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CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
A 17-year-old student, Natalie Magness, has initiated Qatar Youth Power Conference (QYP), a student initiative conference aimed at empowering the youths of Qatar to make a positive impact on the community.
The two-day online conference is slated to be held on June 10-11.
Speaking to Qatar tribune, the founder of the initiative, a Year 13 student at Doha British School, said she is organising the mega event in cooperation with six other students from various schools in Qatar.
Magness said her team consists of seven high school students from different schools in Qatar who are aged between 16 and 18 years old.
She said the conference is being held in partnership with Maker Majlis, an initiative of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), and is supported by ILoveQatar, Talabat, Qatar Medical Students Association, Greener Future, Students Qatar, and Doha Environmental Actions Project, among others.
Other students in the team include 17-year-old Amal Elcharbini from Dukhan English School; Sebastian Santoni, an 18-year-old student of International School of London; Aanya Srivastava, a 16-year-old from Park House English School; Johanna K Sarsonas, an 18-year-old from Newton International Academy; and Xiangtong Liu, 16 and Kayana Elmaadi, 17 from Doha College and Taylor’s College Malaysia, respectively.
The conference will feature sessions and workshops to be delivered by Qatar-based innovators, change-makers, activists, and entrepreneurs in different fields to empower the youths of Qatar to impact the community positively.
About 30 guest speakers will address the two-day event. Some of the speakers are Khalifa Al Haroon, Hamad Al Marri, Dr Evren Tok, Dr Ameena Hussein, Aisha Al Madeed, Ahmad Al Saygh, Layla Bacha, Conchita Ponce, Jawaher Al Shamari and many others.
According to Magness, though the speakers come from different fields, their main focus is to empower the youth.
The student from Malaysia said that this was the first time that this conference is happening. Talking about her inspiration to organise such a great initiative, Magness said, “I thought of this idea to create this in April this year because I realised the important need for the youth to be empowered right now because of things like the pandemic happening and so many things around the world. I thought of how I could make a difference in any of these.”
She felt that she needed to start something that is student initiated and would empower the youth.
“The QYP is 100 percent student initiated and led unlike the other youth conferences that are organised by well-established bodies,” she said.
She added that all keynotes, workshops and sessions will centre on youth empowerment from the perspective of different fields and how they can make a difference.
“The aim is to inspire us to take action to positively impact the community,” said Magness.
So far more than 750 participants, a majority of them students, have registered for the event. The conference is open to all secondary school students and university students of Qatar but others like teachers, stakeholders can also participate in the event.
Interested participants can still register at qypconference.wordpress.com.
Magness said that they plan to host this event annually and also plan to do another event later this year. “We hope to do this event every year and we hope that we can do it in a proper venue once the COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed,” she said.
Magness will be joining University College London in the United Kingdom to pursue a degree in human sciences, an interdisciplinary degree combining biology and social sciences to understand human and society and problems they have and how they could probably be solved.
Magness is also the deputy head girl at her school, an ambassador for The Future is Female Qatar and the ASEAN Youth Organization and has been involved in Model United Nations for several years.
She is also the founder and executive director of The Sapien, a youth organisation dedicated to uniting students all over the world in a shared passion for learning through hosting discussions on the human-centred issues, which has reached students in over 25 countries.
According to her, her love for learning extends to a passion for fighting for education, having been selected for the Education Above All Youth Advocacy Programme.
She also founded STARS4EDUCATION, a charity music concert in support of Education Above All, which raised over QR5,000. She is also a piano student at Qatar Music Academy and has performed at various venues, including the Katara Opera House as a soloist with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra at age 15.
DOHA
A 17-year-old student, Natalie Magness, has initiated Qatar Youth Power Conference (QYP), a student initiative conference aimed at empowering the youths of Qatar to make a positive impact on the community.
The two-day online conference is slated to be held on June 10-11.
Speaking to Qatar tribune, the founder of the initiative, a Year 13 student at Doha British School, said she is organising the mega event in cooperation with six other students from various schools in Qatar.
Magness said her team consists of seven high school students from different schools in Qatar who are aged between 16 and 18 years old.
She said the conference is being held in partnership with Maker Majlis, an initiative of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), and is supported by ILoveQatar, Talabat, Qatar Medical Students Association, Greener Future, Students Qatar, and Doha Environmental Actions Project, among others.
Other students in the team include 17-year-old Amal Elcharbini from Dukhan English School; Sebastian Santoni, an 18-year-old student of International School of London; Aanya Srivastava, a 16-year-old from Park House English School; Johanna K Sarsonas, an 18-year-old from Newton International Academy; and Xiangtong Liu, 16 and Kayana Elmaadi, 17 from Doha College and Taylor’s College Malaysia, respectively.
The conference will feature sessions and workshops to be delivered by Qatar-based innovators, change-makers, activists, and entrepreneurs in different fields to empower the youths of Qatar to impact the community positively.
About 30 guest speakers will address the two-day event. Some of the speakers are Khalifa Al Haroon, Hamad Al Marri, Dr Evren Tok, Dr Ameena Hussein, Aisha Al Madeed, Ahmad Al Saygh, Layla Bacha, Conchita Ponce, Jawaher Al Shamari and many others.
According to Magness, though the speakers come from different fields, their main focus is to empower the youth.
The student from Malaysia said that this was the first time that this conference is happening. Talking about her inspiration to organise such a great initiative, Magness said, “I thought of this idea to create this in April this year because I realised the important need for the youth to be empowered right now because of things like the pandemic happening and so many things around the world. I thought of how I could make a difference in any of these.”
She felt that she needed to start something that is student initiated and would empower the youth.
“The QYP is 100 percent student initiated and led unlike the other youth conferences that are organised by well-established bodies,” she said.
She added that all keynotes, workshops and sessions will centre on youth empowerment from the perspective of different fields and how they can make a difference.
“The aim is to inspire us to take action to positively impact the community,” said Magness.
So far more than 750 participants, a majority of them students, have registered for the event. The conference is open to all secondary school students and university students of Qatar but others like teachers, stakeholders can also participate in the event.
Interested participants can still register at qypconference.wordpress.com.
Magness said that they plan to host this event annually and also plan to do another event later this year. “We hope to do this event every year and we hope that we can do it in a proper venue once the COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed,” she said.
Magness will be joining University College London in the United Kingdom to pursue a degree in human sciences, an interdisciplinary degree combining biology and social sciences to understand human and society and problems they have and how they could probably be solved.
Magness is also the deputy head girl at her school, an ambassador for The Future is Female Qatar and the ASEAN Youth Organization and has been involved in Model United Nations for several years.
She is also the founder and executive director of The Sapien, a youth organisation dedicated to uniting students all over the world in a shared passion for learning through hosting discussions on the human-centred issues, which has reached students in over 25 countries.
According to her, her love for learning extends to a passion for fighting for education, having been selected for the Education Above All Youth Advocacy Programme.
She also founded STARS4EDUCATION, a charity music concert in support of Education Above All, which raised over QR5,000. She is also a piano student at Qatar Music Academy and has performed at various venues, including the Katara Opera House as a soloist with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra at age 15.
