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.
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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 fourth season of YAC will focus on the following four themes and sub-themes,
with a focus on the challenge statements identified below:
1
Understand the issue, policy context and gaps
2
Get to know other participants and form teams (Part 1)
*Only for participants without a team.
3
Get to know other participants and form teams (Part 2)
*Only for participants without a team.
4
Develop a foundational understanding of Theory of Change and developing a model for your project
5
Understanding the model of a social enterprise
6
Setting impact goals, identifying metrics to measure and measurement techniques
A deep dive into the 17 SDGs, targets and indicators
7
A 3-step framework for developing social venture ideas
8
Understanding the building blocks of budgeting and familiarising with budgeting tool
9
To foster collective learning and problem-solving between different groups
10
Get feedback from industry professionals
11
To foster collective learning and problem-solving between different groups
12
Panel dialogue and mid-point progress check-in for all teams
*Teams will be assigned to one of the time slots
13
Learn how to craft a compelling pitch
14
15
Pitch your ideas for funding
16
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.
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.
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 are required to attend all the mandatory sessions listed below:
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.
The grant covers all project-related expenses incurred after the pitch on 28/29 January 2023, except the following:
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 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 |
|
$5,000 |
| Promising Award |
|
$20,000 |
| Outstanding Award |
|
$50,000 |
| 2Youth Co:Lab Championship |
|
(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.
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.
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:
