Ikigai Explorers

Ikigaï Explorers (2021-2023)

In Colombia, social mobility is a steep climb. With one of the widest gaps between rich and poor in the world, wealth and opportunity stay locked at the top, making it incredibly hard for families to move up. On average, it takes 11 generations for someone born into poverty to reach the middle class—compared to just 2 in Holland. In places like Patio Bonito, an underserved neighborhood of Bogota, kids often grow up thinking their only career options are the same ones their parents had, simply because they’ve never seen anything different.

Ikigai Explorers set out to change that. From 2021 to 2023, with support from BWB MicroGrants, we introduced 30 kids, aged 12 to 14, to creative career paths that could broaden their future options. Through hands-on workshops in music composition, photography, cinematography, electronic engineering, recycling & waste management, and cartoon design, we showed them there’s more out there.

In Phase 2, students picked their favorite discipline, teamed up with mentors, and developed personal projects over five weeks. The grand finale? A showcase competition judged by industry professionals who didn’t just evaluate but helped open doors.

By 2023, Ikigai Explorers had empowered dozens of young minds to dream bigger and step beyond the paths they thought were set for them. While the program has wrapped, the spark it ignited keeps burning.

We believe finding a life talent that inspires you to get out of bed every day is fundamental to happiness. As Burners, we want to orient this search by taking into account what the world and our local community needs.

Bi-monthly, we bring our IKIGAI magic to a cohort of 30 12-to-14-y-old underprivileged kids from a tough Bogota neighborhood (Patio Bonito), and introduce them to creative career paths with the potential to open their minds and lift them out of poverty.

So far, we have given classes on music composition, photography, cinematography, the recycling and waste management industry, cartoon design and in electronic engineering! All based on the talents, industry connections and passions of our volunteers. In a second phase, the kids will pick their favorite program.

For 5 weeks, the volunteers will engage the kid to develop a project related to the career theme in question. At the end, the teams will compete and present their work to a jury of reputed local experts. They will help us shine a light on the initiative by taking on a “godparent” role, help us identify talent, and build bridges.