Islamabad(PR): Young Leaders Conference (YLC) is the premier leadership development program for ambitious young individuals from across Pakistan. This 6-day leadership journey provides an out-of-classroom learning experience and a rigorous curriculum that equips participants with the confidence, social skills and global competitiveness, required to excel among the next generation of future leaders. They get the opportunity to broaden their horizon and sharpen their perspectives by interacting and networking with well-known leaders in the business, social, cultural and public sectors.
In addition, their participation in activities such as panel discussions, thematic intervention sessions, entrepreneurial spotlights, simulations, field trips, cultural events and summit debates provides them with the confidence and exposure needed to make informed personal and professional decisions throughout life.
Supported by the founding partner English Biscuit Manufacturers (EBM) – an organization with a long established history of and a deep commitment towards youth-empowerment. Each year, YLC opens its doors to 300 youngsters between the ages of 18-24 from all over Pakistan. The insightful event allows the youth to stretch and discover their adaptability, empowering them to make valuable contributions as vital members of society. It integrates themes that revolve around development, economics, politics, environment, culture, corporate, self-awareness and capacity building.
The program this year brought together expert speakers, renowned scholars, educationists, artists, trainers, activists and politicians to address a wide range of issues such as gender disparity, an alienated youth, and societal taboos as well as employability training, career counseling and educational opportunities. It prepared them for an integral component of YLC – The Social Enterprise Projects. These projects bring into implementation all that the participants have learned during the six days of the conference. The participants are required to design, plan and execute within three months of the conference a ‘Social Enterprise Project’ (SEP). The project must employ a sustainability model, and is initiated with the aim to positively affect their communities. Upon completion of the projects, the participants are awarded YLC certificates.
The mix of participants this year represented 60 cities, towns and villages from all over the country, including remote areas, such as LakkiMarwat (KPK), Vehari, Awaran, Lasbela (Balochistan), Mirpur Mathelo (Sindh), Gilgit Baltistan, KotAddu (Punjab) and many others. Each of these communities is plagued with its own set of social problems, and the projects initiated by the YLC participants focus on issues that are relevant to their communities. In the past, the YLC participants have worked with marginalized communities, for women empowerment, education, health, environmental protection and the like.
The participants work either individually or in groups to implement their projects, and are facilitated and monitored during the three months after the conference, by trainers and representatives from School of Leadership (SoL), who are constantly in touch with the participants to help them in their projects. The SEPs truly represent the soul of YLC, which seeks to empower the youth to become positive change-makers in their communities.
Participants and program segments at YLC are sponsored by prestigious enterprises like; Thal Engineering Limited, UNICEF, Friedrich-Naumann-Stuftung, Mobilink, SSGC, Faysal Bank, and PPAF, working towards bringing diversity to the conference, by taking up the responsibility of funding participation costs for individuals coming from underprivileged backgrounds.
ACM Gold, FaujiFertilizers ,Cinepax, Suzuki, Dalda, Habib Metro Bank, USEFP, Jaffer Group, Shamrock Communications, Hilton Pharma, Habitt, Engro Corp, British Council and Abott are dedicated cause partners. Jang Media Group served as media partners to provide essential coverage for the event. Rabio Partner was Suno FM 89.4 and TCS served as a logistics partner, ensuring smooth-running and timely-execution. The YLC vision of youth-empowerment and leadership is shared by and reflected in the efforts of all our partner organizations.
