Executive Summary
Having worked in Southeast Asia and sponsored more than 40 projects in 10 years, SEALNet has successfully planted the seeds of service leadership in countless young leaders, who soon will become prominent voices as well as passionate service leaders for their communities. Recognizing this driven energy in the youth of the region, SEALNet continues the work of collaborating like-minded peers for a better service network across Southeast Asian countries.
In 2013, SEALNet developed the inaugural Youth Leadership Summit (YLS) in Singapore and provided valuable experiences and platforms for 18 participants to learn about the regional collaboration. Among those participants, 8 of them became project leaders of SEALNet Service Leadership Projects in 2014. Now, SEALNet Youth Leadership Summit 2015 seeks to continue the success of YLS13 and bring the youths of Southeast Asia together for a 10-day-long Leadership Summit, in which they can share their works, widen their perspectives, and grow as potential leaders along with their friends.
The central theme of the YLS15 is Empowerment and Friendship. We realized that in order to create a strong network of young leaders in the future, they need to develop genuine bond first. The stronger the friendship is, the stabler the network becomes. In order to foster friendship, we will create a safe space where participants will continue to explore and understand themselves first, and then share and learn from one another. It is the process of being empowered and empowering, being inspired and inspiring. We believe that Empowerment and Friendshipis the powerful foundation for a strong network of future leaders who will collaborate and foster social changes.
The Summit 2015 will be a ten-day story that reinforces the central theme. The ten days will not only revolve around the three main goals: Self-development, Vision of Southeast Asia, and Project Management Skills; participants and organizers will connect these three pillars to create a story of the Summit and our journey as SEALNutters together.
Approach
The first goal is to provide an environment for personal growth among participants. This will be achieved through meaningful exchange of ideas that aim to push participants to reflect deeply about themselves, together with fellow peers. We will emphasize the growth through genuine connection with others of diverse backgrounds, and the newly developed understanding of identities, values, and directions that will follow.
The second goal is to inspire the youth to envision their own Southeast Asia. The summit will serve as a platform for participants, organizers and guest speakers to share ideas and perspectives on current events and historical contexts in the region. This sharing platform will inspire the participants to be more engaged in regional challenges and more importantly, take initiative to address through collaborative service leadership.
The third goal of the Summit is to equip the participants with project management skills. Participants will have hands-on experiences with stimulation of a service project and develop their leadership skills working as a team. We will prepare them with workshops and interactive discussions about project management skills. Participants will benefit most from both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience on the ground. They will also have a chance to take ownership of potential projects in 2016 supported by YLS15 organizing team.
Logistics
Who: Students from 17-22 years old who strongly believe in SEALNet mission. We also highly encourage past SEALNet’s project participants to apply to reconnect with our network. (We will also consider those who are not age-wise eligible on an exceptional basis).
When: June 14- June 24, 2015. Participants are expected to attend for the full duration of these days, so please make sure to know in advance the dates before you decide to apply.
Where: Hanoi, Vietnam.
Fee: The summit’s on-site expenses are free, and will be covered by SEALNet. However, participants must cover their own travel expenses to and back from Hanoi, Vietnam and any additional expenses of their own during the time of the summit. In addition, each participant is suggested to be responsible for fundraising $200 USD prior to coming to the summit. Please note that this fundraising contribution is NOT a mandatory fee to attend the summit. Also, financial aid for flight tickets to attend Summit is available on a case-by-case basis. In case of any extenuating financial circumstance, please do not hesitate to contact us at yls15[at]sealnetonline.org for more information.
Application opens on February 28 and closes at 11:59 pm EST, March 21. Please note that the Youth Leadership Summit application is separate from the two-week long Service Leadership Projects of SEALNet.
Email: [email protected]
Application can be found here: http://www.sealnetonline.org/apply/summit-application/