Chance for Youth to Share their Stories of the impact they have in their community at the Global LEAD Digital Storytelling Contest

USAID’s Global Leadership and Education Advancing Development (Global LEAD) Initiative, YouthPower2: Learning and Evaluation (YP2LE), and Generation Unlimited (Gen U), along with other global partners are offering the #WatchOurImpact digital storytelling contest to show how youth are using the power of change to make the world a better place.

Participants should submit an original, three-minute video or slideshow in Arabic, English, French, or Spanish that tells the story of their youth-led actions to advance local, national, or global development and meets the contest requirements. The story you tell can be personal, that of a group of young changemakers, or that of a youth-led organization.

While any type of development activity would be acceptable, special attention will be given to those stories that link their work to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and/or the following key issues: 

• COVID-19/Pandemic Response, 
• Education/Skills Development, 
• Youth Employment/Entrepreneurship, 
• Climate Action, 
• Food Security/Resilience, 
• Digital Literacy/Security/Action, 
• Civic Engagement, and 
• Wellness/Violence Reduction.

The five selected winners will be announced on August 2 on YouthLead.org and across all campaign partners’ social media channels. In addition, contest winners will:

• Take part in the USAID Global LEAD #WatchOurImpact Dialogue with other VIPs on August 12.
• Be featured on GenU’s website 
• Receive a mentoring session with USAID and GenU staff. 
• Lead a “social media takeover” of GenU accounts. 
• Become part of GenU’s pool of moderators. 
• Be connected with GenU country offices.

The contest is open to all members of the public who are:

• Citizens of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as listed here,
• Aged 18-35, and
• Members of YouthLead with a member profile that is at least 80 percent complete. 

Submission Requirements:

• All video and/or slideshow submissions must:

1. Be no longer than three minutes; 
2. Have a title and brief description; and
3. Be an original work by the Entrant created for the purpose of this contest. 

• Submissions should not include copyrighted material. The use of copyrighted materials will result in immediate disqualification.
• In addition, submissions that have been published on other platforms or prior publications will not be considered. 
• Direct video uploads are not permitted at YouthLead.org. Please upload your video submissions using a free, trusted third-party platform (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo) and provide the contest with the link.
• Videos must be of a high enough quality to view uninterrupted, and no less than 480p.
• Submissions will only be accepted between June 7, 2021, and July 23, 2021.

About YouthLead:

The YouthLead Ambassador program is a six-month professional development and leadership opportunity for young changemakers between the ages of 18 and 35 years with a proven track record in mobilizing other young people to have a positive impact in their community. As part of the program, the YouthLead Ambassadors design and implement awareness campaigns on critical issues impacting young people; host learning events that contribute to knowledge, skill-building.

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