Natore bootcamp with passionate&nbsp;participant Ayan7th Oct 2024&nbsp;&nbsp;Meet&nbsp;Mr. Al-Imran Ayan, a passionate&nbsp;14-year-old student in the eighth grade&nbsp;who is eager to learn about entrepreneurship. He recently attended the GP Accelerator Natore bootcamp alongside his parents.At this young age he is surprisingly passionate to learn the mindset of those who have built successful ventures, learning how unicorn startups operate, and listening to stories of founders of creating startups based on creative ideas. He aims to use these insights in his&nbsp;entrepreneurial journey to create employment opportunities for more people and for a better future. He recognizes that this can significantly benefit society and help those in need.Ayan Said&nbsp;“I am very excited to participate in the bootcamp! I have had the opportunity to meet a variety of people, interact with them, and learn a lot about business and IT that I hope to utilize in the future.”From ideation to prototype testing, the bootcamp experience was filled with valuable learning opportunities, including pitch preparation, demo practice, Q&amp;A sessions, and more. Our goal is to ignite a spark in participants to address local challenges and nurture future passionate enthusiasts like Ayan, who will lead us toward a brighter future for Bangladesh.

<div class="custom-page-basic-font-size source-sans-pro">It is a great honor for Grameenphone to be recognized by SDG Brand Champion Award for the work we are actively doing to empower societies, specially focusing on Youth Empowerment, Digital Inclusion &amp; Online Safety.We have received the honorable mention in the category of sustainable partnership &amp; institutions. Grameenphone stands out as one of the few organizations in Bangladesh working with such strong array of global and local development partners such as UNDP, Plan International, UNICEF, Cisco, BDRCS &amp; BRAC to create a positive impact in the lives of millions.The recognition from the Brand Forum and the honorable jury is a great inspiration for taking our journey forward to Empower Societies!Big shout out the GP team who has been supporting, inspiring and delivering all the hard work! Congratulations to the team</div>

SDG Brand Champion Award 

launching of Freelancing Factory8th Oct 2024Grameenphone Academy launched Freelancing Factory to expand the opportunity of earning $100K by 100+ students!In Bangladesh, every year 2 Mn youth are added to the job market while only a handful of jobs are on offer. Thus, it is hardly possible to match employment opportunity for this huge flock. Other side of the story, the biggest freelancing platform Upwork is ready with 10 Mn jobs to offer and worldwide, the average earning of a freelancer per hour is $21. If we can&nbsp;ensure the skills match, Bangladesh can be the biggest supplier in the global freelancing market, and this can become our national economic success story!With this objective, Grameenphone Academy has launched&nbsp;‘Freelancing Factory’&nbsp;with an ambition to make a pool of 106 students to earn $1000 in 8 months through a mentor-led upskilling program.&nbsp;<a href="https://telenor.workplace.com/profile.php?id=100011508513778">Hans Martin</a>, Chief Corporate Officer of Grameenphone, officially kicked off the program and accoladed the diverse cohort with a demography of 40% female and 19% outside of Dhaka. Two young mentors, Yasin Ahmed and Muntasir Hasnat, have taken the challenge to guide the selected students to make this pilot project a success. The students will learn UX/UI and Web development through WordPress through 64 online class during this time in two (2) separate batches.Two students from audience panel shared their experience and expectation which are testimonials for the validity of the initiative. Tamanna, resident of Borguna-Amtoli, came to Dhaka just to join the session. She completed a number courses from different platforms including Grameenphone Academy but she is in need of hand holding instructions to implement the learning to earning. Tamanna is one of the qualified students, out 600+ applicants, who passed the two level assessments.Ragib Raiyan; BSc Engineer from Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Trishal-Mymensingh; with hearing challenge expressed his hope and confidence to start earning through this guided learning program.&nbsp;<a href="https://telenor.workplace.com/profile.php?id=61551122788092">Sayeda Tahya Hossain</a>, our Chief Human Resources Officer, motivated the participants and encouraged them to learn skills and look for opportunity to apply them in a wider domain. Grameenphone CEO,&nbsp;<a href="https://telenor.workplace.com/profile.php?id=100010586894848">Yasir Azman</a>, inspired the crowd with the story of Zero to one, encouraging the youth to break the zero and start their earning journey. Overwhelmed to see and hear the stories of the enthusiastic youth, our CEO also expressed his desire of being a freelancer if he got the opportunity to restart his career!The following workshop was conducted by both the instructors who shared the curriculum and the detailed learning plans for the next Eight (&nbsp;months. Students were inquisitive expressing their solid expectation from the program.Head of Talent Management,&nbsp;<a href="https://telenor.workplace.com/profile.php?id=61556448276639">Rifaqat Rasheed</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://telenor.workplace.com/profile.php?id=100011382407829">Farhana Islam</a>, Head of ESG along with their team also joined the session and expressed their intention to make the program scalable to create a rolling and sustainable impact to the economy of Bangladesh.Finger crossed for the Freelancing Factory to kick start the earning journey!&nbsp;

