Washington D.C. (March 24, 2021) – This year YSEALI Seeds hosted its first ever “Virtual Kickoff Workshop”, by welcoming our 2021 program grantees from all 11 YSEALI member countries. The Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) Seeds for the Future Small Grants Competition funds up to $15,000 of each grantee project.  The amazing contributions of the grant winners feature solution-based projects centered around themes of civic engagement, sustainable development, education, and economic growth.

The 2021 YSEALI Seeds Virtual Kick-off workshop began with opening remarks from U.S. Mission to ASEAN Chargé d’Affaires Melissa A. Brown and was followed by a one-minute overview of each winning project’s pitch.

The virtual orientation was packed with presentations that provided a solid foundation for the implementation of projects. Through a series of dynamic sessions and interactive trainings that included talks about project management from YSEALI Seeds alumna, Irma Sitompul, from Indonesia, and modules on project monitoring and evaluation from Australian Young Pacific Leaders Grant recipient, Michael Dyer, program participants had the opportunity to ask questions and engage with one another.

The workshop also featured National Geographic Explorer, Gab Mejia, who shared digital storytelling tips and tools and his inspiring journey through various regions of Southeast Asia telling stories of culture and climate change.

Throughout the four day virtual workshop, participants used the MIRO platform to collaborate with their teams and other grantees on their project pitch and SWOT analysis.  Within the assignment, they identified challenges, received feedback, and created a brief, one-line phrase to summarize their projects.

As an exciting conclusion to the week’s activities, YSEALI Seeds for the Future celebrated the official program kickoff with a virtual snack exchange where participants virtually shared their favorite snacks with one another.  The event concluded with great conversations between participants and a final group photo to commemorate an exciting beginning to what we hope will be an unforgettable journey for our 2021 YSEALI Seeds for the Future grant recipients.

The YSEALI Seeds for the Future program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is funded through a grant from the U.S. Mission to ASEAN.

The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Seeds for the Future Program is a small grants competition to support innovative initiatives in Southeast Asia. It provides funding for the region’s most promising young leaders to carry out projects that improve their communities, countries, and the region across the program themes of Civic Engagement, Education, Economic Growth, and Sustainable Development.

This is the fifth year Cultural Vistas will administer the program. Cultural Vistas began administering the program in 2017 and will continue through 2022.

The YSEALI community consists of bright young leaders, 18–35 years old, from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam who are making a difference in their communities, countries, and the region. Learn more about the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative at yseali.state.gov .

YSEALI Seeds for the Future 2021 Grant Recipients

Accessed Educators (Cambodia)
Increasing teacher resiliency in Southeast Asia through technology-enhanced, student-centered teaching approaches

ActivateGov (Philippines)
Activating Local Youth Development Council in the Philippines through civic education

Bebas Sampah ID (Indonesia)
Building a youth-led participatory waste management platform in Indonesia

Dayadik (Indonesia)
Empowering Indonesian teachers to create a psychologically safe learning environment

#DisasterBusters (Philippines)
Empowering young environmental champions of resilience in the Philippines through capacity development

#Femnimitr (Thailand)
Bridging the gender data gap in Thailand through storytelling

Hub R Sar (Laos)
Empowering Laotian youth leaders through intensive bootcamps to facilitate positive change in their provinces

InPsychOut (Vietnam)
Building a Vietnamese society where mental health is valued

Kilang ReRoot (Brunei)
Raising awareness on food consumption and tackling food waste in Brunei Darussalam through workshops and food upcycling projects

LEAPS (Singapore)
Imparting business skills to ASEAN youths through remote tertiary student consulting programs

PantiCT (Indonesia)
Developing information and communication technology skills in young orphanage residents in Indonesia through tech-based training and certification

Pongo Academy (Indonesia)
Providing local, Bornean women with the skillset to become ambassadors for preserving their native lands

Project Kayamanan (Philippines)
Creating fun, online, peer-to-peer financial education programs for public high schools

Project TURO (Philippines)
Cultivating entrepreneurship to strengthen the economic resilience of rural, Filipino youth during COVID-19

SMAYL (Seeds for Mindanao’s Advocacy on Youth Leadership)
(Philippines)
Helping young peacebuilders in the Mindanao region create sustainable change

Purrfect Writers Club (Myanmar)
Fostering creativity and expression of underprivileged Myanmar youths to advance their academic and career opportunities

Real Money Real Youth (Myanmar)
Helping youth in Myanmar gain essential financial skills needed to build better futures by creating a powerful financial education platform

Right Thing to SEA (Indonesia)
Raising awareness of ecosystem services for local youths through marine resource management in Karas, Indonesia

Sokola Tengger (Indonesia)
Bringing literacy and advocacy for social and ecological justice to the indigenous community in the Tengger National Park area

Technify (Malaysia)
Connecting tech talent with change-makers to bridge the digital divide in Southeast Asia

The Green Dots (Vietnam)
Bringing practical greeneries to urban settings through a pilot community garden and participatory activities

Trail X: #LifeGoals (Timor-Leste)
Empowering youth towards environmental stewardship through football and experiential learning in Timor-Leste and the Philippines

Watkathon (Myanmar)
Mainstreaming youth participation in the Myanmar water sector through water hackathon competitions and online awareness campaigns

WEGO (Malaysia)
Creating agency among Malaysian senior citizens by implementing mobile literacy classes that empower their use of technology and encourage them to be independent

Youth in Action for Youth Budget (Vietnam)
Increasing Vietnamese youth engagement in national budget development efforts through the art of communication

Yowana Subak (Indonesia)
Creating cultural pride amongst Balinese youth through ancestral land cultivation methods and farming practices