A multi-faceted effort to promote youth employment in Cambodia through dialogue, entrepreneurship, and training
teams in the Youth Co:Lab Springboard program
people registered for the National Dialogue
Building the future of Cambodia's youth workforce
Impact Hub Phnom Penh was thrilled to implement the first-ever Youth Co:Lab and National Dialogue in Cambodia in 2020, building upon successes of Youth Co:Lab initiatives across the Asia-Pacific region. The program accelerated awareness and mobilization around youth employment and entrepreneurship in Cambodia — involving hundreds of youth changemakers and other leaders from government, the private sector, and civil society.
Over the course of several months, we led a youth innovation program to support 10 talented teams of youth changemakers; convened a multistakeholder dialogue on youth employment; and organized a five-week training on youth employability. Throughout it all, we nimbly adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic — not letting cancelled events and tech challenges interrupt our momentum!
Springboard Startup Program
One of our pillar initiatives was a leadership and innovation program for 10 competitively selected teams of young entrepreneurs. This “Springboard” program started with an intensive bootcamp, during which the teams learned about marketing, business plans, community building, and collaboration. Over the next month, the teams received dedicated mentoring — over 20 hours of one-on-one coaching per team!) — before showcasing their ideas at a public pitch event. The top two teams were selected for the regional Springboard program.
National Dialogue
Three days before the National Dialogue was due to happen, Covid-19 forced us to cancel the event. Undeterred, we pivoted and ultimately led a highly successful entirely virtual convening. Across nine virtual events over five days, we brought together hundreds of people online to explore issues of youth employment in Cambodia. The National Dialogue became an important platform for government representatives, youth, and civil society organizations to discuss strategies to boost youth employment in the Kingdom. The National Dialogue also offered tangible skill- and knowledge-building sessions on leadership, the digital economy, and future-ready skills.
“My Job, My Future” Coaching Program
This five-week online course brought together 20 youth (out of 287 applicants!) to strengthen their employability — providing skill-building and coaching sessions on personal branding, understanding your strengths, exploring mission-driven careers, and more. At the end of the course participants provided much higher ratings of self-confidence in their employability and their belief in their ability to find a job compared to their self-evaluations before the start of the program.
Our Partners
