Youth Involve is an initiative of Bosco Institute Jorhat. The idea of Youth Involve was sparked off by a conversation with an alumnus of Bosco Institute, who, while narrating her life story, felt that her life would be fulfilled if she could save another girl like her from the pain that she went through. YI channelises the energy and power of feelings (anger, sadness, longing, delight) into transformative engagement and life-fostering action. Over the years, YI has given wings to the dreams of 31 young people who form a networked community of young social entrepreneurs. In this journey, while success is the goal and the desire, failure also is an option.

The quarterly review of the YI journey was held on September 3 and 4 at Bosco Institute. As is the custom, besides the current cohort of eight social entrepreneurs, four YI alumni joined the review meeting. During the review meetings, the YI social entrepreneurs celebrate their journeys and achievements, identify their challenges and strengthen themselves with skills needed to take their initiatives forward and to become resilient.

During the review meeting, mapping and sharing the key achievements and challenges and working on the measures to mitigate the challenges were considered. The review meeting started with a prayer for Manipur (there are YI social entrepreneurs from Manipur, including one in the present cohort). YI Trivia, a very engaging ‘quiz’ on the idea of YI and its origins, history and milestones, helped reconnect with the journey of YI over the years.

Organization Maturity Stages Framework based on the human life stages was used to analyze the growth, achievements and challenges of the initiatives. The individual and group discussions, reflections, sharing and feedback helped the growth journey of the social entrepreneurs and move from a generalized narration to articulation of the many specific and seemingly insignificant aspects that add value to their progress.

The RAS (Run Away Space) is a unique ingredient of YI review meetings. RAS is a safe, open space where social entrepreneurs run away from their work, shed the entrepreneurial garb and connect as persons – sharing personal stories of happiness, struggles, emotions and vulnerabilities and finding acceptance and support. RAS (meaning “nectar”, “elixir”, “juice”) is a moment of personal and emotional bonding based on the conviction that personal relationships where one can be strong yet vulnerable self are at the core of life and make one more authentic.

As the two-day review meeting concluded, a renewed commitment emerged to attain future milestones. YI participants pledged to embrace the future with inclusiveness, integrity, trust, empathy, and competence—the shared values that define the YI Family.

As Youth Involve continues to nurture dreams and empower the youth, it serves as a shining testament to the power of collective effort and resilience, inspiring a generation of young social entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams and create lasting societal impact. "Should young dreams be allowed to die?" a question that gave birth to YI in 2012, goes along very well with the Salesian Strenna 2024: “The dream that makes you dream: A heart that transforms ‘wolves’ into ‘lambs’.”