- Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Saida Ibrahimava from Belarus. I graduated from Charles University in Prague.
- Were you involved with any kind of activities during your study?
I have started volunteer for various NGOs since 14 years old. After I have graduated and spent several years networking with like-minded people around the world at youth events, I have co-founded Youth to Youth Initiative.
- If yes, what were the skills that you gained by doing those activities?
Being open-minded, communicative and action oriented helped me a lot to understand what I want and start my journey. Ability to listen to others and learn from peers built up my professional profile and formed me as a change-maker.
- Tell us a brief about your current role and how did you get there?
I am the Co-founder of Youth to Youth Initiative – international organization focused on youth development and sustainability. The organization was built out of frustration that there is a lack of spaces where young people can speak up, share with peers, test their ideas and find potential partners. Y2Y was formed into an organization with social enterprise status back in 2015 after we tested the first Y2Y International Summits as an alternative platform for youth to learn from their peers, share and cooperate with them.
- Tell us about the impact you are creating for your community.
Y2Y annually gathers dozens of early social entrepreneurs, hundreds of local activists and educations, and thousands of passionate youth from more than 90 countries. It offers young people not only global networking, a safe space for testing their bold ideas and leadership education but intercultural dialogue, co-creation, and, most importantly, it offers the stage for youth to speak up and share their vision, challenge and solution.
Y2Y operates more than 6 years in the international arena and I am happy that for this period of time, I and the team of Y2Y were able to equip almost half a million youth with the necessary tools for their professional and personal development. Some of our alumni have overgrown us becoming internationally recognized social businesses, impacting themselves hundred of thousands of people in disadvantaged backgrounds. Some of them have taken leadership positions in their governments, making important decisions. Some of them have found that leadership is not their path as they discovered their true purpose. All of them, hopefully, became a bit more sure in themselves, their powers, and their abilities. All of them, definitely, made us better.
- What do you think about the future skills needed for the Youths to excel in their field?
I believe that there are several skills that will definitely benefit anyone, especially young people. First, the ability to create a common reality with others, i.e. the ability to listen and relate to others. This is vital for any proper communication. Second skill is the ability to simplify. This is the tough one as we are living in a highly complex world surrounded by tons of information and million of people. But this skill can ease the effort to learn and to explain your learnings. And the last one is the ability to act disregards possible mistakes and failures. This is the scariest one for many people but it can bring so many insights that no research can give.
- What’s your dream?
I am a big fan of sustainability education and my long-time dream is to transform existing secondary education into a more practical, connected to the challenges of the real world institutions with elements of social entrepreneurship, vocational trainings and mindfulness practices. I think its important to give young people tools that will not limit their freedom but expand their mind and will prepare them for the real life outside of academia.
