Two projects aimed at improving mental health in young people have been named as the winning entries in the 2020 Catapult youth entrepreneur program run by Logan City Council.
City Planning, Economic Development and Environment Committee Chair, Deputy Mayor Jon Raven, said Catapult encouraged high school students to think like entrepreneurs in a rapidly-changing world.
“The future of work was uncertain before COVID-19 crash tackled 2020 and since March this year we’ve seen the employment landscape change completely,” Cr Raven said.
“Catapult was designed to connect students, educators and local businesses so Logan students learn that their ideas can become products or even careers.
“We wanted to build enterprise skills in local young people so they could develop the mindset of wealth creators to help grow Logan’s economy.”
Students from Mabel Park, Park Ridge, Shailer Park and Loganlea state high schools were involved in the inaugural program.
Council joined forces with social enterprise Young Change Agents to deliver Catapult, which included:
- “hackathon” workshops over two days to identify problems, which were then brainstormed, validated, prototyped and pitched to a panel of judges
- incubator sessions to continue bringing ideas to life, with entrepreneurs and industry partners hosting networking sessions, mentoring and master classes
- a showcase event held on November 11.
Students from the two winning project teams will now be supported and encouraged to launch their projects on a crowd-funding platform so they can become a reality.
They have also won $2,500 scholarships thanks to Substation 33 and Social Enterprise Network – Logan.
Cr Raven said the students had thought outside the box to develop projects to make a difference and create employment in the City of Logan.
“The students wanted to tackle issues such as financial intelligence in young people, mental health, drugs and racism and make a positive impact on the environment,” Cr Raven said.
“We were also fortunate to have people such as Vu Tran from the Logan-based online training company Go1 to share their knowledge and experience with students throughout the program.
“I’d like to congratulate the participants on their dedication to the program over several months as they went over and above their usual school work to impress the judges and break the mould.
“Who knows, maybe one day these students will be as recognisable in the same way we know of Elon Musk and Richard Branson today.”
