Youth taught to turn challenges into opportunities
The mentorship and aftercare leg of the YID Programme is scheduled to run for five months
The Youth Ideas Development (YID) programme is a commercial and social entrepreneurship ideas development programme that aims to build a culture of creative and innovative thinking and to help the youth to turn challenges into opportunities. The programme last for 12 months and helps the youth to generate income through two streams.
The first stream entails an opportunity for apprenticeship programme. Successful young people will be linked to businesses to put into use their apprenticeship skills.
The second stream involves product or service development to be commercialised and in the end to enable participants to earn an income. Technoserve will fund the prototyping of a viable product with the potential to generate income.
Business adviser of the programme Thabang Lentsoana said through this programme, young people will develop an attitude of applying themselves diligently to meaningful business solutions, helping them to develop an entrepreneurship mindset that will encourage them to take responsibility for their own life and success.
“The YID programme will initially benefit 90 young people from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town,” said Lentsoana.
The programme uses a four-step approach to help the youth realise the power of their own ideas. The steps include the following:
Skills Development – The first step will aim to inspire the target tertiary youth in their last academic year by delivering specific practical skills to enhance creative and design thinking.
Identify Viable Ideas – The second step is to identify viable and commercial ideas through a pitching contest.
Business Development and Job Placements – The third step is about the development of ideas and link them to markets or potential employers in the TechnoServe database.
Mentorship and Aftercare – The forth is to provide mentorship and aftercare support to successful and qualifying candidates.
Among others, the programme will also focus on critical and creative thinking, idea mapping and brainstorming, design and innovative thinking and entrepreneurship thinking.
“The mentorship and aftercare leg of the YID Programme is scheduled to run for five months after the classroom training between May and September.
“The YID invites volunteers and small business mentors to be part of the programme to help shape the minds of tomorrow’s industry leaders,” said Lentsoana.
All interested persons keen to help are welcome to contact Thabang on 11 048 9900 or email him on TLentsoana@technoserve.org.
