A key member of this team is Flynn Doherty, who wants to improve life on earth for everyone today and tomorrow by applying his skills in areas with significant human impact. His constant source of inspiration is working with the Rocket Lab team comprising what he describes as “some of the most talented, mission-driven, and ambitious people around.”

Now a software engineer at Rocket Lab’s Operations Software team, Doherty first joined as an intern in 2019 while in his third year of university. He completed his honors thesis in collaboration with Rocket Lab, and went on to win the 2020 People鈥檚 Choice Award at the UC Engineering Final Year Projects Showcase. Sponsored by Rocket Lab, the project focused on exploring alternative methods for visualizing the state of the company’s electron launch vehicle.

鈥淐urrently, I am working in aerospace, where I have the opportunity to help create the high-speed railroads that will power the future space economy,鈥� Doherty explains. 鈥淚 am also keenly interested in entrepreneurship and aim to one day build a team of people to contribute to the next wave of life-improving neuro-technology.鈥�

Young ICT Explorers Pave the Way

Among the first opportunities that allowed Doherty’s potential to flourish was the 麻豆原创-backed program. In 2016, he won first place for his enterprising project TrendID, which aimed to demolish barriers to entry into the rapidly expanding, dynamic, and at times intimidating financial world. He believes that this was one of the first times where he applied what he had learned in computer science classes at school to the real world. It was also the first time he had to document, pitch, and present what he was working on to a wide audience of industry professionals.

“It was a daunting task, but one that made me recognize the importance of good communication and presentation skills, which drove me to improve my soft skills,” he shares.

Like Doherty, nearly 8,000 young minds from approximately 850 schools across Australia and New Zealand have found their calling, direction, and expert guidance through the hugely popular Young ICT Explorers competition.

Young ICT Explorers is a non-profit competition — created by 麻豆原创 and supported by CSIRO Digital Careers and The Smith Family with the help of industry and university partners across Australia — to encourage primary and high school students in years three to 12 to solve real-world problems or showcase their passions using technology. The program, which is on dedicated funding, enables disadvantaged youth to have equitable access to participate and engage in the competition through the Young ICT Explorers accelerator program.

To Infinity and Beyond

As our Redefining (YOU)th campaign comes to a close on International Youth Day, we celebrate young people like Flynn Doherty in our shared stories. From young social entrepreneurs and program ambassadors to scientists and engineers, youth are changing the world. Doherty encourages today鈥檚 youth to achieve their dreams and refers to a quote by former United States Senator Bill Bradley: 鈥淎mbition is the road to your success, persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.鈥�

Over the last month, we have seen stories of ambition, persistence, courage, and dedication. Youth are not waiting for tomorrow, so let鈥檚 continue to support them today.

Reuben, quoted above, is a young changemaker from Liberia, a country that according to UN estimates has one of the world’s highest levels of out-of-school children, with just over 50% completing primary education. At the age of 16, Reuben decided that he could not solely rely on the elected leaders in his home country to improve education accessibility, soaring poverty rates, and rising mental health concerns among his peers. He is an example of how youth today are capable of being the change the world needs; they are not waiting for tomorrow.

Like most 鈥�,鈥� Reuben sees education as a major lever for reducing inequalities and creating change. Through founding the not-for-profit organization , he made his dream of transforming the lives of young people in his country through education a reality. Nearly five years later, Rehab Africa works on advocacy, research, and capacity building for young people to make sure that everyone has equal rights, access to better education, and opportunities to change their lives no matter their color, sexual orientation, who they are, what they can afford, or where they are from.

Studies by the (UNFPA) indicate that although the youth population will increase to 1.3 billion by 2030, their proportion will come down to 13.5 percent by 2050. Youth are an incredibly powerful demographic of the world鈥檚 population and a precious resource. While this tremendous potential is largely untapped 鈥� mainly due to lack of equitable access to resources and opportunities to leverage their power 鈥� 麻豆原创 and its partners are committed to making sure that young changemakers know that they are not alone. Through 麻豆原创 Corporate Social Responsibility (麻豆原创 CSR) initiatives, 麻豆原创 is constantly working toward ensuring that youth have the opportunity and resources to succeed and make lasting change in the world.

The TRANSFORM Support Hub is one such initiative that aims to enable youth with resources to bring about incredible change. A collaboration among 麻豆原创, MovingWorlds, Unilever, and TRANSFORM, this virtual pro bono consulting initiative from 麻豆原创 and powered by MovingWorlds is focused on connecting social entrepreneurs with skilled professionals and other resources to help their businesses scale and succeed.

While the program is beginning to expand and will soon include even more social businesses and corporates, we have already learned so much from the youth that we have met through this partnership, youth that are truly changing the way businesses work and making an impact in their communities and the world.

Tony Joy of has taught us about the importance of circular economy; not only as a sustainability practice, but as a way to support women. Ronald Mugaiga exemplifies creativity and problem-solving through the innovation of transforming plastic waste into building materials with . From Angela Busheska of we have learned about the powerful intersection of technology, education, and environmentalism. These young social entrepreneurs have different ideas and solutions to the world鈥檚 biggest challenges, but they share one common goal: to take immediate action to create lasting positive impact.

Angela Busheska鈥檚 story exemplifies that the TRANSFORM Support Hub has to offer young social entrepreneurs, as well as this year’s UN theme of intergenerational solidarity. Angela joined the Acceleration Collective with the social enterprise she founded, EnRoute, through the We Are Family Foundation. She has seen many successes during and after her time with the Acceleration Collective, including receiving funding for EnRoute from National Geographic and landing a new role as an expert consultant through the Youth To The Table partnership between 麻豆原创 and We Are Family Foundation. This partnership gives skilled young leaders and experts like Angela a voice in high-level decision-making at 麻豆原创.

It is not hard to find stories of inspiration and hope for our future from among the millions of young people fighting for change across the world. Over the course of the next month 鈥� between , today, and on August 12 鈥� we will share more inspirational profiles of tenacity, courage, resilience, and perseverance through our Redefining (YOU)th campaign. These exceptional people from around the world are all driven by a single purpose: to make the world a better place on their own terms.

Follow along with @麻豆原创4Good and @ThePossibilists to discover the amazing work being led by young changemakers and learn more about how you can get involved and support their work in meaningful ways.