LEAD is a flagship program for Sewa International where High School students engage with local communities by providing opportunities to serve and giving them the support needed to build on their leadership strengths. The aim is to engage youth in the formative years, with the intent of developing future leaders of our society who understand social context and are service minded and turn out to be productive adults.The success of this summer program has led us to consider various avenues for advancing this youth-focused effort.

The proposed Design To Lead is a program focused on training high-potential, socially minded teenagers in “Design-Thinking” based approach to understand and address society’s most significant challenges. This program has been developed under the guidance of Professor Anurag Mairal, who leads the Global Outreach Programs at Byers Center for Biodesign at Stanford University. The program was launched in 2019 as a pilot focused on solving an unmet need of a problem facing the society.

The program involves high school students, getting together to learn about Design Thinking and how to apply the process towards solving a problem facing the community around them.

Structure of the Program:

DTL spans over 3 phases. All the timelines suggested are tentative and are subject to change as we improvise the program.

Sample Session Planned:

(Session 1): Design To Lead Kickoff

- Overview of the Program and Introductions

- Team Formation

- Mentor Assignment

- Introduction to Design Thinking and Biodesign Process

- Background of the Area of Focus - Examples

- Plan for deliverable for Week 1: secondary research of the need area, identification of 5 immersion sites, key areas of investigation - observation guide

(Session 2): Developing Empathy

- Deliverables for Week 1: summary of understanding of the need area, five immersion sites identified, observation guide (30 min)

- Workshop on Empathy Development - guests (1 hour)

- Plan for Deliverable for Week 2: visit to first immersion site (how, when, who, what)

Phase1: Identify - Understand the Design To Lead methodology, Identify unmet needs of the community, pick top needs

Phase2: Invent - Come up with different Prototypes based on must have and nice to have criteria and finally pick 1 prototype

Phase3:Implement - Develop strategy, scale up & deploy

The goal is to make a positive impact and provide help to at least 1000 people in our community across all chapters via various community projects under the DTL umbrella.

Objectives are as below:

● Empathetically observe their communities to identify a real need.

● Conduct extensive primary and secondary research.

● Communicate with real stakeholders thru interview, email, phone and in-person interviews.

● Brainstorm solution ideas, categorize them, and identify top solutions based on stringent needs criteria.

● Develop prototypes for top solution ideas.

● Implement solution idea with pilot cohort and key stakeholders.

● Improve on solution based on feedback

● Present their learning and solution through a variety of media, including Sewa’s social media streams, blogs, Vlogcasts and developing paper presentation for publication in leading journals.

Every Sunday at 10 am PST.

The tentative dates for phase-wise submissions and the final presentation will be determined based on the program calendar. All DTL teams will have the opportunity to showcase their projects during the final presentation

Click here to connect with the helpdesk of Sewa International.

Yes, since this is the subset under the larger LEAD program, all DTL participants are urged to register with the Chapter LEAD program.

All general information sections in the intake form and your intent to commit to all the 3 phases of DtL.

Unfortunately joining in the middle of the course is not an option. In order to maintain thorough participation it is advised admission to the program should be from the start. As the formed teams will have done a headway into their deliverables.

DTL is a subset of the larger Umbrella program of LEAD (Learn, Educate and Develop) Prime focus of volunteer development under Sewa is to dedicate >70% on Service projects and 30% to online methodical learning (DTL) with equal dedication and committed time. This would motivate participating students for PVSA - President’s Volunteer Service Awards.

This immersive and rigorous program requires a commitment of 3 to 4 hours per week, combining didactic learning with interactive working sessions. Typically, it includes 2 hours of instructional learning and 1 hour of hands-on activities, with the exact duration varying based on the program's intensity.

The tentative schedule of the program is available here. Link DTL 2025 Calender: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lsiT4GUFdYL0vBfHo1FMeEo7UlCCJNHpTwQUQ6jBqfU/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Participants may miss a session and refer to the recording. The Learning Management System (LMS) will track their progress throughout the program. For additional details about the LMS, please stay informed. If you miss any sessions or tasks, it is important to discuss them with your teammates or mentor to stay on track.

They are posted on the individual learning platform for each week and mentors are also made aware of these deliverables. Refer this guide for how to access the individual learning platform (Sewa Academy): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j_DMwun60l5EMSBvl2fMmiJxXnjFUxYfvFzuhmtZFEg/edit?tab=t.0 .

A maximum cap by national Sewa leadership is 20 Non Service hours.

This is in accordance with the Sewa guidelines of 70% service hours and 30 % time spent on learning.

The attendance will be recorded and you will gain these hours only if you attend the meetings on Sundays

The important goal of this program is to teach students the process of writing research papers. This skill is very important in any college education in any field. We will help the team to produce the research paper and publish it on sewa platform showcasing Team’s valuable analysis, research, approaches, solutions and implementation results.