launching of Freelancing Factory

<div class="custom-page-basic-font-size source-sans-pro">Fourteen-year-old Tahmina (not her real name) a happy go lucky girl had all the usual dreams of an adolescent girl. But that changed when she met a boy she liked and upon persistent request shared couple of intimate pictures. This was the turning point when she was constantly under pressure to have a more intimate relationshipFortunately, she was aware of 1098, the helpline for children and called the helpline during pandemic. Initially she was very unsure and scared, but after few calls she found the much needed assurance and comfort which gave her the courage to open up. So she sought help from the call center counselor. The call center agent reassured her and gave her more examples of support.  Her story is not unique. She reported that she had developed a relationship with a 16 year old boy during the lockdown and at one point of their interaction through popular digital communication app she shared two private photos with him. She never thought she would be at any risk as she trusted him and had an emotional attachment with the boy. However, after she shared the pictures the entire scenario changed. The boy became more demanding and wanted much more intimacy in the relationship. Which made Tahmina uncomfortable, and she refused. This made the boy more adamant, and he started threatening her with dire consequences by making the photos digitally viral.  At this point Tahmina remembered the helpline number that she had noticed in one of the online safety banners, a co-branded communication part of Grameenphone Unicef online safety project.Learning the details the psychosocial counsellor, social worker, and the manager decided to contact the boy. They counselled him, including informing him of the legal and social consequences of his misconduct. Multiple session made him conscious and ashamed which led him to a promise to change his approach.Since then the helpline has checked with Tahmina few times and learned that the boy is behaving very well and has not bothered her ever since. Tahmina thanked Child helpline 1098 for their support and for helping her to overcome this problem of online abuse. Since then she has been trained on online safety and she has promised to be digitally cautious and smart.As part of a comprehensive child protection system, the government of Bangladesh has set up child helplines, to strengthen programmes and support children and their families, through a 24- hour toll-free telephone service. The programmes serve to build the capacity and increase the number of call centre agents. Grameenphone, in partnership with UNICEF, has extended its support to strengthen the service, whether it is the training of call centre agents to psychological counsellors or the core operation of the centre. </div>

A life changing phone call

<div class="custom-page-basic-font-size source-sans-pro">Sadmeena, Proshanta and Maliha are few among the many graduates from Grameenphone’s upskilling platform. Their experience at the Grameenphone Academy are testaments of the real needs and impact in the lives of young people.Sadmeena’s storyI am Sadmeena Promi, working as a Curriculum Developer, BRAC IED (in Early Childhood Development Program) also an explorer of Grameenphone Explorers Program where over 340 bright students from all over the country had gathered and showed their interest. The experience of the GP Explorer 2.0 program was quite incredible where this program included a variety of virtual and live interactions between participants and mentors, with a focus on improving communication, entrepreneurship, and digital skills. It provided a conceptual understanding learning setting in which we were able to meet with industry leaders, work in groups, and receive ongoing guidance from our coaches. That had a significant impact on the overall experience, and I believe that this is the program's unique feature: it allows individuals to go beyond their main strengths. For example, the few GP Explorers sessions on developing technical skills inspired me to pursue new interests, and I was awarded the "Commonwealth of Learning: Grow with Google '' scholarship as a result. And it was in this way that the GP Explorers program expanded my horizons. Secondly, I'm aiming to carry my learning forward and progressively transform into my area of expertise using the information I gained during the program on technical skills, leadership, and soft skills. Hence, I am really thankful Grameenphone’s initiative to organize GP Explorer-youth development program aimed at upskilling and preparing us for future.Proshanta’s storyHi! This is Proshanta Bhowmik, currently studying for master’s degree in IT from Macquarie University. I am a proud explorer of Grameenphone Explorers, where the program not only taught me communication skills and digital marketing, but also presented me with a comprehensive view of acceptable employment practices. It prepared us all for the job market, and as a result, I was able to secure my first job before the end of the program. As explorers, we had the opportunity to test our ideas, knock through boundaries, and rediscover ourselves. Along with the course contents and weekly mentorship, we also received something unique called the Masterclass, where large corporate experts and changemakers presented their practical expertise, listened to our ideas, answered our questions, and directed our views in the proper path. The GP Explorers program encouraged us to look for new chances and use them to further our education. We had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with a wide range of people. This helped us become better team players, leaders, and communicators. I feel prepared to embrace the transformation and contribute to the advancement of my country as a result of the GP Explorers program. Every obstacle or stepping block, in my opinion, creates innovative approaches. If Covid-19 was the key barrier in my situation, GP Explorer provided me with the opportunity to expand my knowledge and improve my skills. Thank you for having a wonderful experience, Grameenphone.Maliha’s StoryI am Sarwat-A-Maliha, currently working as a Digital Ninja of Grameenphone Academy, Grameenphone Ltd. I am an explorer of Grameenphone Explorers where the program gave me a broad overview of acceptable workplace behavior along with communication, digital marketing &amp; entrepreneurship skills. It trained us all for our future careers, and I was able to land my first job before graduating. I never thought I would get the first job with the first interview of my life because I always had a fear of facing interviews but through adequate training and coaching, this program really helped me to overcome the fear and get my first job. GP Explorers program gave me the chance to broaden my skills and sharpen my talents. Thank you for having a wonderful experience, Grameenphone.</div>

Natore bootcamp with passionate participant Ayan

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SDG Brand Champion Award

launching of Freelancing Factory

A life changing phone call

Shaping the future of young people

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