“Many social and economic problems of the country today can be traced to the failure of leadership,” explained economist Dr. Bernardo Villegas, the K25 Leadership Forum Chairman of Professional Mentors. “That is why there is a pressing need to form the youth today, who will lead the country in the future.”
Aimed at addressing the country’s ‘failure of leadership’, the yearlong K25 Leadership forum brings together top 25 university students, called the K25 Fellows, to receive leadership formation and training as part of the Center’s 25th Anniversary celebration.
“K25 envisions molding 25 young men into leaders with strong work ethic, deep piety, and a sense of service grounded on solid virtue,” said Engr. Iki Umali, K25 Executive Director.
The K25 Fellows are expected to undergo a rigid leadership formation through various means, mostly talks and seminars, developed by Kapuluan throughout the years. They are also expected to be able to influence friends and bring them to the same means of formation.
Among its various activities are the Universitas Student Conference, a three-day conference for students, leaders, and volunteers; the Inquies Summer Course, a week-long course aiming to provide an in-depth analysis of issues facing the youth; the Dies Academicus, an intellectual exchange among professors, specialists, and students coming from various fields of studies; and the Essentials of Leadership, a nine-session lecture providing a philosophical understanding of leadership.
Each K25 fellow is assigned a professional mentor and a regular mentor. Professional mentors consist of company executives who exemplify the vision of the program, while regular mentors are young professionals who have undergone sufficient formation provided by Kapuluan (see sidebar).
The K25 Fellows would also be engaged in three social outreach activities: a ten-day work camp, a campus reach out, and the Project Forge. These projects are further explained in this magazine.
The K25 Fellows’ academic performance is monitored by the mentors hoping that it improves during the course of the program. To help the K25 Fellows to develop good study habits, the program includes a three-day “study weekend” at the Laguna Hills Study Camp.
Aside from the formation provided by K25, friendship and camaraderie are developed as the program carries on. Engr. Clarwin Castro, one of the regular mentors, shares that “the fellows started out as strangers to each other but after a few months, they seemed to have bonded as good friends.”
K25 is supported and financed by its company partners whose logos appear at the back page of this magazine, and other generous sponsors who help the program realize its aims in one way or another.
As the K25 Fellows complete the various means of formation, they are given incentives such as a K25 shirt, bag, jacket, among others. After completing the program they would be graduated on December 12, hopefully taking with them the necessary wisdom and skills gained from their mentors and the different formative activities to be cornerstones of the nation’s future.
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