Shape7: Equipping Young People for the Future of Work — Tecla Kalinda
Across the globe, there are more young people under 30 than ever before, and this number is set to rise. This presents an unprecedented opportunity, and need for young people to take an active role in shaping our future. Our generation has inherited enormous global challenges, but we also have the ability to confront the status quo and offer meaningful solutions for change.
In 2011, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, founded the Global Shapers Community to empower young people to play an active role in shaping local, regional and global agendas.
The Global Shapers Community currently spans 376 city-based hubs in 156 countries. Shapers actively seek opportunities to have impact on a global scale by joining forces with other hubs across the globe. When the opportunity came up to contribute to the global dialogue on the future of work, an issue of critical importance to young people, Shapers from many different Hubs stepped up.
Technological growth and demographic shifts are changing the nature of work. Young people are simultaneously drivers of this change and the generation most affected by its consequences. Therefore, we felt that the views of today’s youth were indispensable in identifying ways to prepare for and manage future challenges and opportunities in the future of work.
The Ottawa Hub started the “#Shape7” initiative in order to ensure that the perspective of young people on the future of work was reflected at one of the world’s most influential fora: the “Group of 7” or G7. The G7 is currently chaired by Canada, and includes seven countries whose combined resources make up over 80% of the world’s economy.
How we landed a seat at the G7 table
By happenstance, I attended a public conference hosted by Canadian Council for International Cooperation. Peter Boehm, Deputy Minister for the G7 Summit and Personal Representative of the Prime Minister (Sherpa), was a key participant on a panel discussion at this conference. At the reception afterwards, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Boehm. Hearing more about the Global Shapers, Mr. Boehm expressed interest in speaking with us and as a result, we invited him to a Ottawa Global Shapers’ “Meet the Leader” session, which is a dialogue between our hub and leaders like Mr. Boehm.
To prepare for our discussion with him — and in the millennial spirit — we hosted a meeting in my living room where the idea was hatched to leverage the Shapers network to capture youth perspectives on one of the G7’s major themes with local hubs within the G7 countries. We decided to call this the “Shape7” initiative. During our “Meet the Leader” session with Mr. Boehm, we pitched our initiative, where it found a particularly receptive audience. Before I knew it, I was leading a large international project with a team of over 50 shapers and volunteers across 8 countries. #Shape7 focused on one of Canada’s key 2018 themes: “preparing for the jobs of the future”.
It was fun and exhilarating, but required a number of sleepless nights! Our team consisted of 50 volunteers dedicating our spare time in addition to our full time jobs and other responsibilities. Given that we will ultimately face the consequences of decisions being made today, the prospect of having an opportunity to share our perspectives drove our passion as young people to ensure that our voices were represented at the G7 table. We strongly believe that young people should not only be a part of identifying challenges, but more importantly, also part of the solution-building process.
It was an exciting opportunity to engage youth from all walks of life on this important issue — ranging from different socio-economic, educational, ethnic, and employment backgrounds. It was invigorating to hear the strength and diversity of ideas, which we attempted to capture into seven key principles on preparing for the jobs of the future that we believe the youth of the G7 can strongly stand behind.
What we accomplished between January and April 2018
- Led a successful collaboration between 13 hubs in 8 countries, engaging over 350 young people across the globe;
- Developed a conversation guide to share with participating hubs to ensure our data were consistent;
- Recorded a podcast with Deputy Minister Boehm to promote youth engagement on the G7;
- Shared our preliminary findings at the G7 Ministerial on Jobs of the Future with G7 innovation and employment ministers in Montreal, Quebec;
- Presented our 7 key principles on preparing for the jobs of the future at the Youth 7 Summit;
- Featured by the World Economic Forum’s in its series on the future of work;
- Produced a final report, and are sharing it with all who could leverage our findings, including G7 and senior leaders in the public and private sectors.
Through initiatives like this one, we hope that senior decision-makers across the globe can see the valuable perspectives that young people bring when we are involved in making major decisions for our future.
We thank Mr. Boehm and his team at Global Affairs Canada for inviting us to contribute to the strong platform that showcases the power of working with youth to build a better future for all. A special thanks as well to other supporters, including Shopify, Employment and Social Development Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the Young Diplomats of Canada, and last but not least, all of the Global Shaper hubs that participated, as well as the hundreds of young people who contributed their thoughtful ideas, time and passion to this project.
What’s next?
Our work is not yet over. Another key responsibility of Shapers play is to transform ideas into action. We work on local projects that shape our cities in a positive way, thereby collectively creating global impact, and improving the state of the world. The Shape7 youth consultations on the future of work provoked a lot of discussion within our global network, and provided us with many great ideas on how to better shape the future of work.
There is a lot of power in working together. A conversation that started among fellow Ottawa Global Shapers in my living room created a ripple effect and resulted in a major dialogue and awareness on one of the most critical issues facing our generation across the globe — preparing for the jobs of the future. A timely reminder to never underestimate the power of young people when they dream and then go out and act to make them happen.
About the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community
The Global Shapers Community is a network of young people driving dialogue, action and change. We believe in a world where young people are central to solution building, policy-making and lasting change.
Situated in the nation’s capital, the Ottawa Hub is comprised of young leaders in the public, private, non-profit sectors. We undertake local projects that empower young people in Ottawa to be agents of positive change, promote pluralism, and foster respect for the dignity of others.
Check out our projects and connect with the Ottawa Global Shapers on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.
Tecla Kalinda is a Senior Analyst at Bank of Canada, and the Founder of ZalaSmart.com, a company that aims to teach kids and teens the essential life skills of financial literacy and entrepreneurship. She is very passionate about working with and empowering youth within the community, and spends her free time volunteering. Tecla was the project lead for the #Shape7 initiative.
