Help shape changing India – join a Youth Hub Fellowship

In India where you are born matters. It affects your access to education, quality healthcare, job opportunities, and more. Stark inequality is omnipresent. Mumbai has 48 billionaires living next to one of the world’s largest slums, home to nearly a million people. In an ideal pre-pandemic scenario, it would take 22 years of sustained 10% growth to bring an individual on the rural-poverty-line-up just to India’s average per capita income. 

The looming question is, if this is India’s present, can the future be better? At Village Square, we think so. We believe the future will be brighter, especially for the people at the margins – if young people are at the forefront of this change. 

Now, more than ever, young people matter. With the biggest stake in the future, they are determined to change the world for the better. They also are better endowed, have more wealth, more years of formal education and better networks than previous generations.  From the youngest Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and eco-activist Greta Thunberg to Earthshot Prize Finalist Vinisha Umashankar, the young are engaging global leaders on issues that matter to them like never before. Millennials and Gen Z want to address the existing inequities in the world, while holding themselves – and others – accountable.

However, traditional academic and social circles are not enough to build a constructive engagement to channelise their ideas and energy. Village Square’s new Youth Hub is providing them a space to put their thinking caps on to voice issues that matter to them. Village Square is bringing  together thought leaders, journalists, youth icons, social organisations and development practitioners, spanning across sectors, to enable young people to harness their leadership abilities and contribute to India’s development story. We will provide the resources as well as the platform required to help them voice their challenges, find opportunities and create a generational impact on the country and the world. 

Who can be part of the Youth Hub?

Village Square Youth Hubs are for young urban Indians with the zeal and enthusiasm to make a difference in the world that they live in. These are college students who see themselves leading and influencing their peers to engage in key social issues that matter to them.

What’s in it for India’s youth?

• Broaden their ability to recognise key social issues that matter to them
• Develop an identity or a relationship with the most marginalised people in the country
• Develop leadership abilities to become a changemaker
• Initiate a life journey towards building a better, equal and just future

What are the opportunities that the Youth Hub can provide for young people?

• Learner Program: Actively work with Village Square’s development practitioners’ network to build their understanding of issues leading to inequalities in the country. The learner track will consist of a 2-month intensive shadow program. We will engage young people with thought leaders who have shaped India’s development story. They will be provided the unique opportunity to gain exposure on how leadership translates in social issues, reflect on how they can take charge on issues that matter to them and  build one’s own capacity for implementing change.
• Leader Program: Start conversations on these issues in campus spaces and establish an active cohort in their campuses. The Youth Hub will be a champion for bridging inequalities in our society and actively nurture dialogues among young people. Those on the leader track will build Village Square Youth Hubs and lead Bharat Youth Dialogues in their campuses. They will also curate innovative events and/or campaigns that help their peers engage in these issues better. Their initiatives will be critical in bringing young people to the center of creating a just and equitable society.
• Immersion Program: Engage directly with communities who are living at the margins. Village Square can provide a platform for young people to directly engage with the communities at the grassroot level and peek into their life, hopes and aspirations. They will be able to build a relationship with those at the margins, understand their day-to-day life experiences and reflect on the life opportunities needed to bridge the stark inequalities that exist in the country. This will be structured as a 4-week program. The first week will consist of orientation with a partner organisation and the issues it is tackling, followed by a 2-week immersion and 1-week reflection and documenting takeaways.  
• Internship Program: Build a career in changing the world! For those young people who are interested and invested in changing the world, Village Square can provide paid internships with India’s leading organizations. They will be able to explore the core competencies required to pursue a career in the sector under the mentorship of other young changemakers. Village Square will provide this opportunity to 60 highly motivated students for a 2-month internship with a stipend of Rs 5,000.
• Storyteller Program: Tell your story to the world! Those who have participated in any of the above tracks, will also be provided an opportunity to tell their story through the villagesquare.in platform. Village Square will facilitate storytelling workshops that will help them document their experiences in a format that excites them the most. This could be an impactful article, photo, video, street play or any other form in which they want to express themselves and influence their peers. We will tell your story to the world. 

Where can young people sign up?

We are launching Youth Hub Fellowships along with the first Bharat Youth Dialogues on Youth and Society Leadership. The discussion brings critically acclaimed Hindi language actor Swara Bhasker in conversation with veteran journalist, film critic and writer Suparna Sharma on December 15th, 2021 at the Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi. Come join us to hear from Swara about her immersive learning experiences, engage with our team anchoring the Fellowship and sign up!

Save your seat now!

Gouri Rajagopal is the manager at Transform Rural India Foundation.