“People have to understand that unless the social enterprise is experimental, it will not succeed in making a difference.” – Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder, Acumen
According to the World Economic Forum by 2030, there will be a huge demand for higher cognitive skills such as creativity, critical thinking, and decision making. In a world marked by uncertainty and volatility, today’s leader needs to be responsive and responsible.
TribesForGOOD, a unique organization (based out of Mumbai) that offers volunteering opportunities and summer programs for high school students in India on leadership & social entrepreneurship, captures this essence.
The summer program is suitable for young adults (aged 13 – 18) from all around the world, who will be the future leaders, entrepreneurs, consultants, and diplomats entering a globalized world and want to participate in social, economic, and environmental issues affecting India. The program also helps in sensitization and build essential problem-solving skills that will be valued later in college life.
TribesForGOOD has also launched a virtual (online) summer program for high school students (Grade 9 – 12) in association with Stoodnt.
It’s a month-long program introducing students to the concept of sustainability, social impact, leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship with a hands-on approach and learn-by-doing modules. The high-school students will work in teams closely with innovative enterprises and startups focused around global challenges, social justice, impact travel, education, women empowerment, animal welfare, climate change, poverty alleviation, and much more.
The students will be mentored for 12 months by a global team of experts (TEDx Speakers, Harvard, Stanford, IIM, ISB alumni) covering interlinked topics that will relate back to their interests, passions, and skills, providing them with once-in-a-lifetime experience and skills acquisition.
Now, Mandeep Kaur takes us through the details of TribesForGOOD – a unique experiential summer program on leadership & social entrepreneurship for high school students in India (Mumbai, Bangalore & Delhi).
Over to Mandeep…
TribesForGOOD: A Summer Program on Leadership & Social Entrepreneurship for High School Students
By Mandeep Kaur
We believe today’s students need to play an active role in their learning. With education moving away from classroom teaching, students are looking for application-based programs where they can apply their acquired knowledge. TribesforGOOD Summer Program is focused on 2 crucial areas of Social Entrepreneurship & Leadership.
Social entrepreneurship and developing visionary leaders are part of a fast-growing movement that applies business tools to find sustainable solutions to neglected problems at all levels of society – globally as well as in India.
In India alone, over two million social impact businesses are working to develop solutions to the country’s most pressing social and environmental issues, and reports suggest that more than 50 percent of these businesses are understaffed, leaving an opportunity for businesses to double their impact. – as quoted on YourStory’ interview with Mandeep.
“We firmly believe that Millenials and Gen Z have a deep-rooted desire to overcome socio-economic inequity and are determined to make the world a better place.”
“There is nothing more inspiring and motivating than the opportunity to work hands-on with organizations making waves in grassroots development. We train students, professionals, and retirees from across the globe (India, Australia, US & Europe) on innovations at the base of the pyramid in India. They want to give back but aren’t sure how!”
How does the TribesForGOOD Summer Program work?
The Summer Program consists of both practical and theoretical elements, allowing participants to gain a deeper understanding of relevant social, environmental and economic issues facing India and the international community and develop their leadership skills.
Each participant is put on a unique journey, tailored to their interests and skills, in which they are able to improve the immediate lives of people at the base of the pyramid, their immediate surroundings, and also be able to impact the lives of the many generations to come.
The Summer Program is spread across 7 days and has 3 crucial elements 1. Workshops 2. Field Visits and 3. Hackathon. The workshops are on topics like developing your leadership potential, vision, and strategy. After the summer program, they get 1-year free mentorship.
Summer Program Structure
A 7-day program introducing students to Social Entrepreneurship & Leadership with a year-long mentoring program. The program equips the students with the skills and experience you need to feel comfortable working within a complex environment and in partnership with inspiring social enterprises from varied backgrounds.
The flow:
- Induction: Health and safety briefing
- Action project and design challenge
- Research design and field research through a human-centered approach
- Workshops: Leadership, Digital marketing, Design thinking & Business model canvas
- Live project on one of the 17 United Nations Global Goals
- Field testing and feedback from professionals
- Final Presentation to an experienced panel and report submission
- Graduation
Themes Covered:
- Urban Poverty
- Women empowerment & livelihood
- Quality Education – Collaboration between Non-profits & Government schools
- Sustainable Fashion
- Menstrual Hygiene
Dates for 2020 Cohort: May 16 – 22 / June 2 – 8 / June 15 – 21
Field Visits and Research
Learning happens on a continuum. What is often missing in young people when trying to further their careers in the social sector is the first-hand experience and meeting communities to fully understand grassroots initiatives. This immersion is an introduction for students who want to learn about approaches to addressing complex social problems in ways that are sustainable, scalable and impactful. For students doing this virtually, the TFG team will arrange webinars.
Workplace Learning
For participants based in Mumbai, you will be trained at a buzzing and youth-driven co-working space in Mumbai and will be working from this space for the period of the program. It is based in bustling South Mumbai, where many Indian startups operate from. This will give you exposure to the Indian startup scene, which is thriving.
Workshops
You’ll have access to informative and hands-on workshops:
- Digital marketing
- Design thinking
- Business model canvas
These workshops will give you the foundation upon which you can build your design project.
Project
We encourage participants to use design thinking in their action projects/ live project. The action project can be done with one of the TribesForGOOD partners, for a community, or a project of your choice.
