The Youth Action Challenge (YAC) is a key thrust of the SG Youth Action Plan (SG YAP), empowering youths to champion ground-up initiatives in partnership with government, businesses and community organisations. The programme provides opportunities for youths to turn their ideas into reality through a series of curated workshop, mentorship and guidance from experienced industry professionals.

ORGANISED BY

mccy

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

youthcolab

IN SUPPORT OF

OFFICIAL INCUBATION PARTNER

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Grants Awarded to YAC S4 Teams

grant awards

The results are out!

Teams have pitched their ideas to judges and fellow youths for grants to actualise their projects, through the Final Open Mic sessions and Participatory Budgeting exercise respectively.

View the full list of grants awarded to YAC S4 teams below.

Participatory Budgeting

Participatory
Budgeting

Join the Participatory Budgeting exercise to allocate funds to teams you think will make the greatest impact in the community.

Your votes help to decide a proportion of the actual grants that teams will receive to help bring their ideas to life!

The exercise has ended. View the participatory budgeting platform here

Themes

The fourth season of YAC will focus on the following four themes and sub-themes,
with a focus on the challenge statements identified below:

Mental Well-Being

Peer Support

Challenge Statements

  • How can we equip youths with better peer support skills (e.g. how to provide socio-emotional support, understanding when to suggest seeing a professional) and opportunities to practice these skills so that they are better prepared to support others?

Awareness and Engagement

Challenge Statements

  • How can we encourage discussions on mental well-being topics (e.g., by facilitating difficult conversations with peers, family members, colleagues, or members of the public) to reassure and engage youth in overcoming their concerns to help seeking, promote and normalise mental well-being and help-seeking?
  • How can we guide our youth to better access the relevant resources when reaching out (e.g., improve the accessibility, knowing what are the avenues of support, how to and find what they need)?

Environment & Sustainability

Sustainable Lifestyle

Challenge Statements

  • How can we encourage the public to adopt green lifestyles to minimise waste, including food?

Rising Sea Levels / Coastal Protection

Challenge Statements

  • With climate change and sea level rise affecting coastal cities like Singapore, how can we encourage our youths to care about it and its impact on Singapore to our livelihood, mortality, commute, nature, and so much more? How can we spread understanding/ awareness about what’s unique about our coastlines and the opportunity to re-imagine them as we protect our coasts?
  • How might we raise youths’ awareness of what Singapore is doing to protect our coastlines and develop activities for youths to involve and contribute to protecting Singapore’s coasts?

Inclusivity

Race & Religion

Challenge Statements

  • How do we build meaningful relationships across races and religions in the workplace?
  • How can we foster greater respect and understanding for diversity in online platforms?

Local-Foreigner Integration

Challenge Statements

  • How might we develop experiences or activities that help newcomers adapt to our local culture and connect with the local community?
  • How might we encourage Singaporeans to be more understanding and welcoming to foreigners in our society?

Support for Vulnerable Groups

Challenge Statements

  • The challenges faced by vulnerable families and individuals (e.g. low-income families) have been exacerbated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government and community has since rolled out various initiatives to support these groups. How can youths continue to raise awareness about these groups and support them?
  • Throughout the past 2 years of the pandemic, we have witnessed spontaneous acts of giving and caring in the community. How can we further mobilise the community to look out for one another and build strong networks of support for vulnerable groups?

Mental Well-Being

Peer Support

Challenge Statements

  • How can we equip youths with better peer support skills (e.g. how to provide socio-emotional support, understanding when to suggest seeing a professional) and opportunities to practice these skills so that they are better prepared to support others?

Awareness and Engagement

Challenge Statements

  • How can we encourage discussions on mental well-being topics (e.g., by facilitating difficult conversations with peers, family members, colleagues, or members of the public) to reassure and engage youth in overcoming their concerns to help seeking, promote and normalise mental well-being and help-seeking?
  • How can we guide our youth to better access the relevant resources when reaching out (e.g., improve the accessibility, knowing what are the avenues of support, how to and find what they need)?

Environment & Sustainability

Sustainable Lifestyle

Challenge Statements

  • How can we encourage the public to adopt green lifestyles to minimise waste, including food?

