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GSTEP Youth Ambassador Program for Year 3 Launched

The GSTEP Youth Ambassador Program is an initiative under the Ghana Science & Tech Explorer Prize (GSTEP) Challenge that offers Ghanaian youth an opportunity to obtain practical social, entrepreneurial and technical skills while positively impacting their communities and people around them. The program supports and equips 20 Ghanaian youth each year with social and employable skills through a series  of workshops and masterclasses.

During this annual program, the GSTEP Ambassadors will work with the program to support and inspire 20,000 Junior High School (JHS) students – as well as teachers, schools and communities in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions. The ambassadors will commit to using their skills to achieve social impact and increase engagements and inclusion in Ghana’s STEM education drive.

The program aims to facilitate the generation of ideas in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)  by Ghanaian youth and churn them into enterprising products and solutions to address community issues. Each ambassador will identify key issues in his or her community and develop a solution to address the problem through STEM. Following seed funding, mentoring and support, the ideas by the ambassadors will be presented and winners will be awarded.

Youth Ambassadors will also participate in a series of masterclasses led by international experts to help them develop essential skills and capacities to change  their communities. Each ambassador will be required to apply lessons learned from each masterclass. Masterclasses will cover presentation and interview skills, which will focus on providing Youth Ambassadors with interpersonal and social skills.

The masterclasses will also cover entrepreneurship and STEM skills focused on exposing the Youth Ambassadors to opportunities that can be created for themselves and their communities. They will undergo masterclasses in developing  prototypes, rapid ideation and learning business and leadership skills from top executives across the world. Other areas that will be covered include exploring their interests and goals, mental health and goal setting.

 

The GSTEP Youth Ambassador program begins on the 25th of January 2023 and applications are now open. The program is open to Ghanaian youth aged between 14 to 18 years who are interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and are located in the Greater Accra or Ashanti regions. Interested participants should be willing to commit to a year of activities and representation on the GSTEP program. Applications to the GSTEP Youth Ambassador program can be submitted here.

GSTEP is a collaborative partnership between DreamOval Foundation, Foundervine UK, Challenge Works UK, MEST Africa and DEXT Technology. GSTEP is an initiative funded by Fondation Botnar, a Swiss philanthropic foundation working to improve the health and wellbeing of young people living in cities around the world. Advocating for the inclusion of youth voices and the equitable use of AI and digital technology, the foundation invests in and supports innovative programs and research, and brings together actors from across sectors to create dialogue and partnerships. More information can be found on their website: www.fondationbotnar.org.

The program is also supported by key institutions in Ghana to advance the course of practical learning across the two regions. These key institutions are Fidelity Bank, Stanbic Bank, Multimedia Group, and Graphic Communications Group.

Read more on the the GSTEP Youth Ambassador program here or follow GSTEP on social media to learn more.