YSF 2015 Event Report

#StoriesThatMatter

IIT Kharagpur Powered by

11th October 2015

Contents • • • • •

Theme President's Address About AIESEC Agenda Sessions:

• • • • • • •

• Mr. Thomas Payapalli • Mr. Sanchit Singhi • Mrs. Rupal Yogendra • Mr. Harish Iyer • Miss Harsha Mukherjee • Photography Workshop- Mr. Amrit Vatsa Vote Of Thanks Executive Board Co-ordinators Core Committee and Organising Committee Posters and Banners YSF in pictures YSF In numbers Partners And Stakeholders

It’s not about the stereotypes anymore, It’s about the stories we create. #StoriesThatMatter

Theme

The Youth Speak Forum 2015 in AIESEC IIT Kharagpur was a one day event, an initiative powered by AIESEC, which aims to bring together both young and senior leaders to form a diverse cross-sector and multi-generational space for inspiring conversations around pressing global issues.

It is a premiere event where inspiration and collaboration are converted to action.

We make this happen by taking our delegates through the unique and interactive framework of Inspire, Engage, Act. We create a blank campus for the youth of the nation, where they can paint their opinions on world issues and world trend that dwells and spindle around the youth, and they can express their view-points and share their ideas. The event is marked with a series of relevant workshops and guest lectures, by prominent personalities and world leaders.

Globally this forum aims to create an environment where people from diverse backgrounds can cross-pollinate ideas, share insights and gain new perspectives to create actionable outcomes to push the world forward. On the day of the event young students of the age group 18-24 yreas of age brainstorm, challenge and create ideas together with the speakers and world leaders and come up with solutions to some of the pressing challenges that exist in the world today.

This year the Youth Speak Forum focussed on varied topics like Social Responsibility, Behaviour as a society, Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Inspire: To create change, it must also change mind sets.

Every YouthSpeak Forum is arranged to inspire the delegates through experiential learning, power talks and keynote speakers. We want to open the minds of delegates to think differently and spark new innovations.

Engage:

Creating a positive impact requires different strengths and capabilities. By bringing together people from diverse backgrounds across sectors and geographies, we form a rich learning environment where speakers from varying organizations bring challenging perspectives and help spark opinions from the delegates.

Act: Taking action is the most important part. As inspiration and engagement occurs throughout the day, we want to ensure that delegates are given the chance to group together and form the sense of ownership and commitment towards the ideas and projects they pitch. We connect resources and networks with the projects to enable a real impact to occur.

President’s Address Dear Stakeholders,

2015 has been a great year for AIESEC IIT Kharagpur. Our vision, growth and happiness, has been our driving force in all our activities this year and we continue to strive to achieve same. I am extremely delighted to share the success story of our event, YouthSpeak Forum, with you all.

YouthSpeak Forum is a premier event that brings together both young and senior leaders to form a diverse cross sectional and multi-generational space for inspiring conversations on pressing global issues. This year’s YouthSpeak Forum created an environment where people from diverse backgrounds shared their insights and helped the delegates gain a newer perspective on current issues and empowered them with knowledge to create actionable outcomes to push the world forward. We at AIESEC IIT Kharagpur are overwhelmed by the response and the enthusiasm shown by the students from colleges in and around Kharagpur. The event was structured around our theme “Stories that Matter” and covered several diverse fronts which included social entrepreneurship, homosexuality and innovation.

I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Thomas Payepalli, Co-founder, Axilor Ventures for sharing his valuable insights; Ms. Harsha Mukherjee, Managing Director, International Institute of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (IICSR) for enlightening us on Social Entrepreneurship; Mr. Amrit Vatsa, Founder, ShaadiGraPher.com, for giving us a taste of what it would be to follow one’s passions and Mr. Harish Iyer for inspiring us to fight for everything and everyone we stand for.

This event would have never happened without Mrs. Rupal Yogengra and Mr Sachit Singhi, the co-founders of Stayzilla. It has been a privilege being associated with Stayzilla and I thank them for all the support and guidance provided. I would like to thank all our partners, for without their support YouthSpeak would have remained a distant dream.