Rising Sea Levels / Coastal Protection

Challenge Statements

  • With climate change and sea level rise affecting coastal cities like Singapore, how can we encourage our youths to care about it and its impact on Singapore to our livelihood, mortality, commute, nature, and so much more? How can we spread understanding/ awareness about what’s unique about our coastlines and the opportunity to re-imagine them as we protect our coasts?
  • How might we raise youths’ awareness of what Singapore is doing to protect our coastlines and develop activities for youths to involve and contribute to protecting Singapore’s coasts?

Inclusivity

Race & Religion

Challenge Statements

  • How can we build meaningful relationships across race and religion in the workplace?
  • How can we foster greater respect and understanding for diversity in online platforms?

Local-Foreigner Integration

Challenge Statements

  • How might we develop experiences or activities that help newcomers adapt to our local culture and connect with the local community?
  • How might we encourage Singaporeans to be more understanding and welcoming to foreigners to our society?

Support for Vulnerable Groups

Challenge Statements

  • The challenges faced by vulnerable families and individuals (e.g. low-income families) have been exacerbated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government and community has since rolled out various initiatives to support these groups. How can youths continue to raise awareness about these groups and support them?
  • Throughout the past 2 years of the pandemic, we have witnessed spontaneous acts of giving and caring in the community. How can we further mobilise the community to look out for one another and build strong networks of support for vulnerable groups?

The YAC Season 4 Journey
Oct 2022 to Jan 2023

1

Context Setting

Understand the issue, policy context and gaps

8 Oct | 10am – 1pm

  • Mental Well-being
  • Environment & Sustainability

8 Oct | 3pm – 6pm

  • Support for Vulnerable Groups
  • Inclusivity

2

Team Formation (Part 1)*

Get to know other participants and form teams (Part 1)

15 Oct | 10am – 1pm

  • Mental Well-being
  • Environment & Sustainability

15 Oct | 3pm – 6pm

  • Support for Vulnerable Groups
  • Inclusivity

*Only for participants without a team.

3

Team Formation (Part 2)*

Get to know other participants and form teams (Part 2)

22 Oct | 10am – 12pm

*Only for participants without a team.

4

Theory of Change

Develop a foundational understanding of Theory of Change and developing a model for your project

29 Oct | 9.30am - 12pm (Beginner level)

30 Oct | 9.30am - 12pm (Intermediate level)

5

Social Enterprise Models

Understanding the model of a social enterprise

2 Nov | 7.30pm – 9.30pm (Beginner level)

3 Nov | 7.30pm – 9.30pm (Intermediate level)

6

Impact Measurement

Setting impact goals, identifying metrics to measure and measurement techniques

5 Nov | 9.30am – 12pm

Intro to Sustainable Development Goals

A deep dive into the 17 SDGs, targets and indicators

5 Nov | 12pm - 1.15pm

7

Human-Centred Design for the Social Impact Sector

A 3-step framework for developing social venture ideas

9 Nov | 7.30pm – 9.30pm

8

Effective Budgeting

Understanding the building blocks of budgeting and familiarising with budgeting tool

12 Nov | 9.30am - 12.00pm (Beginner level)

13 Nov | 9.30am - 12.00pm (Intermediate level)

9

Group Consultations (Round 1)

To foster collective learning and problem-solving between different groups

14 Nov | 7.30pm – 9.30pm: Marketing

15 Nov | 7.30pm – 9.30pm:
Business Development

16 Nov | 7.30pm – 9.30pm: Tech

17 Nov | 7.30pm – 9.30pm: Financials

10

Consult Clinic

Get feedback from industry professionals

26 Nov | 10am – 1pm

11

Group Consultations (Round 2)

