By Santiago Agudelo Murcia and Mateo Vera Ramirez

Members of the Youth Advisory Group – GOYN Bogotá

Youth are the force driving change, and in Latin America, their voices are calling for a more just and sustainable future. Fellowship GOYN Bogotá (Global Opportunity Youth Network) is an initiative that seeks to empower 29 Young People with Potential to be the protagonists of this change, transforming their communities through action and leadership in the city.

The program offers free comprehensive training to young people from the GAJ team (GOYN Bogotá Youth Advisory Group), made up of youth leaders in their territories, young people in vulnerable conditions and ambassadors (members of the previous GAJ cohort), who work in key areas for youth work. Fellowship equips them with the tools to lead successfully, develop social entrepreneurship ideas that generate impact, influence decision-making through youth advocacy, and design innovative solutions to social problems in their environment with Design Thinking.

He Fellowship It is not just a training, it is an opportunity to turn youth into agents of change in communities.

How has the experience been?

By Santiago Agudelo and Mateo Vera

During the program, we had the opportunity to connect with young leaders from all over Bogotá, forming a collaboration network that will allow us to expand our reach and promote our projects with greater impact, involving Youth with Potential, organized and unorganized youth, and young leaders, in order to build collectively and create articulations in the territories.

Santiago Agudelo on the exchange experience with GAJ Barranquilla:

“For me it was a very valuable space to the extent that it allowed me to understand that despite the distance, young people in Colombia can share interests, challenges, opportunities, problems and common bets; the dialogue of knowledge and experiences facilitated intercomprehension with other communities, cultures and with other young people. Now we have a lot of work to do and we have several bets to make, among them, the most important is to strive to build a narrative that recognizes and puts the concept of Youth with Potential on the public-private agenda and also the recognition of the Colombian GAJ without regionalism in between. I take with me the tour, the shared food and the experiences within the Fellowship "that we had together, as those possibilities that remain in our minds and that motivate us to believe that it is possible to influence and build from the difference and from the recognition of the other. The meeting will be in Barranquilla in the second half of the year to meet again and strengthen that relationship that we have as GAJ Colombia"

This shared knowledge and the experiences of those of us who participate in the Fellowship They can be used to promote joint actions, such as the creation of collaborative projects between different regions, countries and even continents; in addition to the development of regional political advocacy campaigns, or the creation of platforms for the exchange of information and best practices between youth organizations. The LATAM Network thus becomes that joint commitment between the communities of Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, as that space to multiply the impact of the actions of young people, promoting collaboration, mutual learning and the construction of a more just and sustainable future for the youth of Latin America following the main purpose of GOYN within its collaborative work: "Collective impact strategy that seeks to improve the well-being of Young People with Potential through economic opportunities, comprehensive training, participation and leadership."

Within this series of meetings, Mateo Vera Ramírez, member of the GAJ of Bogotá, met with Hannia Yohali Zenteno and Moisés García of the GAJ of Mexico City, in the Tlatelolco garden. The objective of the meeting was to analyze the integration strategies with the LATAM network, identify common problems, articulate exchange mechanisms and develop joint initiatives.

Mateo Vera on the experience of meeting in Mexico City:

"He Fellowship It has been a transformative experience so far, equipping me with the tools and confidence to lead and make a real impact in my community. Now, my focus is on putting this knowledge into practice. I want to connect with other young leaders, build alliances with organizations, and continue to promote projects that address the social issues that affect us. The LATAM Network has opened the doors to a universe of possibilities for me, and I am ready to do my part in building a more just and sustainable future for all. Fellowship It was a start, now it's time to take action."

Let's be the generation of young people that is transforming Latin America! Let's build a better future.

REFERENCES:

GOYN Bogotá – Young people with potential. (sf). https://goynbogota.com/