You can choose from digital literacy workshops to creating storyboards, collecting stories of change, editing videos to content writing, research projects or even a business pitch. The students will be guided by experienced professionals and mentors who would help break down the project into sizable parts.
Some of our past projects include:
- Digital literacy workshops: Building curriculum and conducting a workshop for teachers of sports non-profit
- Sustainable energy solutions such as solar energy for farmers to mitigate climate change
- Technology for good such as creating an app that highlights training and employment opportunities for people with physical disabilities, as well as a knowledge resource such as blogs with advice and tips.
- Podcast on Mental Health – Little Big Problems, a show focused on teen mental health.
- Financial literacy Training Modules for Low Income Women
- Storytelling for Change: Worked on storyboards, collected stories of change and created videos that were used for marketing and fundraising.
- Research Paper – Impact of air pollution on the Indian Economy by a student aiming to study economics.
Application Process
The program is open for students between the ages of 13-18.
We have a 2-step application process for the program. Our program is highly competitive as we get applications from all across the globe.
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Program Fee
The program fee is Rs 25,000 and 30% goes as donations to social enterprises that TFG supports!
Learning Outcomes of the Summer Program
Throughout the program, you will learn from people, communities, tours, friends, and other social enterprises.
Resulting in:
Personal development, 360-degree understanding of the sector, and learning new skills in advance of your career and propel you in the right direction.
- Adds another dimension to your portfolio valued by college/university applications
- Shows initiative, innovation, and entrepreneurial skills
- Gives you an edge for university applications
- Network with professionals in the field
- Develops your analytical skills through problem-solving
The Impact
There are over 1.8 billion young people in the world today who are tomorrow’s leaders, parents, professionals, workers. Through our work, we have been interacting with a diverse set of young people usually from the top schools across the globe. We have seen a shift in perceptions, attitudes and a desire to be part of the social impact space.
Our students have 1) Worked on email marketing, videos, business communication workshops for our partner social enterprise Aftertaste. The material has been used for fundraising and positively impact the bottom line of the organization.
2) Our pieces of training have been translated into a few regional languages.
3) With India going cashless, how does the low-income community cope up with? We have run basic financial literacy training like using ATM, BHIM UPI to increase financial inclusion and building on key components of trust, access, and comfort.
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Reviews & Feedback of the Summer Program from Previous Participants
Adelina
“When I turned 16 years old, I became determined to reconnect with my estranged Indian roots, and thus, decided I wanted to explore the Indian Social space in a sustainable and impactful way. And with 18 I was lucky enough to be granted the opportunity to begin to do so. And soon, there I was, alone in the huge, chaotic, metropolitan, social impact hub that is Mumbai, India.
Taking a gap year after completing the IB Diploma Programme last year in Berlin, was undeniably the first big, and by far the best decision I ever made independently. I was incredibly excited to embark on what would become a beautiful journey of self-discovery and learning. I knew I wanted to participate in unique experiences in which I could learn not only about the social space but also about whether the changes we, as aspiring Changemakers, strive for in the social sector are truly occurring.
I was also intrigued about how NGOs strive to make these changes and if I, as a young recently-graduated volunteer, really had any valuable skills that could contribute to creating sustainable change. It was those questions that led me to TribesforGood.
I, not only experienced unique personal growth and was able to interact with various different NGOs, communities, and beneficiaries but where I also got to learn more about positive social change and how to be apart of it and a driving force for it, the Development Goals and the various intricacies of the complex, yet fascinating Indian social space. My experience was one in which I was allowed to flourish, experiment with my interests and get to know myself better. I got to expand my skillset in various different categories, which will be useful not only for my university applications, but also later in my career, whilst constantly rising up to new challenges in the chaotic, yet a fascinating and beautiful city that is Mumbai, India.”
Vinay
Vinay has seen first hand how the girls at his prominent Mumbai school feel ashamed about menstruation by hiding their pads in a small black bag and hurrying to the washroom. He has recognized that if the well educated feel the need to hide their menstruation, then the issue must be much worse in low income and rural communities. The lack of menstrual hygiene can lead to serious diseases that can seriously impact a girl’s future.
He is on a mission not only to provide low-income adolescent girls with affordable and high-quality menstrual hygiene products but to also remove the stigma associated with it and encourage females to feel comfortable discussing it. He has used social media, WhatsApp and his network to raise funds and spread awareness for his cause. He has shown great courage and persistence to tackle an issue surrounded by such taboo.
Puja
“The work was challenging yet rewarding. It also forced me to re-evaluate the issue as we took a rigorous problem-solving approach from day one. The guidance and on the ground insights provided by TFG allowed me to reorient the way I understood the issue of women’s financial inclusion on a much deeper level than what I had previously anticipated, forcing me to confront my own biases and blind spots.
The professional training provided in executing the modules was also beyond what I had been exposed to as a high school student so far. Also, witnessing the content modules being used across various non-profits, in engaging sessions with women and girls and seeing the real-world impact of the work was a truly wonderful and empowering experience.”
Read Bianca’s experience with TribesForGOOD on The Altruistic Traveller.
Related Articles on Stoodnt:
How to Make the Most Out of the Summer Programs
Where Students and Parents Go Wrong While Choosing the Summer School Programs
Top Summer Schools in USA for Indian High School Students
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