This journey of success wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our esteemed clients, stakeholders and advisors, who supported us at every step. AIESEC IIT Kharagpur would remain indebted to you.

Sincerely, Rajnish Aggarwal

“Just imagine what solutions might be found if young people are given the space and encouragement to participate and lead�

Kofi Annan

About AIESEC

AIESEC is a global platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential. It is a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organisation run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Its members are interested in world issues, leadership and management. AIESEC does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion or national / social origin.

Since AIESEC was founded, it has engaged and developed over 1,000,000 young people who have been through an AIESEC experience. It is present in over 125 countries and with over 50,000 cross cultural internships each year directly impacting the interns and indirectly impacting thousands more. The impact of this organisation can be seen through its alumni who represent business, NGO and world leaders, including one Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Martti Atisaari of Finland.

AIESEC through its programs and plethora of opportunities offers invaluable experience through exposure at a very young age. These young minds, gaining through the leadership experiences are the ones who will actively take the world forward.

Our Vision Peace and fulfilment of humankind’s potential.

70,000

2,400

active members worldwide universities represented

126 countries and territories

Agenda Opening Ms. Harsha Mukherjee Mr. Thomas Payapalli Mr. Amrit Vatsa Mr. Amrit Vatsa-Workshop Mr. Harish Iyer Session by Stayzilla • Mrs. Rupal Yogendra • Mr. Sachit Singhi • Thank You Speech • • • • • • •

10:00 a.m.

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11:30 p.m.

10:30 a.m

12:30 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

6:00 p.m.

7:15 p.m.

8:30 p.m.

Sessions

Ms. Harsha Mukherjee Corporate Social Responsibility In this competitive world everyone is struggling hard to be a successful entrepreneur in both corporate as well as social terms. Students from engineering colleges want to give at least one try to this beautiful yet courageous leap of faith.

Youth Speak Forum 2015 at IIT Kharagpur witnessed Ms Harsha Mukherjee, an alum of the Indian Business School (ISB), Hyderabad, one of the top business schools in India. A philanthropist and social entrepreneur, she is the founder of Ekjaa Foundation, which provides fund raising services and fund monitoring and humanitarian support. Harsha, nominated as one of the top 10 women entrepreneurs in India by Dell Women Entrepreneur Network (DWEN-2012), is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consultant for many companies. Since all firms desire to maximize the profit along with impactful contribution to the society, these days many established start-ups face problem dealing with the CSR. Ms Harsha Mukherjee, a specialist in this field gave a thought provoking lecture on this topic stressing on the strategies needed to deal with CSR as such a huge amount of money that can’t just be invested anywhere and needs special care and attention. This would enable it to be beneficial for society as well as company both. Her approach on dealing with CSR along with taking care of company showed a wonderful blend of expertise and focus on social aspect of success in business. The story of this National Social Entrepreneur Fellow has bolstered the delegates in realizing their dreams and left a deep imprint on their minds creating an impact by her unmatched industrial knowledge and informative CSR programs.

The session concluded with cross questioning by participants who were very keen to get the intricacies of this aspect of business.

Mr. Thomas Payapalli Being Entrepreneur In the institute where technocrats and entrepreneurs are worshipped and where working in IT giants such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook etc. is sort of ultimate dream of a large section of students; came the session of Mr. Thomas Payapalli, an Ex-AIESECER, ExGeneral Manger of Microsoft India, Ex-Manager of Microsoft India Global Technical Support Centre and co-founder of Axilor Ventures – a venture capitalist.

He started with him talking about his wonderful and life changing experience in AIESEC, how AIESEC became one of his lifetime achievement. He went on to become an AIESEC International official.

Thomas had worked in Microsoft for almost 20 years. He stressed on the importance of working in MNC and why it is necessary, to setup a good base for a startup.

