A Resolution Fellow, One Young World Ambassador, and Founder of the Movement for Cooperation and Development of Youth.
This month, The Resolution Project will host its third Social Venture Challenge at The One Young World Summit in Bogotá, Colombia. We’re introducing six young leaders who became Resolution Fellows after winning the Resolution Social Venture Challenge at The One Young World Summit and are now implementing impactful ventures in their home communities.
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Stefan Raicevic and I am a Resolution Fellow and the founder of the Movement for Cooperation and Development of Youth. I am originally from Montenegro, but I currently live in Serbia, where I study Law at the University of Belgrade.
What is the challenge your venture seeks to address?
Young people in Montenegro and Serbia are overwhelmed with problems of everyday political issues and low living standards. As a result, the youth often turn to negative alternatives to make a living and achieve their dreams.
Notably, the educational system dates back to the communist regime and has ultimately failed to provide youth with the skills and knowledge needed to be competitive in a modern labor market. Young people are thus unmotivated to think positively about the future, forcing them to instead relocate to more developed countries.
How is your venture addressing those challenges?
Through Resolution’s support, I was able to found the Movement for Cooperation and Development of Youth with my colleague Milica. This youth-led NGO aims to provide young people ages 14–25 with the knowledge necessary to take advantage of existing opportunities by pairing them and their ideas with existing sponsorships/partnerships.
The Why Youth? program of our NGO specifically aims to empower 150 young people by teaching them basic professional skills such as resume building, writing personal statements, crafting project proposals, and project management.
What have you achieved so far?
So far we have had over 50 participants in three cities! As part of this process, participants have organized four community development events with over 220 participants! With just a $50 budget, these young leaders were able to create over $1,500 in value through their community development projects!
What does One Young World mean to you?
This world class summit is the best chance to meet some of the brightest and most influential young people of the new age. This Summit represents what leaders should do in today’s world — create sustainable employment opportunities that drive global change. Leaders should be well-rounded people who see things not only in terms of profit, but also in terms of sustainable development and an overall better quality of life for the entire planet.
What does The Resolution Project mean to you?
My venture’s success would not be possible without the Resolution Fellowship, which has not only provided seed-funding, but more importantly, with valuable mentorship through my Resolution Guides. For me, The Resolution Project represents everything my organization wants to create for our members — a network of outstanding people who support innovative ideas in many different ways.
What role do young leaders play in the world?
More than ever, we need young leaders to be aware of the importance of social impact in their work and encourage future generations to make positive impact a part of their lives as well. Since the modern world is so well connected, we can now fully understand the consequences of our decisions on a global scale for the first time. But with that in mind, we can now fix injustices easier than ever before. After all, thanks to modern media and virality, it is easy to start something positive and watch it grow to reach millions.
What are your goals for the future?
In the future, I would love to work on the creation and implementation of laws concerning development and modern media. Wherever I end up, the most important thing is that I am able to positively contribute to society in some way.
How is The Resolution Project helping you achieve your goals?
The Resolution Project has made me realize that it does not matter what you are passionate about, you can use your knowledge and skills to develop your community. Do what you love and you will always create a wave of positive impact!
To learn more about the Social Venture Challenge at One Young World, click here.
To learn about other opportunities with The Resolution Project, click here.