Behind every young person is a story of trying, learning, and starting again — sometimes with doubt, but always with hope. These stories from the Skill Our Future community reflect the quiet courage it takes to grow, especially when the path ahead feels uncertain. With support from mentors, practical tools, and a strong peer network, from Indonesia, Halida and Ridho found their way forward, and now they’re helping others do the same. EmpowerU was the first door I was brave en

4 years ago, Rida Ashraf thought she had finally found her perfect writing training course, a workshop titled “Tell Your Story". After all, she spent as much time as she could remember as a creator of stories. She used to tell made-up stories to her younger siblings and cousins as a little girl, crafted bedtime fantasies with her students, drew out scenes in corners of her notebooks. She had spent four years putting her passion into her very first novel. And so, when she saw

I am João from the Malayo-Polynesian Indigenous community in Timor-Leste. I want to tell you my story how being Indigenous shaped me.