His informative and thought provoking lecture enlightened us on how entrepreneurship culture can be cultivated in today’s youth population. He also focused on some common challenges faced by entrepreneurs while starting a company, how to get funding, and what should be core values for a company. He even invited the participants to come forward with real and impactful ideas, so that Axilor could become their angel investor. His cosmopolitan views on starting a company and how it is different form a job, in a highly interactive session had a great impact on the participants.

This session gave a glimpse of a vivid and inspiring entrepreneurial personality. It brought forward the essence of AIESEC as an international organization and the opportunities it provides for a global experience.

Mr. Harish Iyer In a country where globalization is at its peaks but ironically talking about homosexuality or even thinking about it, is considered as a sin, AIESEC IIT Kharagpur broke the stereotype by inviting Harish Iyer as a guest speaker in Youth Speak Forum event 2015. An equal rights activist, he is best known for his quirky campaigns for the rights of Homosexuals, Women, Children and Animals. Harish is one of the most vocal voices for the LGBT campaign worldwide and thus is listed at #71 in the World Pride Powerlist 2013.

Iyer's jovial nature, easy approachability and his ability to handle complex questions with rare sensibility mixed with unexpected quirk made him the star speaker of the event. He shared his story. Harish's childhood was scarred by repeated sexual abuse. But with a little help from his animal friends, Harish learnt to take the lemons which life gave him and made sweet lemonade out of it.

“Homosexuals are as abnormal as heterosexuals” – Harish Iyer.

He spoke how LGBTQ community is as insane and sane as any other so called heterosexuals are, how it’s absolutely natural to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

He told us how hard his life was when he decided to come out of the closet, the struggles he faced and the voice inside him which was persistent to be the true-natural-self he was.

What ultimately matters is the attitude of staying strong and not giving up. This session was definitely the most liked by the audience as it was clear how they laughed throughout the session, on the witty and quirky statements made by Mr. Iyer. He was patient enough to answer all the questions and speak to few of them personally. He encouraged people to ditch the narrow mind; to break the stereotype; to come out of the closet and to discuss about this social stigma with their family and friends. This would serve as an initiative from every individual to solve the burning social issue of the society.

This session showed the values of AIESEC (as an international organisation) and the students of IIT Kharagpur which they believe in and how they do not shame in breaking the stereotypes and do not discriminate anyone based on their sexuality, region, colour or religion. What we learnt from this session was how important it is to demonstrate integrity as an individual and how important it is to know, feel what we truly and naturally are.

Stayzilla Co-founders Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur This workshop was organised by two of the founders of Stayzilla, a company that focuses on hospitality of people who travel to new places, and look forward to lodge in guesthouse, homestays, etc. The company which is worth over $50Mn, is one of the most successful start-ups in India.

The co-founders shared their experience about the early days of Stayzilla, what they decided to do with the idea, difficulties faced in early phases, how they overcame such difficulties and what has kept them going since. It was a full-on interactive session where the young and budding entrepreneurs exuberantly participated in the question-answer session and brought out the real significance of a forum. Not only did this jovial event satisfy the curiosity of the young minds, but the facts that speakers emphasised on along with their answers, intrigued and left them hungry to explore more about the wonders of entrepreneurship. They gave a brief introduction as to what kind of ideas the students should look forward to work upon. The kind of funding they would require, and the difficulties they would face were discussed too.

Stayzilla also organised a movie making competition for students of IIT Kharagpur. They had to make a movie of not more than 4 minutes, which was related to Styazilla’s latest campaign named ‘Find Your Ideal Stay-Buddy’. The topic of the movie was ‘Make room for something new using the idea of….’,the favourite activity of the group of students. The competition held was a successful event. The prize distribution ceremony was held just after the workshop of the co-founders.

Workshop

Mr. Amrit Vatsa

Visual Storytelling The digital workshop included the different aspects of visual storytelling, with Mr. Vatsa focussing on redefining the basic terms involved in stories, and then relating these to visual storytelling. Participants were encouraged to think out of the box while being involved in storytelling, and were taught how the same story could be told in different ways. Mr. Vatsa also shared his own experiences from the time he decided to start Shaadigrapher, and what made him stick to making documentaries, short films and photography.

