“The biggest thing that I will take away from this program is the personal growth that I have accomplished,” said Jiho Lee, a fellow of our inaugural Summer Impact Fellowship Program.
With a solid track record in empowering youth through an impact-based experiential learning model, we at Foundation for Shared Impact know that youth are inherently curious and many are driven by a strong sense of purpose to build a better future for all.
This prompted us to launch the Summer Impact Fellowship Program in 2024, with the aim of nurturing high school and early-university students (age 15-20) into tomorrow’s impact-driven leaders and entrepreneurs.
Essentially, the two-week or four-week program gives young fellows the space and opportunities to develop themselves and plant the seeds for an impact-driven future ahead. Incorporating educational workshops, meaningful placements, and exploratory field trips, and more, the program allows fellows to engage in discussions with their peers and supervisors on important topics surrounding diverse social and environmental issues, and work directly with startups and social impact organizations to support their work while enhancing essential soft skills and human skills such as communication, resilience, creativity, teamwork, and leadership.
First Week’s Learning: Food Waste, Human Trafficking, Filipino Community in Hong Kong
In the first week of our 2025 Summer Impact Fellowship Program, Samara Anand, Lea El-Asmar, and Owen Lee gained an understanding of shared impact and worked together to brainstorm socially impactful solutions. At the “Failing Fast and Building Resilience” workshop, they learned the importance of failure and ways to fail smart and thrive by reframing failures into motivation and learning opportunities.
Through their placement at GREEN Hospitality, an FSI community partner on a mission to transform the hospitality industry into a catalyst for sustainability, the three fellows were exposed to the urgent sustainability challenges that GREEN Hospitality addresses through broad collaboration and innovative solutions, such as food waste reduction and the negative environmental impact of the hospitality industry.
Channeling their newly gained knowledge and skills into assignments, Samara wrote a blog post on plastic waste, Lea created an Instagram reel for GREEN Hospitality’s recently released Conscious Cooking – Asian Delights cookbook with smart food waste reduction tips, and Owen created a video of his interviews with students at The University of Hong Kong on their knowledge and awareness of food waste.
The fellows also attended a lecture where Isla Wilson, Chief Program Officer at Migrasia, spoke about current trends of human trafficking, issues and challenges facing migrant workers, and the important work done by Migrasia to end forced labor and support fair labor practices through data, technology, enforcement, research, and education.
To give the fellows a glimpse of the Filipino community in Hong Kong, we took them to World-Wide Plaza, a shopping arcade on the lower levels of the World-Wide House, to engage with the Filipino business owners and patrons there.
A Win-Win for Social Impact Organizations and Young Fellows
The fellows’ deep concern for their community was demonstrated through their engagement with the people they engaged with through the first week of the program. Their eagerness to learn and create positive social impact can be seen in their active participation in the workshop, placement, and field visit. We are also delighted to see their readiness in acquiring new skills and stepping outside their comfort zones.
Similar to other FSI programs, the Summer Impact Fellowship was designed to be mutually beneficial for all involved. While the social impact organizations and startups benefit from quality work produced by the young fellows, the young fellows gain an in-depth exposure to social, cultural, and environmental issues and skills development that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to in the conventional classroom setting.
Said Lucia Loposova, Executive Director of GREEN Hospitality, “Even though this is only the first week of their fellowship, all three fellows did well. Despite having never written a blog post before, Samara was quick to grasp the concept and finalized a draft in just three days. Owen produced a good-quality video even though it meant that he had to interview three students at The University of Hong Kong, who were complete strangers to him. In spite of having no prior experience in video-making, Lea was able to create a very professional video in just three days, and we will consider publishing it on our social media channels.”
Lucia’s observations are corroborated by the enthusiasm expressed by the three fellows.
“I really enjoyed the time we spent on making the project for GREEN Hospitality,” said Lea. “I enjoyed going to World-Wide House as well as listening to Isla’s sharing of Migrasia’s work.”
“I especially loved the day with Migrasia,” said Samara. “The World-Wide House experience has affected how I view the domestic helpers in Hong Kong.”
Said Owen: “I enjoyed interviewing the students at HKU and learning more about other people’s perspectives.”
Stay tuned for our next update on the Summer Impact Fellowship Program as the fellows learn about personal motivation and wider perspectives in social impact and delve into their work for their placement with Gowld Art Centre.
If you would like to sponsor youth for our Summer Impact Fellowship Program or support our other youth empowerment initiatives, get in touch with us at info@shared-impact.com!
