Ideas to change the world

MEDIA RELEASE
30 November 2015

Young Christchurch social entrepreneurs launch ideas to change the world at Christchurch event

CHRISTCHURCH - A social entrepreneurship accelerator for young New Zealanders is launching for the first time in Christchurch this week.

Live the Dream is a 9-week, full-time programme run by the charity Inspiring Stories, which aims to see every young Kiwi unleash their potential to change the world. It’s headed by 2015 Young New Zealander of the Year, Guy Ryan.

Almost 60 people young people with ideas for a better world will participate in Live the Dream across its three chapters in Christchurch, Auckland, and Wellington. While the programme is now in its third year, and has helped produce some outstanding young social entrepreneurs to date, the summer of 2015-16 is the first time it has been run in the South Island.

“It’s incredibly important that all young New Zealanders have access to the skills, inspiration, and backing they need, to be the change they want to see in the world,” said Guy Ryan, Inspiring Stories’ CEO and creator of Live the Dream, “And in Christchurch we see this amazing ecosystem of enterprise, social innovation, and all kinds of creativity. The young people of this city are awesome, and we want to help grow what they can do, working alongside the established community of social enterprise in Christchurch.”

The Christchurch programme is being run with support from Ngai Tahu, and three of the participants, and one of the programme's tutors, are Ngai Tahu rangatahi.

Record numbers of applications were received for the intensive, immersive programme this year. Places are free to successful applicants, with the $3000 cost to put a young person through the programme covered by Government and corporate funding.

Ryan created Live the Dream on the basis that social entrepreneurship - the idea of using traditional business models to solve social problems, with a responsibility to purpose before profit - is an invaluable skill set for young people to develop.

“This summer, a new crop of Cantabrians will learn, in depth, how to create that social good. They will also leave the programme with an idea that could benefit their communities, country, or even world,” Ryan said.

Ideas among the Christchurch participants range from using art to combat bullying, minimising food waste, connecting youth with opportunities, and creating a waste-to-energy processing plant.

During Live the Dream, participants are guided through a nine-week process to explore an issue in depth, come up with a venture model to help solve it, validate and test their idea, and look to launching it at the end of the programme.

Mentors and guest speakers include social enterprise trailblazers, captains of industry, and other local leaders in the for-profit and not for-profit sectors.

Past participants in Live the Dream are still working on their ventures - and some are even running them full-time, such as Bonnie Howland, an alum of Live the Dream whose Mascara for Sight will help cure treatable blindness in the Pacific Islands.

The programme runs from November 30, 2015 until February 18, 2016.

More information can be found at: http://livethedream.org.nz

Interviews with this year’s participants, or with Live the Dream creator Guy Ryan, are available at or before the Christchurch launch event on Tuesday 1 December, 2015. RSVP at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/live-the-dream-christchurch-launch-tickets-19431091919

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