Ashoka
Young Changemakers Reimagine the SDGs
Creating peer-based changemaking for young people to find their power early!
Young people evaluate and redefine the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure the use of a systems-based approach to solving problems.
The focus of our work is to empower young people to advance their vision of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In September 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a plan of action to end all forms of poverty, fight inequality, and tackle climate change while ensuring that no one is left behind. The 2030 Agenda includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets, to be achieved by the year 2030. In its opening paragraphs, the Action Agenda acknowledges the importance of investing in youth for the realization of sustainable development as the “torchbearers” of the 2030 Agenda.
Tilt uses a peer-to-peer-based approach to provide young changemakers an experiential opportunity to better define and move the needle on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In May, Ashoka and its partners launched a pilot youth-led Tilt Camp for young changemakers to advance the SDGs by reimagining, requalifying and recertifying the vision for progress. During the program, young changemakers developed plans for advancing the SDG goals, and worked with diverse partners, including Ashoka fellows and private companies, to implement them.
Youth had the opportunity to work with multiple partners, including the SDGuild, where youth could help to create, develop and implement a scoring mechanism to measure impact on achieving the SDGs as related to people, projects, products, and companies.
Tilt's three-month program was designed using human-centered design (HCD) – an approach to problem solving, commonly used in design and management frameworks that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process.T he changemaker experience is something that anyone from anywhere can take part in through any form they are passionate about. Changemaking in itself is immunotherapy for life and can inspire each and everyone of us to be conscious and critical about the inequalities our society faces today. Young people are leaders in the this movement Everyone a Changemaker (EACH) movement.
Stage 1: Tilt Seminar
In teams, youth will have the opportunity to turn problem and solution statements into prototypes of actual initiatives through the lens of human - centered design. The Tilt Seminar consists of collaborative workshops and introductions to project building and management.
Stage 2: Tilt Accelerator
Teams of youth can refine their project management skills by developing their projects further. During the Tilt Accelerator, participants will have the chance to communicate with business and organization leaders, collaborate more with their peers and put their "pitches" to practice in our Live Pitch Event!
Stage 3: Work with SDGuild
Some changemakers will have the opportunity to work with the SDGuild as a youth steward. SDGuild was created to develop and implement a global “Do-No-Harm” Certification that will measure attainment of the SDGs.
What does the schedule look like?
Tilt Seminar
This first session is open to all applicants. Virtually, participants heard from speakers about what it's like to be a changemaker, the sustainable development goals as a whole, and what makes a project or initiative impactful. Participants were then divided up into teams based on which SDG they were interested in as they prepared to prototype and brainstorm their own projects in social impact. Teams produced a rough concept paper for their idea for a social innovation in alignment with the SDGs. The Tilt Seminar was meant to support youth in figuring out the "What" of their projects.
Tilt Accelerator
Participants who completed the Tilt Seminar had the option to move forward with the Tilt Accelerator program. With the help of partners and allies of Tilt, Teams had the chance to develop their projects even further and were exposed to project management in order to establish and sustain their work. The Tilt Accelerator included workshop sessions on topics like pitching, strategic storytelling, and finance management. Throughout the Tilt Accelerator, Office Hours were hosted where participants asked for extensive feedback on their projects and engaged with other young changemakers to refine their projects. All teams that participated in the Tilt Accelerator had the chance to pitch their projects in a Live Pitch Event to acquire additional seed funding.
Tilt Accelerator - Live Pitch Event
To conclude the Tilt Accelerator, teams presented their pitch deck to a panel of judges and corporate partners to compete for additional seed funding. Teams were also able to get feedback on their projects from leaders in business as they worked to establish their projects.
Next Steps Beyond Tilt Program
We continue to check in with and support the teams as they build their projects, leveraging the Ashoka network, Tilt Allies and other professional connections to help them along the way. Some participants had the option to work with SDGuild and their inspirational team of Nobel laureates, activists, and global leaders. Youth also had the chance to join Tilt Consultancy, a startup changemaker consulting group dedicated to refocusing business models in the direction of changemaking.
Become an Ally of Tilt
We are building a network dedicated to magnifying the impact of young changemakers. As part of this cooperative network, you may be called upon by Tilt participants to share your expertise, give feedback on a concept note, or connect them with professionals in your field of work. If you are interested in becoming a partner, please email [email protected].