Youth Social Innovation Lab (United Nations Development Programme)

The Youth Social Innovation Lab: Kabataan All In (YSIL: KAI) was a three-week Capacity-Building sessions (CBs) covering topics like Orientation on the SDGs (CB 1a), Orientation on Entrepreneurship (CB 1b), Enhancing the Business Model (CB 2), Investing for Impact and Impact Management (CB 3), and Introduction to Business Integrity (CB 4). The program also included a session on Guidelines for Pitching and three Mentorship Sessions.

Participants, who were mostly above 21 years old and are students, were asked to submit one-pagers after the CBs and Mentorship Sessions. The Top 10 teams proceeded to the Mock Pitch Day and Pitch Day. The Top 5 winners and their solutions were: PathFinder (1st) with Model City Council; tied for 2nd are Black to the Future with Back2Black, and Rise Rural Philippines with Araw Kalinga Box (AKB); coming in 3rd is Glocal Changemakers’ Veggie Crisps Delight; and coming in 4th is Bagong Tanglaw with Peer2Peer.

Participants highlighted the effectiveness of speakers, hosts, and mentors. Mentoring sessions were particularly emphasized by participants for providing firsthand tips and valuable insights. 

This project proves the youth’s appetite for being part of solutions for society’s problems — that they are hungry to be active contributors, and not passive bystanders.