A current project at Fachhochschule Dortmund shows just how practical studying business administration can be: this year, five students are organizing the Children and Youth Prize for the first time, which the "Children and Youth Foundation Consul General Manfred O. Schröder and Helga Schröder" is awarding for the second time.
How do you reach young people who are committed to their fellow human beings and thus strengthen the common good? This is one of the challenges that the student project team has been working on since spring 2024. Cafer Bülbül, Eva Ditz, Alina Jakubowski, Marie Kahmen and Angela Mazassek are studying for a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in different semesters. They successfully applied to the Faculty of Business Studies to take part in the management project, an in-depth module on a voluntary basis.
Since the kick-off in March, the students have been busy coordinating the call for entries for the prize and publicizing it to the target group in particular: children from the 5th grade and young people up to the age of 21. To this end, they have established contacts with schools and leisure facilities, for example. For public relations and marketing, they created posters and set up an Instagram account(Opens in a new tab) , which is intended to encourage participation with impressions of the last award ceremony, among other things.
Win-win situation for foundation and students
"Our cooperation with the foundation is a win-win situation," says Prof. Dr. Jan Christoph Albrecht, who supervises the student project team together with research assistant Jantje Zimmer. "The foundation benefits from the students' commitment - and the students gain a great deal of practical experience through their pioneering work. This includes managing everything independently and responsibly and networking both with each other and with external partners."
The application deadline for the Children and Youth Award is August 25, 2024. The students will review the submitted documents and counsel the foundation's jury. The festive award ceremony is planned for November 22, 2024 at the Dorstfelder Bürgerhaus Pulsschlag. The project team has not only organized the location, including catering, but is also fine-tuning the program, which will feature high-ranking speakers from politics and society.
Background
Founded in 2016, the "Children and Youth Foundation(Opens in a new tab) Consul General Manfred O. Schröder and Helga Schröder" is a legally dependent trust foundation administered by the Dortmund Foundation(Opens in a new tab) to promote education, personal development and the commitment of young people to the common good. The Children and Youth Prize celebrated its premiere in 2021 and will be awarded every two years from 2024. The motto is: "Helping young people". A prize-winning project will receive up to 2,000 euros as a reward. Three prizes will be awarded, worth a total of 4,000 euros. Mail contact: kinderjugendpreisdortmund-stiftungde