What is the Young Changemaker Journey?

The Young Changemaker Journey aspires to motivate young people to explore their passion and bring positive change to the communities that they live in. Young Changemakers are budding social entrepreneurs that seek to understand problems, explore ideas, and implement tested solutions that positively impact their neighbors.

These changemaking sessions are provided by North South Foundation. The program is designed to support young changemakers to explore their passions to address social problems and become social entrepreneurs.

The program will provide the knowledge, tools, support, and guidance to venture on potential solutions to the problem that Changemakers are looking to solve. Participants will utilize what they learn by completing an individual project of their choice that showcases their Changemaking journey. Participants will also be encouraged to inspire their peers to become changemakers.

If you are interested in joining the information sessions for this program, please sign up for information here. The next Changemaker cohort will start in October 2022.

How is this program structured?

The cohort sessions for Year 1will be offered once a month starting in October 2022 and will continue until April 2023. The sessions will be conducted virtually using online collaboration tools. Each session is focused on advancing and practicing skills that are part of the Changemaker Journey. To help reinforce the monthly meetings, participants will be applying what they learn to an individual project to bring the taught concepts to life.

Between each of the monthly sessions, the Young Changemakers will have bi-weekly Reflection Groups which are small group discussions for participants to learn from one another, ask additional questions, and stay accountable to their individual project and Changemaker Challenges during the year.

After the 8 sessions are completed, participants can continue working on their journey of changemaking through the summer. With the provided pathway from the program, they will have the tools to continuously refine their changemaking skills!

How many students will be allowed to participate in the program?

First 50

What is the required time commitment?

Cohort sessions will be once a month and are 90 minutes. These sessions will take place from October 2022 to April 2023. Outside of the monthly cohort sessions, participants will attend hourly Reflection Group discussions that align with assigned Changemaker Challenges to keep them on track with completing their individual project by the end of the program.

It is difficult to predict hours required for individual projects as they may vary depending on project and individual. They can always take this at their own pace. It is up to each individual changemaker to decide how fast or slow they would like for their individual projects to proceed.

What is the required financial commitment?

At this time, there is a 150 dollar fee for enrolling in the Young Changemaker Journey program. You will be asked to provide payment while registering for the program.

However, planning and implementing one's individual project can require some funds which kids and parents are free to explore on their own. NSF can not provide any seed money in that regard.

What is the role of parents in this program?

Parents' can support their child during the planning and implementation of the individual project. We encourage Changemakers to explore as much as possible on their own when they can. We will be providing resources for parents on how they could support their kids’ journey through changemaking.

We are always looking for adult mentors to help with the program. Parents are welcome to join and participate in the program as adult volunteers.

What is the age requirement for this program?

There is no set age limit for changemaking. We recommend that 5th to 12th graders might be the age group that would enjoy this program the most.

Can anyone with an existing changemaking project join this program?

Yes. Anyone willing to be a changemaker can join this program. They can be at any stage of the changemaking journey and get personalized mentoring to implement or scale up their project.

What are the residency requirements for this program?

Most of the kids who have been with us have been kids residing in the US.

What skills does my child acquire by participating in the program?

In a world defined by change, this program provides skills needed to lead a change, not just adapt it. Monthly interactive learning sessions provide tools and resources that will help your child become a young changemaker.

During their journey, young individuals acquire a multitude of skills including leadership development, creativity, collaboration, organizational, communicational skills, and being involved in a journey of giving back to the community. Changemakers that have completed the first year of the program have shared that they have improved on their presentation skills, public speaking ability, resourcefulness, and learned how to be a mentor to others.

We believe that these new skills and experiences will be a differentiator in college applications and prepare them for a changing future.

Does the program provide volunteer hours?

The monthly learning sessions are not counted towards volunteer hours. But the program would provide opportunities to obtain volunteer hours through North South Foundation.

Following one cycle of this program, the young individual will have opportunities to mentor other young changemakers, which will add to volunteering hours/opportunities.

What type of initiatives do Changemakers participate in?

When available, Changemakers will be able to participate in various NorthSouth Foundation-sponsored volunteer opportunities. The previous cohort of students was involved in the Devices Initiative in 2020 and raised around $100,000 to provide computers to children in need. In 2021, students completed another fundraising initiative called Operation Breathe to raise funds to help people suffering with the second COVID wave in India.