A Resolution Fellow and Founder of Write Your Future.
This month, The Resolution Project will host its twelfth Social Venture Challenge at The Youth Assembly at the United Nations in New York. We’re introducing four young leaders who became Resolution Fellows after winning the Resolution Social Venture Challenge at Youth Assembly and are now implementing impactful ventures in their home communities.
Please introduce yourself.
Hi! My name is Susana Sakamoto, and I am from São Paulo, Brazil. I am the Founder and Director of Write Your Future, a project that was awarded the Resolution Fellowship in February 2017.
What is the challenge your venture seeks to address?
According to UNICEF, there are 3.7 million orphans in Brazil. More than 50% of these orphans arrive at the orphanage when they are older than 5 years old, which substantially decreases their chances of being adopted. Unfortunately, when these orphans turn 18, they are forced to leave the orphanage. As a result, most of these youth end up turning to the streets and entering a life riddled with job insecurity, violence, and crime.
Write Your Future gives these youth the possibility to dream for a better future. Our mission is to ensure that these young people develop autonomy, financial independency, and a life plan to continue their education.
How is your venture addressing those challenges?
Write Your Future organizes workshops to help orphans and at-risk youth develop self-knowledge and the necessary skills for today’s world. After these workshops, we send these youth to partner institutions that give free professional development courses to help these youth move toward career-readiness.
What does Youth Assembly at the United Nations mean to you?
The Youth Assembly is a unique gathering that joins together young leaders from all over the world who are making a difference in their community. Together, these leaders foster dialogue and discussion on the 17 SDGs to further maximize their impact. Write Your Future also works to implement the 2030 Agenda by standing for SDG 10 to reduce inequalities in Brazil for a more inclusive society with equal opportunities for all youth.
What does The Resolution Project mean to you?
The Resolution Project’s work is inspiring to me. By working with and empowering young people that have identified a problem in their community with the necessary tools to tackle this problem, they are creating a generation of leaders who will create impact.
What is the most valuable part of the Resolution Fellowship?
The most important part of the Resolution Fellowship is the ability to be connected with other youth who share the same purpose. Learning from my mentors and sharing my experiences and world views with other Fellows facilitates cultural exchanger while catalyzing social impact to overcome challenges every young social entrepreneur faces.
A very remarkable moment that remains very close to my heart is when Mr. Oliver Libby, Chair of the Resolution’s Board, told us after the Youth Assembly’s Closing Ceremonies that, “We love when you succeed, but we love it more when you have a problem and reach out to us so that we can help you.”
The message I take with me everyday is that everybody from the Resolution family will always be there to support you in every challenge that comes our way.
What role do young leaders play in the world today?
Young leaders have a key role to play in our world, because what we do today — and everyday — will determine our tomorrow.
What are your goals for the future?
My future plan is continue to strengthen this virtuous cycle, so that the youth who were part of the project’s initial stages will continue to impact others in their community and change the reality around them.
We want to take Write Your Future to other countries that share the same problem. We are seeking support from NGOs and institutions worldwide and calling for volunteers that want to make an impact on the lives that need it so much.