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IMPACT 0508: HELPING OTHERS EXCEL IN LIFE AND ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS

Youth Action Challenge (YAC) is a platform for youth to provide solutions that tackle the issues we are concerned about. Since October 2021, over 80 teams and more than 310 youths have undertaken the YAC Season 3 journey.

Cadence Cheng, 29, a product manager by day, was part of the Experiment Purposefully Team during Season 3 of the Youth Action Challenge, which aims to guide youths towards their desired career goals. Her team matches users with mentors who have experienced professionals in their field of interest, ensuring the mentor-mentee relationship is beneficial to both. Today she shares more about her journey!

What was your role within your YAC project?

My role in Experiment Purposefully during the YAC project is being one of the key drivers, driving conversations and ensuring the team is kept on track and aligned throughout our time working together!

What motivated you to join YAC?

I was inspired by the possibilities that we can create when we maximise our own potential. YAC is one of the key platforms that provides such relevant opportunities for us to serve, as well as solutions for more youth like ourselves for the real challenges that many of us are faced with.

Can you share with us your experience with your YAC project?

We had to go through rounds of reiterations of our ideas and aligning what mattered to us as a group. During the process, when we did our user interviews, I realised people had a huge desire to come together to share about their challenges and support one another through it.

What are some challenges you faced while working on your YAC project?

It was challenging juggling this on top of my full-time job and other practice. Thankfully, all of us in the team were very dedicated and kept to our end of our commitment to make it work.

Could you share more on how your project has a positive impact?

Our project serves as a representation for experienced hires, a segment currently underserved. There is a presumption that the longer people work, the more we know what we are doing. And that is not necessarily true. As such, we wanted to highlight this and allow people to recognise that we can always seek help and not try to count on ourselves for everything.

Were there any key takeaways or learning points from your time with YAC?

Obsession with the problem is very important— it ensures that we solve something that we care about and that the world needs a solution for. Aligning that within your team is crucial to the success of bringing it to life.