To foster collective learning and problem-solving between different groups

5 Dec | 7.30pm - 9.30pm: Marketing

6 Dec | 7.30pm - 9.30pm:
Business Development

7 Dec | 7.30pm - 9.30pm: Tech

8 Dec | 7.30pm - 9.30pm: Financials

12

Mid-point Sharing

Panel dialogue and mid-point progress check-in for all teams

10 Dec | 10am – 12.30pm:

  • Mental Well-being
  • Environment & Sustainability

10 Dec | 2.30pm – 5pm:

  • Support for Vulnerable Groups
  • Inclusivity

*Teams will be assigned to one of the time slots

13

Storypitching Masterclass

Learn how to craft a compelling pitch

17 Dec | 9.30am - 1pm

14

1-1 Pitch Coaching Sessions

18 Dec - 27 Jan

15

Final Open Mic

Pitch your ideas for funding

28 Jan | 9:30am – 5:30pm

  • Mental Well-being
  • Environment & Sustainability

29 Jan | 9:30am – 5:30pm

  • Support for Vulnerable Groups
  • Inclusivity

16

Participatory Budgeting Exercise

Teams that are awarded a grant at the Final Open Mic and require additional funding will have the option to take part in a Participatory Budgeting exercise to receive additional funding.

30 Jan – 28 Feb

Things To Note

  • Programme and dates are subject to change and will be updated closer to the programme start date.

  • Modality of activities and engagements are subject to change depending on the COVID-19 situation. Participants will be notified in advance about the changes.

Find out more

Our past Youth Action Season 3 here

FAQs

Sign ups

Teams

The Youth Action Challenge (YAC) is open to Singaporean and Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) youth aged 15 to 35 years old. Foreigners are welcome to join, but participating teams should comprise a majority of Singaporean or Singapore PR youth.

The YAC is designed for informal ground-up groups and young non-profit/social enterprises (less than two years from incorporation as a registered entity). Mature organisations that have been established for more than two years may instead contact the National Youth Council (NYC) at Partnership_Enquiries@nyc.gov.sg for partnership opportunities and support outside of the YAC.

You can look forward to a 4-month incubator programme and up to $50,000 in grants to support your ideas. The 4-month programme includes interactive context setting session by agency representatives on the existing landscape, consult clinics with industry professionals from the people, public and private (3P) sectors, mentorship to further strengthen your project, pitch workshop to learn how to deliver an effective pitch through creative storytelling, and many more. More details can be found on the user journey map above.

You are required to attend all the mandatory sessions listed below:

  • 1Context Setting
    • 8 October 2022, 10am to 1pm – Mental Well-being and Environment & Sustainability
    • 8 October 2022, 3pm to 6pm – Support for Vulnerable Groups and Inclusivity
  • Theory of Change
    • Beginner Level: 29 October 2022, 9.30am to 2pm; or
    • Intermediate Level: 30 October 2022, 9.30am to 12pm
  • Impact Measurement
    • 5 November 2022, 9.30am to 12pm
  • Effective Budgeting
    • Beginner Level: 12 November 2022, 9.30am to 12pm; or
    • Intermediate Level: 13 November 2022, 9.30am to 12pm
  • Consult Clinics
    • 26 November 2022, 10am to 1pm
  • Mid-point Sharing
    • 10 December 2022, 10am to 12.30pm – Mental Well-being and Environment & Sustainability
    • 10 December 2022, 2.30pm to 5pm – Support for Vulnerable Groups and Inclusivity
  • Pitch Workshop
    • 17 December 2022, 9.30am to 1pm
  • Final Open Mic
    • 28 January 2023, 9.30am to 5.30pm - Mental Well-being and Environment & Sustainability; or
    • 29 January 2023, 9.30pm to 5.30pm - Support for Vulnerable Groups and Inclusivity

A $150 Grab voucher will be given to all participants who attend at least 6 of the 8 sessions above, to reimburse the costs incurred because of your participation in the programme (e.g. transport and meals for team meetings, research costs). At least 50% of all teams are to be represented even at the non-mandatory sessions.

As the YAC is intended to support youth to take action and realise their ideas, we expect all participating teams to not only commit to attending the sessions, but also implementing the projects subsequently after the final pitch in January 2023.

1You are required to attend the Context Setting session in order to be part of the YAC.

Each team should have a minimum of 3 members. If you are unsuccessful in forming a team after the team formation sessions, you are encouraged to join other teams or invite your friends to join you by getting them to register for the YAC by 25 October 2022. Please note that they will need to be able to attend the mandatory sessions and commit to implementing the project. Please inform NYC if you have friends joining your team after the team formation sessions. The list of team members must be finalised by 25 October 2022.

