Younga 's
Thematic Tracks
Based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Younga 's thematic tracks cover the top five global challenges most important to young people today.
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Climate Action and Sustainable Living
Sample Sessions
Regeneration: Be Probiotic for the Earth
Hosted by Kiss the Ground with Taryn Hipwell, author, educator, host, Ryland Engelhart Co-Founder & Executive Director, Karen Rodriguez VP of Program Operations andFinian Makepeace, Co-founder, Policy Director & Lead Educator.
This session took the form of an interactive regeneration fireside chat hosted by Taryn Hipwell introducing Kiss the Ground team members Ryland Engelhart, Karen Rodriguez and Finian Makepeace.
The speakers discussed key takeaways from Kiss the Ground, the film, as well as Kiss the Ground the movement, including yet not limited to: reducing toxic pesticides and fertilizers; reducing flooding, drought, and fire hazards; and reversing Global Warming by the drawdown of 200 million tons of CO2, all while increasing and reviving farmer prosperity.
The Future of Ocean Innovation
Hosted by Ocean Uprise,
Parley's founder and CEO, Cyrill Gutsch, shared his unique approach to tackle major ocean threats by using the power of creativity and collaboration to inspire and engage individuals and companies around the world. Cyrill believes that every problem is an opportunity to create new and exciting solutions, and discussed that the possibilities are endless, showcasing incredible innovations like biomaterials made from mushrooms and spider silk sneakers. Looking to the future, Bodhi, Parley Youth Team Leader and Co-creator at Ocean Uprise also shared his vision of a generation of youth collaborating to protect ocean and human health for all, weaving his personal anecdotes into a powerful and inspiring story.
Equality and Inclusion
Sample Sessions
Smashing the Patriarchy: The Role of Boys and Men
Hosted by Next Gen Men, with Jonathan Reed, Youth Program Manager, Next Gen Men, current masters of education student.
Boys and men had an important role in dismantling patriarchy and rape culture. This session was designed to explore the concepts of patriarchy and rape culture to:
1. Increase understanding of these terms
2. Understand that this is not a “gender war,” but rather that males both benefit from and suffer under patriarchy, AND have a stake in dismantling it
3. Brainstorm how men can dismantle patriarchy and rape culture
1. Increase understanding of these terms
2. Understand that this is not a “gender war,” but rather that males both benefit from and suffer under patriarchy, AND have a stake in dismantling it
3. Brainstorm how men can dismantle patriarchy and rape culture
Inclusive Environments: A Win-Win for All
Hosted by We Are All Human, with James Fripp, Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer, Yum! Brands, Jesus Mantas, Senior Managing Partner, IBM, Mauricio Gutierrez, President & CEO, NRG, Monica Gil, Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and Claudia Romo Edelman, Founder, We Are All Human.
It is imperative for corporations to create work environments where employees feel comfortable, confident and at their best, from mental wellness to support systems and professional development, regardless of their backgrounds or identities. The shockwaves of social justice in the last year have pushed many institutions to take steps towards increasing DE&I efforts.
This session gathered experienced leaders to share best practices for generating positive and supportive environments for your workforce.
Some of the questions addressed were: What have these leaders experienced throughout their journey that has guided how they are leading their organizations? What has worked and what hasn’t? How does this also translate to global action outside of the business environment?
Future of Education and Work
Sample Sessions
Impact Investing: A Cross-cutting Look
Hosted by NEXUS with Marcus Whitney, Founder and Managing Partner of Jumpstart Nova,
Sid Efromovich, Co-Founder and Pledger of Generation Pledge, Erika Binger, Coach, Founder and Executive Director of V3 Sport and Oliver Libby, Co-founding Managing Partner H/L Ventures and of CityRock Venture Partners as well as chairing the Board of The Resolution Project, Inc.
This session gave a cross-cutting look at impact investing initiatives in healthcare, mental health and protecting the health of our environment.
