Shillong Jan 22: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma launched the coffee table book and documentary film on ‘Aspire Meghalaya’ a programme designed to enhance well-being and improve soft skills of tribal youth of the State.

The the coffee table book and documentary film was launched at a function marking the culmination of the first Entrepreneurship and Startup Summit, 2020.

Launched in 2019, Aspire Meghalaya is India’s first soft skills and well-being programme for tribal youth and is set to support them in meeting the challenges of three gaps that are hindering their employability: lack of clarity on their aspirations, underdeveloped communication skills, and lack of emotional resilience to face challenges at work places and in their relationships.

The programme was initiated by the State government and executed by Avenues, Meghalaya’s pioneering life coaching social enterprise.

The objective of the programme was to  improve employability among the youth and empower them with employable soft skills, encourage talent identification and aspiration recognition at an early age.

The Chief Minister said that ‘Aspire Meghalaya’ has set a new benchmark in empowering tribal youth of the region.

He said that he will engage with the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and apprise them that similar programmes should be held in different tribal pockets of the country.

“Tribal youth have no access to opportunities and facilities to improve their confidence and talents. A programme like Aspire Meghalaya will give wings to their ideas, thoughts and vision and will allow them to move forward in life,” he said.

He lauded the effort of Avenues for the commitment and dedication to work with the youth and ensure that their talents and skills are recognised and given a platform to shine.

“I have been clear from day one that our youth are very talented, inspired and really want to do many things, but they face hurdles and they feel they cannot cross. Aspire Meghalaya has become an effort to help them cross over barriers as we are looking at the individual and delving into their mindset to ensure that they truly believe in themselves,” the Chief Minister stated.

Head and Founder of Avenues, Mark Laitflang said that the programme built the pillars of mindsets, emotions, communication, connection and recognises talent and aspirations.