“Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.” -Francis Bacon

International Youth Ambassadors and Industry experts at International Youth Leadership and Innovation Forum (IYLIF 2017) proved this quote in the true sense. Annual IYLIF conference brought together a global panel of experts, educators, parents and accomplished youth from all over the world. IYLIF was a conference for youth (10-17 years) from all around the world to speak, discuss and collaborate on topics like Bullying, Stress, Human Values and Effects of technology in present times. This event was organized by As Many Minds in Singapore on 2nd Sep at Lifelong Learning Institute. IYLIF 2017 was supported by Up your Game 2016 Personal Development Community. Sindu Sreebhavan, founder of As Many Minds strongly believes “Innovations happen when we create an environment to foster creativity, meaningful dialogues, diversity, and collaborations.” While addressing the  audience  Sindu shared her vision of IYLIF as a platform with the power to transform dead dry deserts of despair into green lands of innovation, leadership, and execution

The key highlights of the forum-

• 22 International Youth Ambassadors (IYAs) participated in the forum from Singapore and around the world from countries like Japan, Malaysia, UAE, and India. These youth were picked from over 160 entries received from all around the world. These youth had to send a 2-min speech on a topic that is relevant to the youth. Boot camps were organized before the actual forum to empower IYAs with required skills for the forum.
•  There were 3 Internationally renowned keynote speakers at the Forum-

1. Manoj Vasudevan– World Champion of Public Speaking, next level readiness expert and the author of the International bestseller ‘Mastering Leadership the Mousetrap Way’. He shared his insightful speech on leadership. He shared the messages ‘You are never too small to be big’ and ‘Ownership is the habit that leads to leadership’. 
   
2. Fredrik Haren – Internationally acclaimed expert on creativity in business and speaker. He is the author of 9 books, including the Idea Book which was included in “The 100 Best Business Books of All Time”. He gave a groundbreaking talk on the topic ‘The value of thinking differently.’ Fredrik shared  “All we know we have to take two things and combine in a new way to deliver a new idea. The World is changing quickly and adults are not able to handle and are stuck. Power of youth is not to get stuck.” 
3. Avi Z Liran– International expert in Positive Leadership and Culture Transformation, who emphasized the importance of mindfulness for Curiosity, Humor, and Kindness in present times

 

•  Educators and Experts from different domains from Singapore, Japan, USA, UK, Vietnam, and India shared their knowledge and opinions in three-panel discussions at the forum. The first panel moderated by  Ruby Mathur,  a lecturer at NAFA,  was on the topic ‘Future of education and its significance.’ Educators Stephen Dexter, Robert Thorn,Thomas Brian Donnelly, and Roger Tan shared their views on the importance of future ready education systems in this panel. This was followed by speeches delivered by IYAs and laughter therapy session conducted by Santhanaram Jayaram who shared valuable tips to de-stress in everyday life. The second-panel discussion was on the topic ‘Technology, Values and the Gig Economy.‘ Panelists consisted of educator Nick Alchin, Director of Cherishma Consulting Mamta Mandal and Technologist Harpreet Atwal, who shared views on the importance of mindfulness in use of technology and how to carry on value system to next generation. Second panel was moderated by Karolina Gwinner  who is a Leadership Facilitator and a Speaker too.’The  new reality of youth life: Bullying, Abuse’ was the last panel discussion and panelists successfully discussed the undue pressure on the youth of the present generation. This esteemed panel consisted of Noor Mastura, Founder & President of Interfaith Youth Circle community, Vani Khare the Director at Sanrakshan, Santhanaram Jayaram Director of Inspired Life Academy, Vinti Mittal, Director at SACAC Counselling, and  Padma Sekhar Principal of Trio World School, Bangalore, India. This panel was moderated by Millennial Expert Vivek Iyyani.

 

IYLIF 2017 aims to create a global pool of youth change makers. The mentoring will continues even after the forum to guide IYAs to take action. Each of them will be mentored to reach out to at least 1000 other youth to spread messages, inspire action and make a difference.

At the end of the conference Programme Director Rahul Shah, who is a Communication Specialist in Singapore questioned the audience  “What if you get one chance to go back in your past. What will you do?”

And the obvious answer came “ We will work on our strengths.”

So why not let kids work on their strengths from an early stage in their life and for that platform like IYLIF can help them in the true sense.

With a flurry of requests from all over the world to hold the next forum in their cities, IYLIF is definitely soaring high towards its mission of creating a global pool of youth visionaries and change makers. Look out for the next IYLIF conferences in Tokyo, Dubai, and Bangalore. To know more about upcoming events visit http://asmanyminds.com/iylif 

Visit http://www.womenlines.com/sindusreebhavaninterview/ for Sindu Sreebhavan’s Interview for #IYLIF 2017 at Women Lines You Tube channel

Visit http://www.womenlines.com/spreading-creativity-in-youngsters-sindu-sreebhavan/ to read about Sindu Sreebhavan in Entrepreneur of the month section of Women Lines

Visit http://www.womenlines.com/is-your-child-lacking-the-skills-needed-to-survive-and-thrive/ to read Guest article by Sindu Sreebhavan on Women Lines