Sitting Together, Understanding Together
Like many others, I assumed philanthropy was just about galas and fundraisers. The NextGen Philanthropy Leadership program completely changed my perspective. It showed me what giving was truly about: actively building sustainable solutions from the ground up.
On the first day of the program, we visited the Gurdwara. One aspect of the visit that stood out to me in particular, other than the delicious curry, was the message that everyone was viewed and treated equally. In the community kitchen, everyone, regardless of who they were, sat on the floor to eat together. This also increased bonds within the community. As I sat on the floor with everyone else, enjoying a tasty slice of a culture I was previously unfamiliar with, I realised that this action was something crucial for philanthropy.
Our tour guide told us a story of what not to do: A king demanded to be brought a chair and table when he ate in the temple, as he believed himself to be above his subjects. But that’s not what philanthropy is. Philanthropy is about sitting at the same level with everyone else, just like we did at the Gurdwara.
To truly help someone, we must step down from a perceived position of authority to understand them. If we were sitting on a chair while people who needed our help sat on the floor, how would we start a chat with them? How would we learn about their troubles, their hopes, their dreams? Only if we engage with them on the same level can we focus on them and their actual needs, not our assumptions of what they need. We shift the dynamic from “trying to fix the problem” to “walking alongside them to solve it together”.
That realisation was what stuck with me when my group started brainstorming ideas for our community project. Inspired by what we learned at the Gurdwara, we wanted to build something “for students, by students”. We realised that many of our peers wanted to do something for the environment, but volunteering often felt inaccessible or disconnected from their daily lives. We found that 82% of Gen Z were willing to volunteer, but didn’t have time to commit to volunteer schedules. Thus, we proposed an interactive platform that made environmental action both collaborative and engaging.
Our proposed project would help students discover local volunteering opportunities. To make volunteering engaging, we also incorporated a leaderboard so peers could motivate one another. Finally, we included a space for fellow students to share stories about their environmental actions. By removing barriers and turning sustainability into a team effort, we proved that real impact only happens if we take the initiative to understand what people truly need.
Written by Yandy,
NextGen Class of Stephen Riady, 2026
Hong Kong | Age 16