This Innovation Mastermind explored a wide variety of topics including youth leadership, entrepreneurship, opportunity gaps for underserved and underrepresented groups, equity in sports as well as ways we can work together to build a better future for everyone.
Organizing Your Ideas and Inspiration into an Action Plan
Hosted by Action Accelerator with Patrick Boscher, Strategic Advisor and Startup Angel. Using the Lean Business Model Canvas, participants worked in breakout sessions through the different steps—Problem, Customer Segments, Solution, Cost Structure, Revenue Streams, Key Metrics, Channels, Unique Value Proposition, Unfair Advantage, SMART Next Steps—and got to learn and apply the methodologies and tools.
As they went through them sequentially during the Innovation Mastermind, participants received instructions on how to efficiently and effectively collaborate and use the templates/tools to achieve the best results. Then participants split into smaller teams to conduct exercises, regroup and debrief, and got feedback from the coaches and other participants.
Participants gained an understanding of each step, how they build on each other and see the big picture to help them be successful in their journey.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Sample Sessions
Let's Talk: Mental Health, Kindness and Activism
Hosted by Born This Way Foundation,
Born This Way Foundation's Advisory Board members and representatives held an intimate conversation focused on youth mental health followed by a live Q&A with participants.
During the Innovation Mastermind, participants learned from Born This Way Foundation's panelists how they used their platforms and tools to connect their peers with the resources they need, uplifted voices, and how they faced the current global challenges with kindness, love and bravery.
Self-Care Solutions for Youth: A Hackathon
Hosted by WHO Academy, with Dr. Israa Siddig, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Subject-matter expert, WHO Academy and Dr. Ave Põld, Product Owner, WHO Academy.
This session explored the meaning of self-care from the perspective of a young person, encouraged the development of ideas, concepts and solutions for self-care, as well as stimulated innovative thinking and problem solving for self-care solutions for young people. During this interactive session attendees were asked to collectively ‘hack’ for finding the best solutions for self-care targeting youth. Together with the attendees of this session, the facilitators looked at what self-care means to youth, as well as what some challenges and solutions to support and increase the uptake and implementation of self-care interventions in their local settings were.
Peace and Justice
Sample Sessions
Transform Conflict to Nonflict
Hosted by Million Peacemakers, with Stephen Hecht, Co-founder and Chief Executive Peacemaker of Million Peacemakers, Marisa Samek, Creative (designer, writer, musician) trained in UX research and Yuval Shilon, Student at McGill University, Faculty of Management, and intern at Million Peacemakers.
One of the most important skills we need for success in teams and organizations is the ability to deal with conflict. Conflict is when “two or more different perspectives come into contact with each other.” By definition, it is neither positive nor negative.
How we deal with it is either constructive or destructive and we do need different perspectives for innovation and growth.
Recognized with the best leadership development award globally by YPO, Nonflict is a simple yet powerful 3 step process that can be used to resolve business or personal conflicts constructively. Nonflict has been taught to over 235,000 people, including 3,500 CEO’s, impacting over 9 million people from boardrooms and living rooms, from Amazon’s Alexa to the Vatican, over the past 6 years.
Advocating with Impact
Hosted by The ONE Campaign's team of Global Activists and volunteer lead trainers shared The ONE Campaign’s theory of change and take participants on a journey—exploring some of the most pressing issues in the world and sharing skills, tips and strategies so that participants will leave with the confidence to advocate with impact.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the ongoing and unacceptable inequalities that are present in the world, with the unfair and unjust distribution of vaccines leaving the lives and livelihoods of billions at risk. It’s time for change.
Using smart policy, by working in partnership, being politically savvy with an eye on popular culture, and bringing the public on with us for the journey, The ONE Campaign believes that we have the knowledge and skills to end this injustice and the pandemic—no one is safe until everyone is safe.
The participants of this session joined the movement to fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease—and were provided with the knowledge, resources and support to start their journey right away.