Since 2020, LP4Y has enjoyed consultative status with the United Nations as an expert for the inclusion of Youth
What is LP4Y’s action in the United States?
Our association Life Project 4 Youth (LP4Y) was founded by a French couple, Laure and Jean-Marc Delaporte, who went on a one-year world tour with their five children.
Struck by extreme poverty, lack of support, injustice and exclusion suffered by young people from the slums, the Delaportes decided to change their lives by founding in 2009 in the Philippines a first training center intended for young people from 17 to 24 years old.
The volunteers working in this first center and the following ones have developed innovative educational approaches allowing young people to discover the professional world, to define a life project, to acquire in condensed format transversal skills such as IT, English , the main functions of a company and expected interpersonal skills, but above all to have confidence in themselves to launch into this new world.
After a few months in an LP4Y center, young people are able to pass job interviews for entry-level positions in groups such as Sodexo, CGI, Webhelp, Wipro, Decathlon, etc. The LP4Y association currently exists in 14 countries.
In the United States, LP4Y has a triple objective: firstly an advocacy role with the UN to plead the cause of excluded young people and victims of poverty; then a function of supporting local inclusion actions and finally, a financing role for LP4Y training centers.
Since 2020, LP4Y has enjoyed consultative status with the United Nations as an expert on youth inclusion. We strive to draw the attention of States to the urgency of the situation of marginalized young people and to make their voices heard, while advocating for legislative and educational changes for the successful professional integration of disadvantaged young people. To do this, we actively participate in various commissions and panels, and involve young people from the slums directly at the UN platform.
For our role in supporting local inclusion, LP4Y organized an International Inclusion Forum for the first time in 2023 in NY to exchange good practices and connect different local actors working on this theme.
Finally, for the financing role, LP4Y has been organizing various “general public” events in New York since 2015 to raise awareness in the community and raise funds for the association.
What is the importance of the Gala for LP4Y?
For several years, LP4Y US has had three annual events: a Gala in Manhattan which takes place in the spring, an Art Fair ‘Together We Art’ which takes place in the fall, and a dinner in white which takes place in Westchester at the Back to School.
LP4Y initially having a French DNA, there was from the start a nice snowball effect around the two French high schools in the region in Manhattan and Westchester.
During each event, we are keen to present in an educational way both the ambition and objectives of the association but also its concrete results.
During the evening of our annual gala, silent and live auctions raise $700 to $800,000, which represents 30% of the association’s overall annual budget. The gala is in some ways the highlight of our year!
The annual New York gala funds 30% of overall annual programs
What actions are possible thanks to the funding generated by this gala?
In 2023, more than 1,600 young people have been trained in the 25 LP4Y centers in India, Nepal, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Lebanon and Myanmar. This is a constantly increasing figure and we are soon planning new center openings in Egypt and Sri Lanka.
LP4Y is a very frugal association. In the centers, we have volunteers who work and live on site at the edge of the slums. In Europe and the United States, more administrative functions are held by volunteers. For example, Board Members offer their talents and time to LP4Y outside of their working hours. Thanks to these frugality efforts, 90% of the funds collected go directly to the training centers!
The annual New York gala funds 30% of the overall annual programs, which corresponds to financing the training of 530 young people per year, but in reality, the impact is much broader.
Indeed, when a young person finds his first paid job, there is a halo effect on everyone around him who, thanks to him, gains better living conditions. Furthermore, as part of their LP4Y training, Young People organize themselves into micro-enterprises serving their community and offer multiple workshops adapted to local social and economic needs. In total, our calculations show that more than 125,000 people have been positively impacted by the 8,300 young people trained at LP4Y since 2009!
How can our readers help you, on an individual level but also through their business for example?
There are several ways to support the LP4Y cause: whoever you are, you can help. Each semester, we recruit volunteers who are trained and go into the field for internships or full-time jobs to work alongside young people in the training centers. Then, we always need help either in the practical organization of events (where we need for example communication skills, organization skills, etc.) or for the day-to-day running of the association.
You can also be a partner as a company, helping in multiple ways: content development in our programs, skills sponsorship, online interview simulations with Young People, financing part of our activities and programs. You can also connect us with your teams present in the countries where we have centers, to organize exchange activities and discovery of the world of work and skills development with Young People as well as first-level professional opportunities. The team will be happy to outline all options.
Finally, as a citizen, you can help by raising awareness among those around you of the cause of these excluded young people, by supporting our actions and by helping us to meet new actors of change who, in turn, can enable us together to help Young people to escape poverty sustainably.
To participate in the gala, click here.
2024-02-07 17:11:10
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