Teens Dream, inspired by Dr. King, is a collaborative of teens and adults who have come together to create a global video contest to engage teens globally around how to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with their personal, community, or global dream. Teens Dream educates teens globally about the SDGs via this 2 min video competition, where winners are celebrated in an annual competition and given cash prizes, introductions to mentors, and flown or skyped into the celebration. All submitters and winners are encouraged to engage in new virtual Dream Hubs to connect with other teens around their dreams.

Teens Dream is a global video competition managed by teens and adults that works to inspire teens globally to think about the SDGs and how they can address them, with the contest requiring that they articulate their vision in a two min youtube video and state what they plan to do to move their dream forward. Winners receive up to $500 and a trip to Washington DC to be celebrated and honored and partnered with mentors who can help them with their dreams. Winners are also encouraged to help become global Ambassadors in virtual Dream Hubs where teens will be coming together in virtual support networks around targeted dreams around the SDGs. Winners are announced after a team of judges reviews submissions in March 2017 Mentors will be identified to partner with Winners in Spring and Summer 2017 Winners will be invited to a celebration in Fall of 2017 - possibly at Smithsonian again Dream Hubs will be developed and added to -- as winners articulate their passions on SDGs Partner organizations and funders will help scale the Teens Dream vision with Founder of the Global Co Lab Network and Team of Advisors

Teens Dream is focused on building a global community of teens to think about the SDGs and offer their dreams for how they will address them, from a personal, community, or global level. Teens Dream will then work to link teens with mentors and organizations, both in person and virtually, who can help teens address these goals. The goal is to network and connect teens to the multitude of existing organizations working to address these issues, and to better integrate youth into ongoing organizational efforts to create solutions. Teens Dream envisages that regional Teens Dream will be created, with Teens Dream Middle East, Teens Dream Africa, Teens Dream Asia, etc that have platforms, networks and celebrations n their own language, and regions.

This initiative is directed by the Founding Director of the Global Co Lab Network, which is the NGO that created Teens Dream. The "Co Lab" organizes living room gatherings to bring older people and younger people together around challenges, seeking to incubate solutions using design thinking. The Co Lab works to empower anyone to address local and global challenges utilizing their own resources, networks, and space. No fancy institutions or buildings required. The Founding Director works with a volunteer team of teens and adults globally who help implement Teens Dream, including a Director of Mentoring, a webmaster, a team of Adult and Teen Co Creators who give strategic guidance and help with judging the video submissions, Teen Ambassadors who run the Dream Hubs, Mentors who mentor teens at the Celebration and in the Virtual Dream Hubs, Partner organizations who support Teens Dream and provide pro bono assistance, individuals who fund teens dream, and winners and submitters of Teens Dream who join the Teens Dream family in scaling the organization.

Global Co Lab Network