Learn essentials of youth leadership and how YL resources and relations help you spark and evolve youth leadership with flying banners – at home, school, work and beyond
Meet young hero*ines with high impact actions – and do like them
Meet grand changemakers with transformational solutions for civilization + learn to wield them
These high impact changemakers shape the future of entire regions – and you can help reach next milestones
Learn about global issues that affect us all – and what to do about them
Learn (of) skills that make life more awesome – from everybody’s favorite teacher type of folks
EXAMPLES
Our Approach
YL is action-oriented. We are not here to entertain or edutain. Our purpose is to inform, inspire, equip and enable you to take quick relevant action for people and planet in your region, also for your Speaker’s region and with them,
That hardly ever happens when you listen to other speakers. But it happens when we speak to you – so prick your ears and browse this page.
You can build a bridge from inspiration to follow-up action as a group – or your fired up students organize it themselves as club or individual, at or beyond school by using YL’s free ecosystem of resources, relations and support.
You can even take speaker-related action before your meeting, which makes it a much richer experience, since you contribute to a genuine conversation. You have become part of the story. And you can write next chapters together!
Unlocking these potentials is really easy, but it needs to be done right. View below how we do it. It works!
Learn more about our approach below
A RICH EXPERIENCE
We want to provide much more than a brief encounter of listening and Q&A. We want to strongly inspire and help you turn your good dreams for people and planet into reality and make life at school awesome.
To achieve this, we recommend that we walk these common sense steps together.
Preparation
with story and online profile with videos, social links, action guide
Know hero*ine & solution
Discuss fascinating aspects
Dream up burning questions
Do you take action?
Will you make a gift?
Follow-up
Knowledge, bond and access open up rich opportunities, formal in class or self-organized, short and long-term
Action for the hero*ine's initiative
Local action based on the solution
Form a team, club or local chapter for long-term action
Operate at and beyond school
Document activities for YL, social, news media
Grow reach in school and community
Meet again, celebrate, plan
Pay a visit
This makes the 1-hour video- or local meeting a highlight of a rich learning experience that reaches beyond one hour of listening, is far deeper, memorable and empowering. Pre- and (optional) post-meeting activities strongly boost the educational value of the encounter and your topic.
View precious learning aspects in our encounter
that conventional speaker models miss out on
Respect
Before meeting Gandhi, one studies his bio, what he cares for, what’s current and how to be part.
Individual study
Students view story, video, social media at home for a deeper, more memorable immersion than in class. Option to share tasks in your group.
Time to think
In a one off meeting most students are overwhelmed, It takes time to build trust, have courage and dream up meaningful questions one cares about.
Burning Questions
appear over a few days at home as one digests the new amazing information and has casual chats with friends
Ideas
appear as one realizes what the cause, solution, impact and action opportunities can mean for one’s own life.
Passion
builds up as meaning, ideas and bold vision bubble up with friends and class mates backed by a caring teacher on fire to use this special cocasion
Group Action
#bemoreawesome is the call. Inspiring cause, feasible swift action, MILESTONE and deadline of the meeting boost sportive mood. As impact builds, the group gets charged with fun and pride that want to get unleashed and expressed in the meeting.
Gifts
Hero*ines amazing spirit, our info on how they tick, how to give back and make their day can result in the most touching ideas, deeds and rare magical moments for everybody involved. That’s YL spirit!
This is a lot of high value and changes the encounter from passive superficial listening in a state of incompetence, low care and involvement to an active conversation, with passion, purpose and intrinsic motivation. that’s what we call LEANRING. It is a practical exercise in Able Active Caring Citizenship.
No need for PPT monologues telling the hero*ine’s story (an umpteeth time, so boring for them); we have time for true conversation and *what matters to your group* = it’s efficient, impact-, meaningful, pleasant for our hero*ines. It grows from giving to the kids to being integral part of their mission.
Eye-level encounter
through prep and becoming par tof the story
Heart-centered encounter
through truly caring and giving one’s time, spirit, making contributions to changing lives and land!
