Dexter Yang – Non-profit Sustainable Development Leadership Awardee

For over three years, Dexter deeply involved himself in the Childrens’ Museum and Library, Inc. (CMLI) – an NGO advocating for youth empowerment. This experience has aspired him where the youth lead the change in society through leadership skills, talents, and advocacy.

He took up Public Administration in U.P. Diliman and learned about good governance. He took a special course on the localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and realized the need for good governance and sound policy to carry out the 2030 Agenda.

In 2018 — with the power of youth, good governance, and sustainable development, they have led and became the driving force to reconvene the Philippine Good Governance Summit. They have summoned over 150 youth leaders nationwide to willingly participate and discuss the youth’s role in right’s based governance and sustainable development. “With the passage of the SK Reform Law, we witnessed newly elected youth leaders committing to lead the enactment of local policies and programs for sustainable development,”  Dexter said. This inspiring movement motivated him to continue his initiative in establishing GoodGovPH along with his colleagues before graduating college.

For Dexter, seeing their community members learning, growing, and leading their respective organizations and communities, has been his greatest achievement. Their involvement in engaging their local government to lobby for youth development policies plus the implementation of these practices is their fulfillment as youth leaders themselves.