What is “Youth Initiative”?
The Nestlé “Youth Initiative”, started in 2015, aims to help 10 million young people around the world access better opportunities by 2030. In Peru, it has benefited more than 400,000 young people by collaborating with public and private institutions such as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labor, SENAJU, IPAE, SENATI, PRONABEC, among others.
A prominent component of this initiative is the “Pacific Alliance Youth Meeting”, an event organized by Nestlé in collaboration with the governments of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru over the last 7 years.
VIII Meeting of Youth of the Pacific Alliance – Creators of Change
A few months ago, I applied in the Entrepreneurs category for my NGO "Preservando", to be able to participate and I received the news that I had been selected to be part of the Peruvian delegation. This news marked the beginning of a journey of 4 moments that I want to share with you.
Moment 1: Entrepreneurship and Employability Bootcamp
For 7 weeks, more than 240 young people from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica and Ecuador participated in creating solutions for the challenges of employment and entrepreneurship. In the training sessions, organized by Nestlé & Junior Achievement Peru, through practice we reinforce topics such as Design Thinking and Business Model Canvas. But how do we apply it in practice? Each group faced one of the 10 specific challenges, and in my case, together with my team we addressed the challenge of “Advice within reach to undertake.”
Our team was made up of talented and passionate people from different countries in Latin America. Together with Karohl, a Mexican artist, and Álvaro, a financial expert from Chile, we faced the challenge. Particularly, I loved the topic because, in addition to my work in Digital Transformation, I lead an NGO with my husband and I have experienced the problem of non-centralized or reliable information to start and accelerate our projects.
But on this path we were not alone, we had a mentor, Rosita, who first taught us the concepts and always guided us through any doubts that arose.
After weeks of hard work, we presented our proposal, “EmprendeLatam.com”. This platform seeks to empower entrepreneurs by providing them with the resources and knowledge necessary to succeed in today's competitive business world. We prepared a pitch with which we advanced to the semifinal and then we presented our business model to a jury made up of authorities and senior managers from Junior Achievement Perú, Nestlé and PMI Lima Chapter. And the best of all is that we were one of the four winning teams!
And now, what's next?
There are still more moments to continue promoting change, the closest being the 8th International Labor Fair. Pacific Alliance Youth Meeting, a virtual 100% fair, to be held on September 22, 23 and 24 of this year. This event will be the largest in the region and will have the presence of 100 companies from Peru, Chile, Mexico Colombia, which will be able to attract national and foreign talent. You can register at the following link: https://www.jovenesnestle.pe/form/register
I am excited for what the future holds and the opportunity to continue working together to drive positive change in our communities. I want to thank all the organizers for creating spaces where the potential of young people is supported and trusted.
Stay tuned for my next posts, because this adventure is not over yet.
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