‘OWNit!’ by Stax, Sarvodaya Fusion to foster social business entrepreneurship among youth

From left: Sarvodaya Fusion Manager CSR partnership Shirani Elasinghe, Sarvodaya Fusion Manager Isura Silva, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement General Secretary Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, Stax Inc Managing Director Ruwindhu Peiris and Stax Inc Manager Sandamali Wijeratne at the MoU signing held on 12 October

Stax Inc. and Sarvodaya Fusion recently commenced a pilot CSR project titled ‘OWNit!’ to provide entrepreneurship guidance and IT skills to youth from selected schools in the Kotte area. 

The initiative draws on Stax’s global focus on technology for education and past experience in fostering entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka, as well as Sarvodaya Fusion’s expertise in ICT education and social entrepreneurship. 

The Memorandum of Understanding between Stax and Sarvodaya for this project was signed on 12 October at the Sarvodaya Nagarodaya office, Colombo 08 by Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement General Secretary Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne and Stax Inc. Sri Lanka Managing Director Ruwindhu Peiris. 

The broader objective of the project is to encourage and assist youth who are just entering the workforce – after having sat for the 2015 GCE Advanced Level examination – to take full ownership of their future earning potential by focusing on honing skills that would help them be better employees, as well as future business owners and employers. 

The ‘OWNit!’ project will involve the immediate past students of Janadhipathi Balika Vidyalaya, Nawala; Hewawitharana Vidyalaya, Rajagiriya; Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Kotte; Sri Subuthi Vidyalaya, Battaramulla and President’s College, Rajagiriya. 15 candidates will be selected from these schools, based on aptitude and interest in entrepreneurship, to follow a specialised course in Entrepreneurship and Information Communication Technology. 

Apart from these modules, all selected youth will also receive practical guidance and mentorship to hone their social business ideas. Sarvodaya Fusion will provide the required curriculum training and course material for the program, while Stax will contribute funding and mentorship hours to the project.