“Wok – Salem – Dubre ute – Aquaba – Saubonna – Briviet – Guten Tag – Marhaba – Baravdes – Hola Kondichiwaa!” There were many languages in which the group of potential future leaders greeted each other yesterday, opening the Youth Global Forum 2018 in Paris. But they all share one big passion: bringing out the best of the nonprofit and for-profit systems and contributing to positive social and environmental development.
The Youth Time International Movement is a not-for-profit organization, developed in 2010 in Prague. It answers to the mission to create win-win strategies to address global challenges and reach sustainable development goals amplifies for both investors and innovators. Organizing the renowned annual Youth Global Forum, its ambitious staff committed to equipping young business people with the necessary tools to thrive in the realms of impact investment.
Mohammad Khan from Bahrain is currently one of the eight Youth Time International Movement Ambassadors. As such, he is appointed by Ms Julia Kinash, Founder & President of Youth Time International Movement and Editor-in-chief of Youth Time Magazine, for the term of one year to be an exclusive representative of the movement in his or her region. Addressing all of the forum’s participants, he presented the movement as an “inspiring platform of dialogue between cultures and generations, which inspires and engages young people from all over the world. It encourages their leadership skills and social responsibility, and deepens their knowledge and strong relationships”. He called for the empowerment of young leaders in order to promote constructive social change. Finally, Mohammed emphasized not only the high quality of content and speakers of the forum but also the great atmosphere: “It always feels like a friends meeting. (…) It’s really what you make of it. Try to create future collaboration and use this amazing platform, travelling for its international events”. Ambassador Naveen Chaudhary from India added: “The membership at the Youth Time International Movement is like a circle of life: you’re going through all phrases from starting as a participant and project presenter and will potentially end up as an ambassador for the movement”.
But the forum is not only a networking platform – it also is a rally, displaying the real impact, value and diverse background of each participant. Whilst the first conference day consists of keynotes, masterclasses and detailed workshops by renown experts and supporters, the second day will give participants the opportunity to present ambitious social entrepreneurship projects, which they developed in their home countries. Basing on a democratic vote, three prizes are awarded by the audience and jury:
- Youth Time Idea Grant: offering the resources to power the winning entrepreneurship project,
- a 2 years full scholarship with Youth Time International Movement and
- a 6-month research internship.
Jimmy Gani, Executive Director and CEO of IPMI International Business School, is generously sponsoring the event. Introducing his work, he quoted a former Indonesian president: “Give me ten youth and I will shatter the world”. Mr. Gani not only promoted his newly released book “Rise to the Challenge”, giving the gather potential young leaders advice on coping efficiently with social entrepreneurship challenges but also advised them to mingle: “you need people, who have the same passion, severance, belief”.
And this is exactly what the Global Youth Forum 2018 is promising to hold for its participants. We are highly excited to experience the jam-packed agenda!
Report by Berenike Vollmer.
Follow the link to get to know more: http://youthglobalforum.org .