Each team should comprise 3 to 5 members.

No, you do not need to form a team before registering. We will be facilitating team formations with other participants on 15 October 2022 and 22 October 2022.

Definitely! Please get everyone in your team to register individually so that we have everyone’s details. If you already have a team, there is no need for you to attend the team formation sessions on 15 October 2022 and 22 October 2022. However, if your team is still recruiting members, you are encouraged to join the team formation sessions, during which there will be time for everyone to get to know one another and form teams.

Any change to the team members should be done before 25 October 2022.

Themes

There is no need to sign up for more than one track as the sessions for all tracks will be the same, except for the first session on context setting, during which we will have speakers to do an in-depth sharing on each theme. The context setting sessions will be recorded and uploaded online, so you will be able to listen in on the other themes’ sessions as well.

Yes, you may, though it is not encouraged. You may instead consider scoping your project to also address another theme’s challenge statement, if relevant.

Execution

The grant covers all project-related expenses incurred after the pitch on 28/29 January 2023, except the following:

  • Gifts (including goodie bags for project beneficiaries), prizes & tokens of appreciation
  • Awards (e.g. trophies, medals, etc.)
  • Fixed assets and overhead expenses (e.g. printer, office space, furniture)
  • Payment to team members
  • Sponsorship or grants given to a third party (e.g. to sponsor a group of beneficiaries to attend a course)
  • Organisational-strengthening initiatives

Teams will be required to submit a budget with their projected expenses. NYC will advise accordingly on which teams can be supported. The grant covers the supported project expenses in full, capped at the approved grant amount.

All teams will have to implement their projects and utilise the grant by June 2024. Projects that show potential for impact and scale may be considered for subsequent funding under the National Youth Fund (NYF). You are therefore encouraged to plan for sustainability in the long term, but scope your project and budget based on a one-year timeframe.

Evaluation

The ideas will be assessed based on the extent to which the team has validated the identified problem and idea (30%), feasibility (30%) and potential impact of the idea (25%), as well as how innovative the solution is (15%).Teams that are gunning to be selected as one of the two Youth Co:Lab Champions (refer to "How is NYC collaborating with the Youth Co:Lab?" for more info) will additionally be assessed on their financial viability and sustainability plan. This has no bearing on the YAC grant amount, but will be considered in the selection of the two Youth Co:Lab champions, who will each receive additional funding from CVC Capital as part of the Youth Co:Lab programme.

They come from the people, public and private (3P) sectors and bring with them varied expertise ranging from business development, marketing, IT, policy and on-the-ground community experience, among others. These professionals are carefully selected based on their professional and volunteer/community experience and are mainly in mid to senior level management positions. Past consultants and mentors who have participated in previous seasons of the YAC include Richard Koh (Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft Singapore) and Alin Dobrea (Head of Marketing Strategy, Marketing Solutions and Partnerships, Zalora).

All teams will pitch their ideas at the Final Open Mic on 28/29 January 2023 to a panel of judges, who will decide the grant amount awarded to each team. Teams stand to receive between $5,000 to $50,000 grants at the Final Open Mic, depending on the merits of the project. There is no limit to the number of teams that can be awarded at each grant tier.

Awards Descriptor Grant
Commendation Award
  • Show some potential benefit to target group but require further understanding of the issue
  • Refinement on value proposition and feasibility needed
$5,000
Promising Award
  • Projects are sufficiently developed
  • Show adequate understanding of the issue and target group
  • Ideas are fairly innovative and can be implemented with further planning
  • Impact is limited but have potential to scale with some adjustment
$20,000
Outstanding Award
  • Projects are well developed
  • Show deep understanding of the issue and target group
  • Ideas are both highly innovative and feasible
  • Strong value and potential impact to the target group
$50,000
2Youth Co:Lab Championship
  • Projects focused on becoming a sustainable Social Enterprise or is already an established early-stage social enterprise
  • Show deep understanding of the social issue targeted
  • Teams has strong interest in scaling and expanding their solution across Asia Pacific
(TBC)

Teams that are awarded a grant at the Final Open Mic will also have the option to take part in a Participatory Budgeting exercise and stand a chance to receive additional funding by a youth panel and the general youth population. The total combined funding received from the Final Open Mic and Participatory Budgeting exercise will be no more than $70,000.

