Call for Concept Notes
2017 Global Center for Youth Employment Ideathon
June 15-16, 2017
@ 1776 in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard
One third of the world’s 1.8 billion young people are currently neither in education nor employment. Yet, only 30% of youth employment programs are successful –according to the World Bank(here and here). In the face of a global youth employment crisisthere is a dearth of effective solutions.
The Global Center for Youth Employment, in partnership with the Ford Foundation and 1776 will host a 2-day Ideathon to source, co-design, and invest in innovative collective impact solutions to youth employment. While breakthrough ideas are expected, we also value the ability to build on existing opportunities and proven strategies. $250,000 in funding and the collective power of the Center’s members is up for grabs.
Submit an expression of interest by April 25to be selected to pitch an idea. Submission instructions and selection criteria can be foundhere.
TheIdeathon: An ideathon is like a hackathon. Ours are 2-day events (this is our 3rd since 2015) with pitches on Day 1 being selected down to a handful of ideas for co-design over the next 1.5 days. A panel at the end of Day 2 will help investors (in this case the Ford Foundation and RTI International) decide which ideas merit further support. Selected ideas will gain seed funding and partnership from Center members to support, test, and evaluate ideas as they grow. Our Center is an open source, collective impact initiative; we seek the same.
This year's event will be held at 1776 in the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. 1776 is a global innovation network and incubator with four campuses around the world.
The Global Center for Youth Employment:Developed and backed by RTI International, The Global Center for Youth Employment is a virtual learning and action center that brings together a broad, diverse coalition of allies to identify and nurture innovative youth employment solutions. Our 40 members are diverse and committed to collective action. We have invested in other ideas in the past, with a current portfolio that includes: testing and expanding LinkedIn’s impact on marginalized, “disconnected” youth; advising on Microwork and Impact Sourcing expansion; developing new approaches to entrepreneurship experience credentialing; and providing youth a user-generated platform for sharing their employment related journeys with the world. In each case, funding from the Center (~$50,000) has been joined by inputs of talent and energy of several other organization. Ideas worthy of scale can consider partnership with Center members in over 100 countries, reaching 1 million youth a year.