PrintPossibilities
What can young people bring to the table to solve society’s biggest problems? In a word: everything.
Worldwide, young people continue to prove they have the ingenuity to tackle the toughest issues of their generation—from hunger and HIV/AIDS to child trafficking, environmental destruction and civic apathy. While there’s no question they have the drive and ability to create stronger communities, they too often lack resources. IYF and our partners took steps in 2010 to ensure more young social entrepreneurs received what they needed to achieve the changes they wanted.
Approaching a Decade of Empowerment
This year marks the 10th anniversary of YouthActionNet®—a program designed to develop a new generation of socially conscious global citizens. The program started as a partnership between IYF and founding sponsor Nokia. To date, the global YouthActionNet® program has honored 180 young leaders from 59 countries.
Each year, 20 new fellows gather in Washington, DC, to participate in a weeklong retreat, during which they benefit from leadership development, skill-building, networking and advocacy opportunities. Meet the class of 2010, which was among the strongest yet.
Passing the Torch
Laureate Education, Inc. stepped forward in 2010 to carry the mantle and propel the YouthActionNet® program for social entrepreneurs into exciting new directions. Read more about this commitment, which includes launching nine new national institutes and providing enhanced support to four existing ones in Brazil, Mexico, Spain and Turkey.
Keeping up the Good Works
Starbucks™, through its Shared Planet™ Youth Action Grants Program, continued its commitment to boost the efforts of YouthActionNet® alumnae by supporting the next generation of socially-conscious citizens who create positive change in their communities. 
watch the video
Find out more about the 21 initiatives led by grantees, which include empowering teenage survivors of abuse in Sri Lanka, teaching urban gardening techniques to impoverished residents of Mexico City and raising awareness of pharmaceutical fraud in Ghana.
Michelle Obama Celebrates Youth Leaders
This year the First Lady of the United States visited programs led by YouthActionNet® fellows in India and Mexico. She praised their efforts and the potential of today’s youth to lead positive change. “You have an unprecedented ability to organize and to mobilize, to challenge old assumptions and to bridge old divides, to find new solutions to our toughest problems,” she said to a group of Mexican youth leaders.
Shaping the Message:
Porter Novelli Steps Up
Over six years, IYF’s relationship with the global public relations firm Porter Novelli has deepened and expanded. In 2010, PN provided its media outreach, training and marketing expertise to local YouthActionNet® programs in Australia, Mexico and Turkey.
At the global level, we are piloting a virtual mentoring program, through which PN staff share their insights in strategic communications with YouthActionNet® fellows around the world. The firm’s staff continues to earn rave reviews for their storytelling training and their annual video highlighting the social change projects of these talented social entrepreneurs.