A conversation
since everybody in the room has something meaningful to say, is interested in hearing it, since they know it matters to them
Time for fun anecdotes, insights, behind the scenes
This is the most interesting, memorable and powerful that there’s never time for in timestamped ppt presentations
Tell of your highlights
What you personally find most remarkable, what to know or do more about.
Tell of your actions
of the experience, steps to success, breakthroughs, breakdowns, revelations and mysteries to solve and vision for what’s next.
Present your results
of your collective achievements … and check what this will mean for real lives and land. Your turn to inspire hero*ines with a bright vision for the now and times to come.
Present gifts
We love it, because no one knows what this will be. It’s always a surprise and hero*ines don’t expect it. Your turn to make them speechless.
Your students have something to say + it is meaningful + is a relevant contribution to the hero*ine’s quest.
They have become part of the story!
Please consider that our hero*ines are busy 24/7 for the cause. Taking time off to inspire youth is no longer a sacrifice, but part of the mission. Your action makes their day. Your love boosts their energy. You become allies!
Celebration!
The true spirit of changemaking
Freestyle + Surprise
All else you can get from pdfs and youtube. When you meet a world expert, seize the occasion!
Project Ideas
Your youth are not tiny listeners. They are to unfold their own Inner Hero*ines
Milestone Ideas
Get concrete and do it fast. Aim for goals, tick ’em off, let go, move on. We have a planet to save and life is busy.
You meet a world expert. You have a caring conversation and bond. If your group would like to heal local problems, or adapt the hero*ine’s work locally – this is perfect opportunity to ask for guidance.
Space for Local Issues
You had time to digest, check if this relates to your own life and region. Ask! These people exist to help others.
Expert tips, coaching
Changing the world is their fav’ sport and fun, even better if a few words help others move mountains. They have wisdom and friends beyond your imagination. Use it full on!
Novel Project Ideas
CHANGE means being different from all that ever was before. It can only be fresh and crazy! And it comes with love and care. Hence: be prepared, open, welcoming that surprise goals are formulated and want to be taken on. We know this and we are here to help! DARE TO DREAM!
You see, our hero*ines have big hearts, are flexible … maybe you will decide to team up. Some of your group may connect via social media. Some of your group may go pay a visit. Hero*ines may come into town to join activities…
Agreement on follow-up
You can decide while leaving it open … know that you are not left alone. YL Coaches know hero*ines and can pursue your path also if they are busy. GET IN TOUCH. Welcome to our sport!
MAKE THE MOST OF IT
We encourage you to think far beyond the encounter. We all wish to evoke real change for lives and land. We cannot guarantee it, since it depends on young people’s feelings and ideas. But – as educators and facilitators – we can open up opportunities.
Aim for Action
YOUTH-LEADER’s purpose is to enable youth to take big action, to replicate model solutions globally, to boost hero*ines initiatives, to enable adults to unfold their superpowers, and to make school awesome. Hence, our Speaker program is designed to make action possible by providing the best possible framework.
You and your group are not obliged to follow up with action, since change unfolds organically, and depends on the passion, context etc., but we will all reap best rewards if us and you seek to make life- and world changing action possible with our encounter.
Give Space to Surprise
We seek to enable SELF-ORGANIZATION.
As you know from our publication YL Youth Leadership 101, Changemaker Student Clubs can activate many unexpected local resources and relations.
Our encounter is most rewarding, if you stay open and give space to the expression of individual soft and strong feelings, small and big ideas in your group.
Use as Highlight
The Speaker Meeting can also be a highlight, a creative element giving momentum to a long-term program, such as
- Project Partnership
- Global SDG School Challenge
- West-East European School Partnership; both schools participating in the encounter for a common cause
View our Action Programs for inspiration.
Inspired folks can also meet YL Staff afterwards, informally
so don’t panic, if your group comes up with crazy big ideas. We’ll help make them real or attune them to current reality.
As organizer of the encounter, you are not responsible to realize your group’s dreams! That’s their mission. Your (adult) role is to make inspiration and action possible and to support on-demand. Enjoy seeing the results!
Take it easy
We have big hearts, are huggable, know what matters and take time # fulltimeforfuture. GIVE TIME FOR LOVE. WE DO.