Vote of Thanks

Through this letter, I, Ashank Kumar on behalf of AIESEC IIT Kharagpur would like to sincerely express my gratitude to all the stakeholders associated with the Youth Speak Forum (YSF) 2015, powered by AIESEC IIT Kharagpur. To start with I would like to thank Miss Harsha Mukherjee, leading CSR Consultant, well known philanthropist and founder of the Ekjaa Foundation, for starting the day's event on a bright note by delivering a very instructive session on the role of CSR and its importance, different aspects of entrepreneurship among other things. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Mr Thomas Payapalli, ex-GM Microsoft India and co-founder of Axilor Ventures, for sharing his journey and his valuable experience and views with the students. I would also like to thank Mr. Harish Iyer, known and appreciated for his invaluable contribution to the LGBT community at the global level, for making his presence felt at the forum. He further went on to deliver a very motivational and engaging session highlighting the need for the society to embrace the different communities. I would like to thank Stayzilla for hosting the short video making competition on "Make room for something new" inviting entries from 150+ students and giving away prizes to the best 3 adjudged videos. Also I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Rupal Yogendra (co-founder and COO , Stayzilla) and Mr. Sachit Singhi ( co-founder, Partnerships and Finance Head, Stayzilla) for their amazing interactive session with the students, sharing the ideas of Stayzilla which helped create awareness about Housing market in India and gave entrepreneurship advice to the students. I would also like to thank Mr. Amrit Vatsa (founder of ShaadiGraPher and 3minutestorytelling.com) for delivering a very fun-filled and entertaining workshop on Visual Storytelling and interacted with them sharing his experiences and giving valuable insights.

Finally I would like to thank the Executive Board Co-ordinators and the Core Committee, YSF 2015 who were responsible for conceiving such a big event and bringing thought to process and the Organising Committee (OC) for carrying out the event from the start to the end, managing any setbacks and keeping the event on track. I would like to commend all the members of AIESEC IIT Kharagpur for showing their zeal and enthusiasm towards the event, and working with utmost dedication, sincerity, ground and logistic support and assisting the OC in any other way to bring about the event. And I would like to sincerely express my gratitude to the entire Executive Board and the Local Committee President, Mr. Rajnish Aggarwal, for lending their utmost support at each and every step of the event and giving the members a chance to showcase their potential and conduct one of the biggest events of AIESEC in IIT Kharagpur, which also happens to be the flagship event of AIESEC both locally and at the global level. Last but not the least I would like to thank all the concerned authorities and the guidance of our able mentors, with whose help we were able to successfully conduct this event, and all the other people who have contributed and helped AIESEC. Thanking You. Best Regards.

Yours Sincerely, Ashank Kumar, Vice President (select) Business Development AIESEC IIT Kharagpur.

Executive Board Coordinators Vinayak Mahbubani Vice President-Incoming Exchange

Anshul Gupta Vice President-Marketing

Sashank Gambhira Vice President-Business Development

Core Committee Hardik Kharbandha Shreyas Saravanan SSS Anjan Himanshu Kumar

Organizing Committee OC President- Umang Kumar Hari Pranav K Jayant S Jeena Pinak B Mohapatra Rahul Goel Pruhta Kale Aakarsh Yadav Avinash Venkatesh Simran Garg Aditya Kothari Harsh Raj Abhilash Gollapalle Razdeep Hajong Umang Palod Anurag Goyal

Posters

Snapshots

YouthSpeak Forum in numbers

600+ Online Registrations - 100+ Social Media Participants - 12000+ Lives impacted - Countless

Number of Attendees( sessions and workshop) -

Partners and Stakeholders Title Partner

Platinum Partners

Silver Partner

Session Partners

Travel Partner

Outreach Partner

Food Partner

Strategic Partner

Let Your Voice be Heard

YouthSpeak Forum 2015 AIESEC IIT Kharagpur