The grant will be disbursed on a reimbursement basis upon project completion. For projects awarded with grants of more than $10,000, the grant will be disbursed in two or more tranches, based on the completion of agreed milestones. A partial upfront disbursement will be given to projects awarded with more than $10,000 grants.

2Two teams will be selected as Youth Co:Lab Champions and will be awarded an additional grant from CVC Caital Partners, in addition to the original grant allocated by the panel of judges at the Final Open Mic.

Participatory Budgeting Exercise

The Participatory Budgeting (PB) exercise is open to Singapore and Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) youth aged 15 to 35 years old. Foreigners are welcome to join, but will not be eligible for the giveaway.

This PB exercise is designed to provide a platform for youth to have a say in how funds are allocated to projects in the community. Through this, budgets can be spent in a more effective manner which better reflects the strengths, needs and aspirations of our community.

The PB exercise is conducted through this site: https://voting.youthactionplan.sg/. In the exercise, participants will be given a virtual budget of $30,000 that they can allocate to projects which they think will make the greatest impact in the community.

A guided, physical session will be held on 11 February 2023 and the self-directed online exercise will run between 11 to 25 February 2023.

Results from this PB exercise will determine the additional grants that teams will receive, on top of what they have been awarded during the YAC Final Open Mic session. The exercise will allow teams to top up their maximum grant quantum up to $70,000, which will be disbursed through a milestone or reimbursement basis after project completion.

The additional grants will be decided through a 70:30 aggregated ratio of votes from the physical PB session held on 11 February 2023 and online exercise held between 11 to 25 February 2023.

Others

Youth Co:Lab (www.youthcolab.org/about) positions young people front and center in order to solve the region’s most pressing challenges. Co-created in 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to empower and invest in youth, so that they can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship. Youth Co:Lab has been implemented in 28 countries and territories across Asia Pacific.

YAC is organised by NYC and MCCY in partnership with Youth Co:Lab. As partners, the project co-leads of Youth Co:Lab – UNDP and Citi – work together with the NYC and MCCY team and support on programming, expertise, resources and knowledge. The support includes access to mentors, speakers, domain experts and the overall network of social entrepreneurship. All participants of the YAC will also have access to the comprehensive Youth Co:Lab Springboard Programme, which is a set of 15+ online modules to help youth build and grow their ideas. The springboard programme is offered to all the youth participants across 28 APAC countries. Youth Co:Lab will also support aspiring social entrepreneurs by providing ad-hoc mentorship support and access to an extensive regional network of experts, consultants, mentors, investors and accelerator programmes. In addition, two teams from YAC Season 4 will be selected as Youth Co:Lab champions, and will have the opportunity to represent Singapore in the Youth Co:Lab Regional Summit in mid-2023.

Teams that indicate interest to continue their journey after the YAC as social entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to join the SE track, which is coordinated by the Youth Co:Lab team.

Teams in the SE track will have access to the following components, according to the maturity stage and needs of each team:

  • Two teams to be selected as Youth Co:Lab Champions and represent Singapore in the Youth Co:Lab Regional Summit, have access to additional funding and exclusive mentorship from senior leadership at CVC Capital Partners
  • Long-term support (up to 1 year) from UNDP and the Youth Co:Lab team to build and scale their business idea and achieve financial sustainability
  • Nomination to join the Regional Youth Co:Lab Springboard Plus Programme, an online programme for outstanding young social entrepreneurs to excel, scale, grow, while connecting and learning from your peers
  • Opportunity to be featured regionally and nationally on Youth Co:Lab channels
  • Access to exclusive 1-1 Consultation Sessions with high profile industry experts in areas related to marketing, budgeting, business development and technology, among others
  • Exclusive access to support from other partners which could include access to co-working spaces, invitation to regional and global entrepreneurial events, access to early-stage investors, nominations to join key programmes to further develop your solution, and more
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