Yes, any research paper needs to be written with rigor, validated and authentic. DTL has the peer review process and will be peer reviewed, final approved and Published.

No, Each team will write their research paper and all the students will take part in writing this paper.

The Research paper effort will be initiated after completion of all 3 Phases of the planned DTL project.

For every team participating in the Design to LEAD (DTL) program, parental involvement of at least 20 hours is required in various capacities. Parents can serve as team mentors on a rotational basis, depending on their availability. The ideal team size is 3–5 students. Each team must have at least one adult mentor, with two mentors being preferable. Student mentors are optional but can provide valuable guidance. Student mentors must have at least two years of DTL experience to qualify. They can support their own team or assist other teams within their chapter or on a national level as needed.

With national meetings as well as some team working sessions expect to allocate around 2 to 3 hours per week.

No experience needed, just a willingness to learn and a passion for service You will go through the mentors training and will have access to resources. The mentor helps students understand each phase by providing expertise and encouraging critical thinking and creativity. You foster a collaborative environment where students feel comfortable sharing ideas, exploring innovative solutions, and refining their approaches. Mentors also act as sounding boards, offering feedback and helping students navigate challenges or setbacks in their projects. They may introduce real-world examples or bring in industry knowledge to ground the students' learning in practical applications. Furthermore, mentors encourage social responsibility, helping students connect their solutions to tangible social causes and emphasizing the importance of empathy and impact in their work. Mentors help students develop problem-solving, leadership, and teamwork skills, while fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility for creating a positive change in the society. Your primary responsibility includes: Facilitating Communication: The liaison serves as a point of contact between the teams, mentors, and program organizers. They help maintain clear and consistent communication across all parties involved. Providing Support and Guidance: The liaison provides assistance to teams and mentors in resolving any challenges that may arise, offering solutions and ensuring that teams have the resources they need. Tracking and Reporting: The liaison monitors team activities and progress, gathering data to report on the success and development of the teams. They ensure that goals are being met and that the program is moving forward effectively. Encouraging Collaboration: The liaison promotes a collaborative environment by encouraging teamwork among mentors and students, helping teams collaborate efficiently and creatively to meet their objectives.

Student mentors should have completed at least 2 years in one cohort of the DTL program in order to be a student mentor, preferably juniors and seniors They should also be a High School student. They should be registered in the LEAD program for the current year and must be part of a current DTL team.

- To communicate with your team derivables

- Facilitate as many working sessions

- Liaise team concerns to core team thru calls/meetings during all/any help. - Ensure team attendance during all national meetings

- Help their team with any concepts, bottlenecks. Reach out to the National team for assistance.

- Help the team to get appointments/help from the stakeholders.

- Accompany in-person team meetings with stakeholders & field work as required.

- Student mentors roles are similar to the adult mentor roles, except they still depend on adult mentors specifically during field visits and reaching out stakeholders.

- Added advantage of student mentors is they have recent hands-on experience about DTL processes/projects with better understanding of the methodology and can effectively steer their teams.

- Having a student mentor provides LEAD(S) an opportunity to develop their leadership qualities, which is one of the objectives of the program.

The role of a Liaison is optional and is highly encouraged for chapters that have more than 6 teams. A liaison is an extra help in the role of a mentor and there can be one liaison for every 3 teams. The role was introduced this year in DTL to ensure success of teams and making sure mentors are actively engaged and are able to provide the necessary resources to all teams. The role and responsibilities of a liaison in a youth program include: Monitoring Team Progress: The liaison is responsible for overseeing the progress of three teams, ensuring that they are on track to meet their goals and deadlines. Ensuring Mentor Engagement: The liaison ensures that team mentors remain active, engaged, and supportive throughout the program. This includes checking in with mentors and offering support as needed to maintain mentor-student engagement. Ensuring Program Alignment: The liaison ensures that the work of each team aligns with the overall objectives of the program and remains consistent with its values and mission.

● Complete your registration formalities called by your Chapter LEAD Coordinator.

If you are interested in becoming a partner of this program please contact your chapter co-ordinator for more details. You can know about the program here (Click here)

As a partner you will help the team get answers to the question they ask you. You will be involved with the program since the beginning. Students will do their secondary research and then will validate their data by asking you questions during interview. You might be connceted via email, phone call as well as virtual meets using zoom.

Our teams work on a variety of topics like Food insecurity, Education inequity, Unhousing situation etc. If you have any experience in these area, or you are a subject matter expert for any of these areas in the local community, You can certainly help. You can share your insight, advise the team how to about a situation like this etc.

The time spent with the team will entirely depend on the task at hand and how the team proceeds with the project. It will approximately be about a couple of hours with the team for each of the 3 phases.