How to Support Young Talent

I’ve always believed in the potential of young talent—their fresh perspective, their hunger for experiences, and their passion for social impact. These are the people who will run the world one day and it’s such an honor to help shape them and learn from them too.?

Recent events reinforced my belief in young talent as we held back-to-back programs at the American International School of Hong Kong , Korean International School , and Renaissance College Hong Kong . It was incredible to see students explore new career possibilities, gain practical experiences (the DJ booth was a hit), and really pick the brains of our industry experts for real-world insights about their respective fields.?

This coincided with a former OWN ambassador, who participated in a similar program, reaching out to share a major milestone (more on this in a bit). I’m amazed but not surprised at all because this is what happens when we give young people the tools, opportunities, and encouragement to pursue their dreams.?

This is the core of what we do at OWN Academy through real-world experiences such as career samplers, internships, and mentorships. When it comes to supporting young talent, here are a few things I picked up over the years:

• Provide a form of structure with space to freestyle?

During her time with us, Yui Kurosawa went from participant to intern to head of ambassadors. She is the driving force behind the founding of the OWN student ambassadorship program.?

We first met Yui as a student at the American International School who participated in our Real-World Experience program and won an internship with ThinkCol Limited . The next summer, she reached out to see if she could intern for OWN Academy and of course we brought her onboard.?

After a productive summer internship, she asked if there was more she could do. It so happened that I’d always wanted to engage young people on a more regular basis through an ambassadorship. We coached her and provided the structure with space to freestyle—and Yui just ran with it. She was happy to take the lead, even write the bylaws, and help build a network of young talent with the other ambassadors.?

Now, Yui is a college student interning in Uganda to help the curriculum development of the liberal arts college in Musizi University . She is helping to build a curriculum that incorporates real-world learning to better prepare students for their future careers—something that definitely resonates with us!

• Listen, understand, and act?

When Rosamond Chung started her internship with us, she was taking up journalism and she was all set to work on writing projects. However, she soon realized that writing wasn’t something that she wanted to pursue as a career.?

This is exactly why we advocate for real-world learning—it’s through trying and experiencing things that young people can figure out what they want to pursue. Pivoting is part of the journey.?

When Roz expressed her interest in photography, we provided support and opportunities to explore this new path. She started taking portraits of professionals, including Billy Tam for his fitness entrepreneurship masterclass video. She developed a new passion for photography and eventually founded palette magazine , a photography magazine that advocates for diversity and inclusivity.?

• Help them cultivate connections?

Aside from our core team mentoring our interns and ambassadors, we have specific programs that connect learners with mentors from different industries.?

We are now in year three of the Soho House Asia Mentorship Program in Hong Kong and Mumbai, for which we match learners with mentors depending on their passion project. Through the years, we’ve had such exceptional mentees who gained real-world insights and skills from their mentors and finished the program with outstanding projects.?

Karina La'O was part of our first Hong Kong cohort, who wrote an excerpt of her novella Mila and Eden under the mentorship of Gary Liu , the former CEO of South China Morning Post SCMP . It’s a beautiful piece about a young LGBTQ couple and their struggles with sexuality, religion, and societal expectations.?

Now, she is working on finishing the novella and is just about to self-publish her first poetry collection, A Body of Words.?

Imagine what a difference it can make if we can scale up and support more young learners!?

We are always looking for ways to connect with like-minded corporates, professionals, and organizations. Thank you to Project Melo , which helps the next generation co-create impactful projects with CEOs, for inviting us to their 2023 graduation. It was amazing to see young people so excited to meet and work with leading CEOs.?

Thank you as well to Enactus for tapping us to be a part of their Social Business Internship Programme, which connects students with impact-driven corporates and organizations. We have started our internship onboarding for this program and we’re excited for all that’s to come.?

I’m curious to know—what’s your experience like in supporting young talent? What tips can you share? What have you learned from working with them??

#ownacademy #education #careerdevelopment #internship #mentorship