In Argentina, a teenager dies by suicide every 20 hours, while millions worldwide also face loneliness, anxiety, depression, and loss of purpose. Contribuir is not just a name but a living verb—an interschool incubation program of human vocation and community leadership where inner development becomes a path to inspire, empower, and humanize young people so they can flourish together and regenerate the ecosystems they are part of.

Country: Colombia
IDG Hub: Ambassador – Kilimanjaro Cohorts
Link to website: Mobile website
Link to presentation: Presentation

Launched in 2023 by Ánkyra, a human development incubator founded in 2020, Contribuir responds to the silent crisis of youth disconnection—emotional, social, ecological, and spiritual. The name itself holds our essence:
Human Vocation: connecting with one’s identity and purpose to contribute to the common good, activating inner leadership and agency.
Community Leadership: walking with a “tribe,” moving from “I save myself alone” to “we go together.”

Each edition gathers between 100–150 high school students (ages 15–18) from diverse contexts, together with educators, for a three-day immersive journey that integrates experiential learning, the IDG framework, Theory U, neuroscience, and relational wisdom. The process unfolds in three stages—Inspire (dream big), Empower (start small), Humanize (go deep)—and cultivates the four human dimensions: body, heart, mind, and soul.

The impact is clear: so far, 85.7% of students report improved emotional well-being, and participants show significant growth in leadership, agency, systemic regeneration, and digital well-being. Our greatest learning: when youth are placed at the center, their potential becomes a catalyst for families, schools, and communities to flourish together.

Contribuir addresses the polarities that define today’s adolescent experience loneliness and belonging, despair and purpose, hyperconnection and authentic presence, individualism and collective care. What makes this possible is incubation: not controlling, accelerating, or overprotecting, but creating the conditions, tools, and experiences for transformation to unfold. In Contribuir, incubation means holding the human climate of the encounter, sustaining with tenderness and courage, caring for the invisible details that build trust, and allowing each young person to flourish in all dimensions of their being—personal, relational, planetary, and transcendent. In this way, inner development becomes the soil where polarities can be transformed into healing and regeneration.

At this moment in history, youth is one of the most educated and committed generations the world has ever seen, yet their inclusion in the SDGs still faces gaps of trust, access, and resources (Commonwealth Global Youth Development Report, 2022). Contribuir was born to bridge precisely that gap—creating an incubation space where adolescents are trusted, equipped, and accompanied to heal within and act together for the common good. We would be honored to bring their voices to the IDG Summit, as we believe that when youth flourish, entire ecosystems can regenerate.

Describe something about the real world impact (SDG connection) your project/initiative has contributed to.

Our program contributes directly to several Sustainable Development Goals:
SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being): by addressing adolescent mental health and suicide prevention, and by working with the anatomy of the human wound—recognizing our incompleteness as the ground where connection, healing, and communion can emerge.
SDG 4.7 (Quality Education): by equipping schools to cultivate inner skills for sustainability, human rights, peace, global citizenship, and digital wellbeing, preparing adolescents to live with presence and purpose in a hyperconnected world.
SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions): by nurturing inclusive, compassionate school and community environments that catalyze systemic transformation in how education and society relate to young people.
SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals): through active collaboration with schools, families, municipalities, and companies, Contribuir becomes a platform of systemic regeneration, where diverse actors join forces to rehumanize education and social life.
By placing young people at the center, Contribuir not only improves individual wellbeing but also regenerates the ecosystems they are part of.