The Social Enterprise Challenge in the Asia-Pacific (SECAP) Program is a two-week virtual, experiential initiative that gives students hands-on experience in establishing a social enterprise that can have immediate impact.
The SECAP program aims to shift the dial on the way that young people collaborate, share and build solutions. It works to promote entrepreneurial thinking among graduates and provides a platform for interdisciplinary, intercultural understanding and collaboration. Co-designed and delivered with industry partner Makers Asylum and leading university partners, OP Jindal Global University in Delhi and Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia in Jakarta, the SECIP program is a platform for cross-cultural, interdisciplinary teams of students to engage in an intensive start-up incubator. Based on the principles of design and systems thinking, frugal innovation and rapid prototyping, the program focuses on creating tangible solutions related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Launched in January 2021 to meet the demand for ongoing international engagement among students, the SECAP program facilitates access to a global network of leading industry mentors and experts that can support students in mobilizing their ideas, and continue to engage around our region. Involving students from diverse social, cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, the SECAP program pushes students to look at how they can use their combined resources, networks and skills to establish grass-roots solutions to address regional and global challenges. Delivered entirely online, the SECAP program prepares students for a rapidly changing contemporary work place. As a credit-bearing program, students develop the skills to effectively operate in virtual teams made up of colleagues and partners based around our region while working toward the completion of their degree. Every day for two-weeks, student teams meet to understand the context surrounding local challenges as they relate to the UN SDGs, test their assumptions, develop an idea, make, break and re-create prototypes, and then pitch their ideas to a panel of Government, non-government and private sector experts already leading responses to these challenges.
Following the success of the first program, we are working to increase the scale and diversity of students through a model of participation that ensures that all students, regardless of their financial means or degree, can participate in this transformative international experience.