Aparna Aravind was one of the 500 young change-makers, from across the world, who were invited to take part in a 3-day International Young Leaders Summit, at the headquarters of the World Economic Forum. This invitation was extended by The Global Shapers Community, under the volunteering initiative of the World Economic Forum.
Coimbatore: Under the World Economic Forum's volunteering initiative, the Global Shapers Community invited 500 young change-makers from around the world to attend a three-day International Young Leaders Summit at the World Economic Forum's headquarters, and Aparna Aravind represented Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) as a member of the Global Shapers Community.
Global Shapers Community, founded in 2011, aspires to construct a society in which young people are vital to solution-building, policy-making, and long-term change by addressing local issues while utilising the strength of a global community.
Through local hubs, young people are given the opportunity to be a catalyst in uplifting their community while also being given a platform to raise their voices on global concerns. There is 500+ such hubs across the world with shapers from 150+ countries, connecting the young change-makers of age 18 to 27, to spearhead solutions to the pressing challenges they come across.
Aparna, who has been working in various domains such as child and tribal welfare, women empowerment, community development, education of the underprivileged community, health, and sanitation since 2010, has been elected as the Curator of the Coimbatore Hub and is scheduled to take part in a three-day global summit at the World Economic Forum, Geneva, to learn more about global collaboration and driving change through purposeful leadership on June 16th - 18th, 20. Esteemed speakers and global leaders addressed the young individuals and shared their learnings and experience in building a sustainable and harmonious future through youth action.
Professor Klaus Schwab, the Chairperson of the World Economic Forum emphasized shaping a future together that works for all by putting people first, empowering them and constantly supporting them to self-sustain through collaborative leadership and technology.
Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, also spoke at the summit, which was hosted by Natalie Pierce, president of the world Shapers Community and esteemed world leaders. There were numerous conversations and peer learning sessions to learn more about addressing the most important concerns locally and globally through thought leadership and youth action.
"It was remarkable to see the power of the collective, which would be the key force in shaping any meaningful impact interventions," says Aparna, who participated in numerous discussion and information sharing activities as part of this 3-day summit.
The summit focused on many areas of leading intergenerational talks and activities to better the community. The summit provides a platform not only to learn more about the community and its concerns, but also to exchange ideas and solutions with a diverse group of 500+ strong like-minded young individuals who showcased the interventions that they have successfully implemented in their local regions.
The learnings from the summit are then passed to hub members by the curator, who collectively works with the hub members to bring a systematic intervention for the social impact the hub envisions. Coimbatore Hub works on the six impact areas as identified by the Global Shapers Community on building sustainable and inclusive communities.
Shapers of the Coimbatore hub are involved in various activities of the following theme, such as Environmental Protection, Strengthening Civic Engagement, Reskilling the future, Delivering Basic Needs Creating Inclusive Communities, and Improving health and well-being.
If you are interested to understand more about the impact areas and wish to be a catalyst in driving change, do have a look at the below website - https://www.globalshapers.org/ and if any young individuals would like to be part of the community https://weforum.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6F4bAg3fL2x1eXb