Mental Wellness Accelerator

Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace.

-Kofi Annan

Our mission at the Universal Health Care Lab is to equip changemakers with platforms, assets, and relationships to create a more inclusive society and sustainable planet. As a part of this mission, we have created the Mental Wellness Accelerator Program to mobilize youth to co-create and spread mental health innovations at the community levels and replicating at the regional and national levels.

We have worked with learners in 7 countries and over 1000+ community leaders and…

we have gained incredibly valuable insights including:

Innovation Mindsets can be Learned – while design thinking approaches not yet mainstream among schools, innovative thinking is infectious and can be caught when the right environment is created. The story of community change has become focused too much on bureaucracy and politics. The backbone of social change, however, is small teams of individuals with the tools and platforms to invite allies to co-create new futures.

Online collaboration can get BIG – when learners share and collaborate across regions or countries, seeds of scalable impact are planted. Our 11-month program supports teams as they design and prototype projects, leveraging formal and informal networks as platforms of allies. Scaling successful model benefits even more communities and young leaders, reducing poverty, strengthening local governance, and creating a more just economy.

Schools and communities are social innovation labs - the traditional model of school research being separate from barangay implementation is not working. We can instill a new sense of possibility among youth to use their student projects to actually implement impact-oriented projects right in their own communities.

Inter-sectoral Co-creation has Powerful Ripple Effects – the reality is that the right connections help a lot, and that these connections can be broadened to unlock inter-sectoral synergies. We don’t have to feel shy or guilty about connecting to partners who can help our advocacy – but we must find allies in government, CSOs and private sectors to produce public value for everyone.

Program Strategy

The Youth Financial Inclusion Accelerator works with committed youth leaders to achieve dramatic improvements in financial inclusion at barangay, municipal, city, provincial, regional, and national scale. Through a combination of digital tools, communication strategies, and governance innovation, young changemakers can mobilize communities and resources to open hearts and minds, combat biases and inequities, and activate ALL stakeholders to do their part.

Use Storytelling

to Shift Perspectives

We are using stories of the participating changemakers and social entrepreneurs to create projects and reframe the story of youth innovation and entrepreneurship.

Create Equal Opportunity for Under-served Changemakers

Working together with Impact Partners who know their communities best, we provide changemakers from diverse locations, economies, races, religions, gender associations, ages, and physical abilities with innovation infrastructure and support and access to peer, business, and capital networks.

Collective Changemaker Support

Sometimes tools and skills are not enough. The community of fellow changemakers, accountability conversations, and collaborative analysis and interpretation help changemakers continue to push forth in the sometimes frustrating and emotionally draining work of social change.

Digital Transformation in Governance Accelerates Gains

Using our digital platforms, ideation, design, and launch are far easier to do at scale. Through the right online tools and collaboration, changemaker teams can design and implement 10 times faster than when they work in isolation.

Sangguniang Kabataan Changemakers as Innovation Bootcamp Champions

By converging municipal problem sets with schoolwork, young researchers and innovation teams can produce solutions to support towns and cities.

The Galing Purok/San Felipe model of barangay open innovation challenges. (click here)

SK-led Youth Innovation Ordinance filed in Baguio (click here)

Sample Youth Innovation Challenge Guidelines (click here)

Organizing a Financial Inclusion Bootcamp Manual (click here)

Universities and Senior High Schools as Research and Innovation Partners (Town and Gown approach)

ROLES OF DIFFERENT AGENCIES

Sangguniang Kabataan Federations and Youth Organizations

The municipal, city, and provincial SK Federations shall localize innovation challenge guidelines according to the practical considerations of their jurisdiction, and promote this initiative through social media channels accordingly.

The municipal and city SK federations shall be organized by the respective federations in collaboration with counterparts from MBHTE, MILG, BYC, local school heads, and youth organizations.

Here are sample innovation challenge guidelines that the SK Federations may localize and adopt. To create long-term collaboration, SK Chairs may initiate an ordinance to institutionalize a research and innovation partnership between LGU and local academe. (click here)

Also, SKs may choose to contribute by accelerating digital transformation of LGUs and barangays by facilitating digital payments. (click here)

Barangay Officials and Special Bodies

The municipal, city, and provincial SK Federations shall localize innovation challenge guidelines according to the practical considerations of their jurisdiction, and promote this initiative through social media channels accordingly.

The municipal and city SK federations shall be organized by the respective federations in collaboration with counterparts from MBHTE, MILG, BYC, local school heads, and youth organizations.

Here are sample innovation challenge guidelines that the SK Federations may localize and adopt. To create long-term collaboration, SK Chairs may initiate an ordinance to institutionalize a research and innovation partnership between LGU and local academe. (click here)

Also, SKs may choose to contribute by accelerating digital transformation of LGUs and barangays by facilitating digital payments. (click here)

Local Health Councils

The MILG Provincial Director, City Director, City Local Government Operations Officer and Municipal Local Government Operations Officers shall support convergence of this initiative by as initiated by the Local Youth Development Officers and SK Federations, harmonizing plans with MBHTE, BYC, MTIT, the LCEs, and youth organizations. MILG officers shall also facilitate integration of this financial inclusion efforts with the activities related to the Seal of Good Local Governance and SK Reforms. MILG Officers shall serve as innovation competition judges at their respective levels.

Here are sample guidelines that the SK Federations may localize and adopt.

DILG

The MILG Provincial Director, City Director, City Local Government Operations Officer and Municipal Local Government Operations Officers shall support convergence of this initiative by as initiated by the Local Youth Development Officers and SK Federations, harmonizing plans with MBHTE, BYC, MTIT, the LCEs, and youth organizations. MILG officers shall also facilitate integration of this financial inclusion efforts with the activities related to the Seal of Good Local Governance and SK Reforms. MILG Officers shall serve as innovation competition judges at their respective levels.

Here are sample guidelines that the SK Federations may localize and adopt.

DEPED Superintendents, Principals, Teachers and University Adminstrators

The MBHTE administrators at the regional, provincial, city, municipal, school, and university levels shall facilitate implementation of this initiative through related research, innovation, and civic education initiatives of the MBHTE. They shall also facilitate convergence of this initiative by harmonizing plans with BYC, MTIT, the Local Youth Development Officer, LCEs, and youth organizations at the local levels. MBHTE officers shall also facilitate integration of this financial inclusion efforts with the activities related to the Seal of Good Local Governance and SK Reforms. MBHTE Administrators and teachers shall serve as innovation competition judges at their respective levels. MBHTE teachers/instructors shall serve as team advisors for teams enrolled in their schools.

Here are sample guidelines that the SK Federations may localize and adopt.

Click here for Orientation Video from 2020.

National Youth Commission (NYC)

The BYC shall facilitate convergence of this initiative by harmonizing plans through the Local Youth Development Offices with MBHTE, MTIT, LCEs, and youth organizations. At the regional level, it shall link these financial inclusion efforts with the activities related to the Seal of Good Local Governance and SK Reforms. BYC Officers shall serve as innovation competition judges at their respective levels.

Here are sample guidelines that the SK Federations may localize and adopt.

Click here for Orientation Video from 2020.