Milestones often invoke a time of reflection. As Kita celebrates our first birthday this month, the team has been deep in thought about the progress we’ve made so far, and how we can further build on the work. And naturally, our attention turned to Kita Studios, the programme that started it all - 6 years before Kita even existed.

Back when Studios lived as a programme under Hatch, the social enterprise that Wan Qing, Li Ying and I co-founded, our tagline was “Anyone with a dream deserves a future”. Kinda cheesy (hey I was 22 y/o), but it captured both our frustrations and hopes in equal measure. We were frustrated at the lack of training-to-employment pathways for youths who aspired towards a better future, but were held back due to circumstances in life. And we were hopeful that we could do something about it.

Our first cohort of three youths and their trainers, where it all began.

We’ve since walked alongside over 250 youths on this journey, through 10-week courses in digital marketing, followed by job placements after. Some visibly excelled, and went on to carve out new careers for themselves. Some struggled through, but learnt to build up healthier routines along the way. Some figured it wasn’t quite what they thought it would be, and moved on to explore other pathways. Not everybody graduated, but almost everyone made progress.

For Sasi, Kita Studios wasn’t a path he was sure about at first. But he persisted, found his flow and eventually secured a full-time role in digital marketing at Hatch.

And that’s the script that we’re flipping for our next season of Kita Studios. In a world where we’re so accustomed to seeing things through the binary lens of success/failure, the role of Kita Studios wasn’t to be another such marker for the youths we work with. So instead of focusing on the traditional measure of success that is graduation and full-time employment, we’re recalibrating Kita Studios to be about progress.

Some of the changes we’re excited about:

• Moving from a single, linear mode of learning to one that embraces different ways of learning, beyond the classroom, reflecting how young people actually grow and pick up skills in the real world

• Moving to a more modular structure that is less intense for learners and allows for more flexibility

• Embracing a wider variety of youth interests, by no longer limiting our courses to just digital marketing domains

• Working together with youths to determine the best course of action based on their strengths, assets and current needs

• Introducing portfolio projects where youths can hone their developing skillsets while contributing to community initiatives and social impact

• Implementing a holistic scorecard used throughout the programme, helping learners see their growth and strengths beyond just technical skills

• Providing consistent, ongoing support throughout the entire journey, not just at key milestones.

• Convening a collective of training and employment partners providing developmental opportunities in their respective domains

There are some things that we’ll also continue to remain committed to. The premise of Studios has always been about youth employability, and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. We’ll also continue to provide stipends to youths during their training periods with us, because we know that they face very real opportunity costs by choosing to pursue their aspirations.

Ultimately, Studios remains around being a community of youths who wish to shape how they participate in the market economy on their own terms.

All of these build on the past 17 cycles of Studios that we have iterated and learned from. Over the years and through our past impact reports, we’ve seen for ourselves how the programme has positively shaped the trajectory of some youths’ lives. This is us doubling down on it and further optimising Kita Studios for greater impact.

But we can’t do it all alone, and that’s where you come in. We’re calling for partners (both new and existing!) who can realise the vision of this refreshed Kita Studios together with us:

• Referral partners who believe that the 18-25 y/o youths you work with can benefit from Kita Studios

• Youth training-to-employment partners who specialise in imparting various job crafts

• Industry partners who are able to offer job placement opportunities (stipends covered by us)

• Funding partners who are open to making a multi-year commitment towards resourcing Kita Studios

If you resonate with our work and the direction we’re going with Kita Studios, I would love to hear from you. If you know someone who would resonate with this, please feel free to share this with them. Reach me at victor@withkita.sg.

Where Kita Studios is today would not have been possible without the many partners who believed, alongside us, that supporting youths in pursuing their aspirations was a worthy cause. Our referral partners who saw us as trusted figures in the lives of impressionable youths. Every course trainer that dedicated countless hours into perfecting their classes with the youths. Industry partners who unlocked opportunities for youths to sharpen their craft. Funders who stepped up to offer not just resources but also time and advice. And to ECCA Family Foundation - your steadfast presence has given us the courage to dream. Thank you.