Manila University-School of Government’s Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship unit has been crafting and executing training programs that aims to introduce the concept of social entrepreneurship to students and professionals all over the country.

Social Entrepreneurship is about finding innovative and sustainable means to help solve social problems. It combines leadership and entrepreneurial skills as fundamentals for a successful social venture.

The iChange Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Seminar Workshop: Change Starts with me aims to highlight Social Entrepreneurship to young changemakers — its concept and tools and how it can possibly help solve pressing social problems while actually earning a living. The workshop’s ultimate aim is to inspire the youth to be part of nation-building.

In partnership with the Office of Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte-Alimurung of Quezon City, Office of Senator Francis Pangilinan, and the Kaya Natin Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, the said seminar-workshop was given to about 40 youth leaders of District 4 of Quezon City last Nov. 12-13, at the Quezon City Hall. This was the 4th batch among all six batches of seminar-workshops to be facilitated in the city. So far, more than 150 youth leaders of Quezon City have undergone this program.

The two-day program of the seminar workshop revolves around the introduction of Social Entrepreneurship and its benefits on one’s self and on the society; examples of youth-led social enterprises and how it had created impact in the community; and modules on crafting vision-mission, goal setting, managing sustainability, measuring results and managing resources.

At the end of the two-day seminar workshop, the participants are required to present their very own social enterprise idea and plans. Most of the participants’ project plans revolved on helping Out-of-School Youth (OSY) on how they can be more productive citizens of the country and in which the bigger aim is to bring them back to school.

Some of the social enterprise ideas are: 1) conducting seminar-training on Arts for OSYs for them to develop their skills on drawing, painting and sculpting which aspires to execute an art auction/exhibit as a fundraising for the OSYs tuition fees; 2) establishing an organization that supports out-of-school youth in developing their skills in leadership and arts which aspires to exhibit theater plays and musicals that expose the main problems of the youth such as early pregnancy, addiction to vices among others; and 3) a venture that sells personalized t-shirts with OSY as employees handling management and designs. Seven out of the eight groups that presented in this seminar-workshop had ideas that circled around the youth on how they can become better individuals. These social enterprise ideas prove that our youth today give importance to their peers and give value to education as well. More importantly, it shows that many young Filipinos can become catalysts for change if they are only given proper training and opportunities.

The seminar-workshop is a venue to inculcate the value of social responsibility and responsible citizenship among the younger generation of Filipinos. It ultimately aims to hone the hearts and minds of young leaders as they serve as one of the important building blocks of our nation.

For more information about how you or your institution can join the iChange program, you can call (02) 4331440 or send an email to [email protected].