Smart Steps, Big Impact

Official
notification has come through to us of a Seed Grant, won by SI Club of Petaling Jaya, who
beat off challenges from more than 300 other NGOs in Malaysia.

A wonderful achievement – SI Club of Petaling Jaya
is the first Soroptimist Club in Malaysia to win a Government award. It is a
Social Impact Innovation Challenge managed by Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (under
Prime Minister’s Office) and includes Incubator Project Training & Mentoring
with a view to nationwide replication, with the support of Government and
corporate funders, if proven successful during the 3 months programme.

Photo: Anusha Santhirasthipam

As top 12 finalists, SI Petaling Jaya will receive RM 25,000 seed money in
order to carry out intervention based on their proposed ideas. To ensure the
intervention is effective, the club will receive professional guidance and
incubation support by an established social impact consultant.

SI talks to Anusha Santhirasthipam, who came up with the concept for the project and is Project Team Leader & Innovator for SEEED Jobs For Life and member of SI of Petaling Jaya

"Unemployment is spiralling to alarming proportions
leading to desperation, fear, hunger, violence, greed, subversive and criminal
activities, addictions and trafficking of labour! The other two big social challenges are homelessness and elderly
care.

"The reason why I created this programme was because I firmly
believe that if we create self-believe and self-worth in our youth, they become
receptive to learning and will be confident enough to pursue their highest
potential.

Photo: A creative learning pathway, unlocking unique skills and talents

How is this programme unique and innovative compared to other ‘soft skills development’ programmes and career finishing business
schools?

"Well, it is our combination of wisdom and experience and our ‘school of hard knocks’ challenges since most of us Soroptimists are
seasoned professional employers and business owners ourselves. It is important to know why we beat off challenges from more than
300 other NGOs in Malaysia.

Our secret recipe?

"Educate for Life – Cycle 1: We use best selling authors and
empowerment coaches to raise self-esteem and assertiveness through
effective communication exercises. Only in this creative learning pathway will we be able to unlock an individuals unique skills and talents.

Empower for Life – Cycle 2: We will bring in International Business
Coaches to further refine and strengthen skills and knowledge in order to give
them the leading edge, to write a winning resume and ace job interviews.

Enable for Life- In Cycle 3: We will expose individuals to Celebrity
Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders together with respected recruiters and job
placement company senior executives.

Photo: Giving individuals a leading edge

The Project

SEEED JobsForLife stands for: Soroptimists Educate, Empower, Enable Dream Jobs For Life and is a Social Impact Innovation Project to tackle youth unemployment in Malaysia

This programme of 12 consecutive Saturdays is an exciting and empowering programme for youths to succeed in finding their dream vocation. This is a unique opportunity for anyone who may be unsure of their career, how to start their business or how to land that job.

Over 3 cycles of 4 Saturdays per cycle, SIPJ bring the best of their experience from their award-winning programmes: Youth Against Social Ills (YASI), Supporting Hope in Education (SHINE) and Kampung Ku (KK).

Participants will consist of Malaysian youth who are currently not in employment, within the age range of 18-25.

1st Cycle: Maximizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses
2nd Cycle: Self discovery and Nurturing for Self-employment
3rd Cycle: Direct mentoring and coaching – job application

At the close of the programme a grand prize of an additional
grant of RM 30,000 sponsored by Credit Suissue will be awarded to the best
performing among the 12 finalists so the project can be further carried out and
expanded over time.