For a third consecutive year, Ashoka’s Youth Venture® and Staples Foundation for Learning® are proud to sponsor the Staples Ashoka Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition. This global opportunity is open to all Youth Venture Teams who are in good standing, have members between the ages 12-24, and have demonstrated excellence in leading positive social change in their community. Ashoka’s Youth Venture operates programs in 17 countries – and its global program staff will nominate Venture Teams from each country to participate and compete in this opportunity.

Get ready to join more than 200 young changemakers from throughout the national Youth Venture community for skill building and peer-led workshops, community-building, opportunities to share your Venture ideas,meals with guest speakers, and lots of fun evening events! Register by May 29th for guaranteed admittance to the Summit. Applications will be submitted on a rolling basis after May 29th.

Best Buy is donating $1 million, and you decide where it goes. Not your parents. Not your teachers. Not Best Buy execs. Not some group of government officials. You. And all the other teens like you who are registered on at15.com. Sign up at at15.com to create a profile, earn points and donate them to Youth Venture! Visit www.at15.com/changeexchange to learn more!

Every week throughout the school year, mtvU in partnership with Youth Venture will help fund a new student-run community service organization, or a new project being undertaken by an existing organization. If you've got an original idea about how to make the world--or your campus--a better place, mtvU Grants can help you make it happen.

In New York, Johannesburg, and São Paulo Youth Venture and Nike are working together to deliver workshops to hundreds of youth to teach leadership and teamwork through sport and help them to launch their own sustainable sports related Ventures.

Ashoka GenV partnered with WaterAid America in a global campaign, Tapping Youth Innovation, which identifies and supports some of the most innovative and creative youth-led projects designed to improve water and sanitation services for people living in poverty. More than 30 youth from 12 countries entered their ideas and projects and the top ten teams will receive seed grant funding for their projects.

Ashoka GenV teamed up with the Lemelson Foundation to launch Invent Your World – a global challenge to inspire and support young inventors who wish to use their inventive spirit to make the world a better place. From dozens of countries around the world 264 ideas and projects were entered in the challenge. At least 50 will be launched as invention ventures, 5 will win a trip to participate in the Youth Venture Summit held at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and the grand prizewinner will receive a $20,000 scholarship.

Together Ashoka GenV and MTV launched the MTV Switch Campaign, to make a positive impact on the environment by supporting youth led projects that are contributing to a cooler and greener planet. In the course of this campaign, 274 projects were submitted from 53 countries ranging from diverse topics such as reducing e-waste, increasing recycling, to directly combating climate change. More than 25 environmental teams are being launched, 5 will win a trip to participate in a global roundtable on climate change at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and MTV will include the top 6 teams in a documentary planned for September 2009.