India is a country where every third person is a youth. It makes our country one of the world’s youngest countries. In a dynamic nation such as ours, empowerment of youth is directly linked to the Nation’s overall growth. The dynamic youngsters of today have opportunities through which they can create social impact and hone their leadership skills. Yes Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship is a key initiative, particularly for college students, that is impactfully helping young individuals to transform into socially conscious citizens.

This fellowship received an overwhelming response with a staggering 10,000+ applications from across 500+ cities and towns across India for the 2019 edition. Evidently, it is not only quite popular but also one of the most coveted fellowship programs to be pursued by young individuals. The program offers college students a meaningful way of spending their summer vacation, which includes leadership and communication training followed by a paid placement with NGOs for two months. During the placement, fellows work on communication assignments at NGOs that include creative writing, social & digital media, and film & photography.

The program was launched three years ago in Mumbai with 44 youth participants. Since then the program has been rapidly expanding with each year. YES Foundation Media For Social Change Fellowship has transformed the lives of over 800  college-going youth, in the process amplifying the communication of almost 300 NGOs. This year the program will have 600 youth participants across 5 cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Bangaluru, Ahmedabad and Pune. On successful completion of the program, fellows receive a stipend and a certificate.

The 3rd city launch of #MediaForSocialChange #Fellowship '19 was in #Ahmedabad with the induction training on May 6-10. #NGO placements started this week. #Leadership #Communication #SocialDevelopment #YEStoFellowship pic.twitter.com/qABfV8Y9cS

— YES FOUNDATION (@YESFoundationIN) May 15, 2019

Here are some glimpses from the #MediaForSocialChange #Fellowship induction training in #Bengaluru held on May 13-17. The cohort has started their placement this week with city-based #NGOs.#Leadership #Media #Communication #SocialDevelopment #YEStoFellowship pic.twitter.com/VLuOS7lk8l

— YES FOUNDATION (@YESFoundationIN) May 21, 2019

The training of the fellows has been completed for this year. Currently, the two-month NGO placement is in progress. As part of the training program, selected fellows have workshops and interactive sessions with  distinguished experts and leaders from the development and communication sectors including Anshu Gupta, Founder – Goonj, Madhusudan Agrawal, Founder of MAM Movies, Srikant Kekare, ad-filmmaker, Daksh Juneja, Digital Marketing Specialist and COO of Avignyata,  Krishnendu Sarkar, assistant professor at FTII Pune among others. The leadership training in the program also includes new-age topics like design thinking, emotional intelligence and empathy to foster a differentiated leadership quality among the youth.

YES FOUNDATION has partnered with highly credible NGOs like HelpAge India, CASP, SWaCH, Centre for Environment Education, Agastya International Foundation, Give Foundation, Salaam Bombay Foundation, Srujna, Catalysts for Social Action, Prerna, Atma among others.

The program allows fellows to get an opportunity to learn about social development and communication hands on.  This program effectively taps into the young generation’s natural ability to communicate in the internet age and infuse development exposure and leadership to create social leaders for India.

The youth indeed have much to contribute to the country’s development The unlocking of this valuable social and intellectual reservoir towards India’s development depends on the creative space and options provided to them. It helps them emerge as self-assured individuals broadening their horizons so that they achieve great feats on the personal front in the process positively participating in public life.