The Malaysian Indian Youth Accelerator program by MITRA held its 2-day accelerator event this past weekend in KL, Ipoh and Penang, with a successful turnout at each location.
"MITRA gives paramount importance to social entrepreneurship development since it is a platform in which community come together and work to create an equal, just and sustainable society for concentrated and positive social, economic and environmental transformation for the society. Our engagement objective of a social entrepreneur is not for beneficiary to only earn a profit, but rather to implement widespread improvements in society."-MITRA's Director General - Mahalingam Maniam
TC had the pleasure of joining them at their KL event hosted at the Me.reka maker space. Me.reka is an open-source education platform that advocates for learning outside the traditional classroom.
Malaysian Indian and Tamil youth are more susceptible to social challenges, such as becoming involved with gangs, lacking the necessary education to equip them for brighter futures and the mentorship required to empower them to become successful individuals. As such, the goal of this accelerator is to "enable the marginalised youth for the means of creating self sustaining and socially conscious businesses that assimilate ex-offenders and enable them to become positive influencers in their communities."
Ambitious individuals, between the ages of 18-35, were encouraged to submit an application prior to their admittance into the Accelerator program. The program's goal is to encourage them to become social entrepreneurs by providing them with the necessary knowledge, funding and contacts. The focus revolved around creating solutions for three global challenges, namely, Circular Economy, Sustainable Urban Community and Workforce of the Future. Through MITRA, financial assistance and mentorship would be provided. The business assistance intends to empower the Malaysian Indian youth in hopes of creating an inclusive, resilient and self sustaining community.
The accelerator event was a collaborative effort by young professionals and entrepreneurs who are motivated to give back to the community, including event mentor Kuhan Pathy, the founder of Social Enterprise Masala Wheels.
"Social entrepreneurship is an effective tool for socioeconomic transformation. With shaping more young changemakers through MIYA, we can deliver larger social impact to the community."
Learn more about this program and find out how you can get involved here:The Malaysian Indian Youth Accelerator program by MITRA
