Programs
Young Change Agents offers a range of programs to support young people in developing an entrepreneurial mindset, skillset, and toolset with a focus on creating change in their community through social enterprise.
No matter where you're starting we can help support you in creating a scaffolded entrepreneurial learning journey.
Select a program below to find out more or contact us.
Explorer Program
Our first stage social entrepreneurship program is a "hackathon style" workshop where teams identify problems within their communities then ideate, validate, prototype and pitch a social enterprise idea to a judging panel. Educators learn alongside students.
Digital Boss
Digital Boss provides a real-world experience of running digital business - it's a unique opportunity for students to have a comprehensive experience of being an entrepreneur within a safe, educational environment. Students will go through the process of launching, managing, and closing a purpose-driven digital enterprise.
PlanetASchools
PlanetASchools provides a unique opportunity for young people to address one of the world's most pressing issues - the climate crisis! This program supports students as they tackle an environmental issue at their school, and learn about becoming climate consultants, whilst immersing themselves in the world of social enterprise.
Professional Development
Young Change Agents are passionate supporters of Australian teachers and we have co-designed with educators a 4-stage teacher capacity building process. We also provide online resources, quarterly challenges and ongoing support for our teacher champions!
Consulting & Co-Design
In partnership with Government and Industry, we facilitate codesign workshops with youth to capture their perspective and ideas on specific topics and challenges. Youth are tasked with identifying problems, providing their ideas and validating with other young people.
YINC - Youth Incubator program
Students are empowered to bring their ideas to life with mentoring and masterclasses. This is a youth focused program that mirrors adult-based incubator programs in content and style. We also provide opportunities for young people to build their prototypes and crowdfund to launch their enterprise.
Industry Intrapreneurship
This program is an opportunity for young people to experience solving real-world problems for companies across different industries. Students are presented with a problem and use design thinking processes to develop, validate and prototype solutions.
Lighting the Spark
Young Change Agents launched the 'Lighting the Spark' report - the culmination of an 18-month codesign process co-led by proud Larrakia leader Nicole Brown and Young Change Agents. Lighting the Spark has been co-designed with over 200 stakeholders led by proud Larrakia leader Nicole Brown in 2020 and is now available for schools to deliver within the schools and Indigenous communities.
Social Enterprise in a Box
This program launches a retail social enterprise within a school, providing a real-world experience of working in a venture for students. Students are empowered to design products for the store, provided with digital "currency" and additionally to learn financial literacy and sustainability.
Teen in Business Awards
Young Change Agents is a founding partner of these national awards recognising the incredible entrepreneurial ideas and achievements of young people from across the country. Students will become part of a community of young change-makers, get feedback on their ideas and be in the running for a share in $20k of prizes.
$20 Boss
$20 Boss is a free-to-access program that provides a tangible way of supporting students to learn, identify and talk about the skills they’re building. $20 Boss supports students to solve a real problem and helps them better understand their relationship with money.
Young Change Agents Club
This is a weekly lunch time or after school club program that empowers youth to develop and launch their own social enterprises with support from facilitators and mentors. This can be run directly for schools or at local libraries or start-up hubs!
Design Challenges
We run design thinking challenges for young people that focus on a specific theme or issue and take students through empathy, problem definition, ideation, validation, prototyping and presenting their early stage idea. We also run quarterly nation-wide design challenges - check out past and current challenges!
Academy for Enterprising Girls
This is an innovative entrepreneurship program, supported by the Australian Government designed to cultivate young women's skills in design thinking, technology, and business. Young Change Agents can bring the Academy to your school at no cost.
"We saw that the [YCA] program was a great mix of two things for our girls:
1.The design thinking process and
2. The whole entrepreneurial style of ideas being mixed with social consciousness which was important for us."
Belinda Kelly, Principal Riverside Girls High School
