Young Liberian Improvement for Empowerment Y-LIFE

I am applying to be a winner or one of the proud winners of the Elevate Prize 2021, and to also get in partnership with the Elevate prize and to also get financial and international support. As per the nature of my institution, non-political and non-for profit institution, we seek to uplift and build the talents and skills in young Liberians from the various high schools and communities. 

Looking at my pillows and standard of works, there are many programs I wish to carry out, those include * Career Development And Mentorship *Entrepreneurship and Business development training*Leadership and Integrity building. 

It is my vision to aid government in the process of building students and youth in how to be productive and creative, how to be job creators instead of job seekers. 

As a winner of elevate prize 2021, I will certainly use the funds to advance, expand and include other programs necessary for the growth and development of my country. I will involve professionals and bigger minds into my institution in order to help in the smooth conduct of activities for the better understanding of students youthful population. 

It will be at my advantage as institution to build influential and innovative young people. 

I'm Jerome Emmanuel Johnson Jr, a Liberian and an African. I'm the first son of Mr&Miss Johnson and the second child of my parents. I graduated from the St. Marys catholic school 2018 August 3rd as a student leader and advocate. I am a certificated student leader of the St. Marys catholic school and the first Senate president of the students governing council of St. Marys catholic school. 

I'm a current sophomore  student of the African Methodist Episcopal University reading Sociology and Political Science. I'm also the founder of the Young Liberian Improvement for Empowerment Y-LIFE with certificates in many disciplines such as workforce collaboration and development, understanding climate change, certificate in understanding the rights of women and girls from Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) online courses, and a certificated member of YALI. I also obtained certificate in leadership from the Johan Togbeh school of leadership and development, and also a certificate in data management.  My vision is to help national government build a society of influential young people. 

Through my observation before founding and establishing the Young Liberian Improvement for Empowerment Y-LIFE, I identified the long stay of students at the various universities and the lack of creative and innovative young people who sees government job as the ideal and perfect job that the youthful population can depend on. 

As a way to help, I started to provide directions and ideas for students in high schools by establishing Y-LIFE, when it comes to career development, I have set up a system where students can receive guidance from their respective mentors and I'm proud to say I'm working with over five hundred students now and are receiving the necessary preparations as they are about to enter university of their choice. 

My method of solving career problem as institution is to firstly get in partnership with all of those schools I wish to work with, get an administrative advisor, establish a sub branch or chapter, conduct a volunteer training and lunch the career development program where all those school chapters will come together with senior students from 10-12 grade, we will invite professional people to speak to the students on their set profession, they will explain the advantages and disadvantages of getting in a particular field. We will there after entertain questions from the students to be answer by our speaker. During the program, we usually have data form for students to provide us with their necessary information (Name, Contact number, What's app contact, Facebook handle, and Profession). Then we will now pair then with a mentor for Mentorship. 

During our entrepreneurship and business development training, we lunch program such as business management, business plan development or writing, business communication, entrepreneurship development, costumer service, business branding, etc. Follow by our skills training ( liquid soap production, tag soap production, bleach production, perfume production, slippers design and interior decoration). 

We also conduct leadership workshop and simmers at the various high schools and communities. 

My works are innovative because I'm trying to solve social, educational and economical age old problem. I wanna reduce the long stay of students at the various universities in Liberia. I'm impacting the lives of young Liberians and providing aid to national government by promoting academic excellence in all partnering high schools. 

I'm rebranding and rebuilding the minds of young people in Liberia and providing Empowerment through my many trainings which includes (leadership development training, integrity building, and skills training which includes, liquid soap production, tag soap production, bleach production, perfume making, slippers design and interior decoration). 

My dream is to see a healthy society where youths are job creators and not job seekers. My works are innovative because I'm taking technical knowledge or skills like the about mentioned trainings which people pay to acquire at a separate level after school to every high school free of charge. 

Technical knowledge or skills are now acquire and obtain in high school free of charge through the innovative idea of my institution (Y-LIFE). This is done with the involvement and participation of students themselves from the various high schools, who have acquired said knowledge and skills, and now become agent of positive change by conducting similar transformational trainings in the various high schools and communities. 

My organization is having impact on humanity because I'm changing the negative narratives by providing opportunities which my grandparents have never had and experienced. It is an opportunity which will help stimulate and enlighten the educational sector of my country. I believe that my works gonna change the bad educational practices in my society, giving a better facelift to education in Liberia. 

My institution, since establishment, have organized a vibrant and strong advisory board of seven men, have established chapters in all our partnering schools and I've lunched my institution through the advise of my advisory board. They were very contributive to our lunching process. 

Next is my volunteers training which gonna have a significant impact in the lives of my volunteers and it is also educative and inspiring as well for students to understand the necessity and essentiality of volunteerism and internship. 

I intend to conduct volunteer trainings every academic year to provide students with sufficient knowledge on what it takes to volunteer with an institution and what are the benefits associated with volunteerism. 

Volunteers training every academic year, career development program every academic year, entrepreneurship and business development training every academic year as well as our leadership and integrity building.