YouthsToday steers young people away from trouble and into a mutually supportive community

In the What Matters To Me series, a Generation T honouree describes what they do, why they do it, and why it matters.

Tan Yee Mei, better known as Jazz Tan, is trying to get young people on the right track. Her social enterprise YouthsToday aims to get youths off the streets and into development programmes, helping them organise their own events and find sponsors for them.

Jazz also advocates political participation and strives to instil a sense of confidence in the younger generation from underserved communities. She was inspired to create the youth community by the tragic loss of her father, who was killed by gangsters when she was a teenager.

Here, Tan describes her work in her own words.

My brand is a medium for young adults. We are the first youth development and sponsorship platform dedicated to helping youths. The best part of my entrepreneurship journey was learning what the value of creation is, and helping people within the community along the way; also, witnessing the long-lasting impact on those we help, which is really fulfilling.

I believe you should live life at your own pace, never in the fast lane. Always be appreciative and grateful for every given moment

- Jazz Tan -

My greatest failure so far has been impatience. I accelerated the business growth without a single plan in mind, when the product and team were not concrete enough. That taught me the importance of planning and strengthening the business model first. I believe you should live life at your own pace, never in the fast lane. Always be appreciative and grateful for every given moment.

See also: What Matters To Me: Cheryl Tiu

My team and I recently went to Korea for a global startup competition and we managed to beat companies from 80 countries. We also got to see how Samsung and LG operate their world-class facilities. The best part of the trip was making it to the top 20 and bringing home the US$37,000 cash prize.


See honourees in the Education category of the Gen.T List 2019

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