Abinta Kabir, a young budding philanthropist, shared a passion where she would come back to her country and help the less fortunate so that they can have a better shot at a tough and cruel reality. It was her dream to create a Bangladesh that every other country can envy.
Abinta believed that all individuals are innately good and that they are looking for ways to do good things in life, but do not always have the means or necessary backing to do so. She also believed it will be her generation that will step up to bridge this gap. In her own words, "I am the generation that is supposed to help the nation grow; I have to try my best to do what I can for my community."
Abinta died in the Holy Artisan attack with 21 other innocent people in 2016.
The words of Abinta, her passion and her vision have been the inspiration behind the new joint initiative of Abinta Kabir Foundation and Casper Foundation called, Abinta's Young Change Leaders (AYCL).
This brand-new youth development programme is designed for those particular youths who want to do good not only for themselves but also for their broader community by addressing pressing issues that are often overlooked. The programme aims to provide early-stage social entrepreneurs a platform to submit their venture ideas, even at an ideation stage. The age group has been selected to be 18 to 26-year olds and the programme connects university students, development young professionals and social changemakers. The goal of this programme is to promote collaborative leadership opportunities, or teamwork, as well as find embedded system's change ideology among its participants.
The top 20 concept submissions of teams will be taken to a hackathon competition and the top 10 will get a chance to pitch in the grand finale. The 48-hourhackathon will take place in Abinta Gallery of Fine Arts on August 01 and 02. Additionally, the grand finale will take place at the Ismailit Jamatkhana and Centre (IJKC) on August 03.
After the competition is over, the top two teams will get a chance to be part of the AYCL Incubator Programme, where they will be provided partnership opportunities, networking avenues, a co-working space, as well as mentorship and guidance to launch a pilot project.
The programme encourages youths to think about addressing issues through measurable impact and a sustainable venture, and sparks the curiosity in how youths want to take care of the children of future generations through systemic changes. The programme's key focus is empathy, where the participants will need to have ideas that will benefit their community and find solutions that are contextualised to the local needs.
