My Journey as a Changemaker

Isabah Wazed

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” ― George Bernard Shaw

I was first affiliated with Footsteps in 2013 when I became a volunteer in their social venture Project Trishna. I really liked the concept of Project Trishna and how it addressed the targeted social problem- creating access to clean drinking water for all by using the Corporate Social Responsibility platform. As I had noticed, Project Trishna had been a huge success and made a huge impact in our society. Soon afterwards, I volunteered in Footsteps’ A Heartwarming Winter, a winter drive program, which was an extremely well-organized and effective project. I soon gained an active interest in the activities of Footsteps as the organization had very clear ideas on the importance of long-term and impactful projects. I kept up-to-date with Footsteps’ activities. In 2016, as soon as I had found out that Footsteps was recruiting, I immediately applied to be a Changemaker at Footsteps. Fortunately for me, Footsteps contacted me and got me on board soon afterwards.

Ever since I joined Footsteps, I have been able to gain experiences that I previously could never had expected at this age. Footsteps has given me a platform to express my ideas and has given me the opportunity to contribute and give my own solutions to possibly solve important social problems. I started off as a Research and Development Officer at Footsteps and I was able to utilize and further improve my ability to write. I wrote many articles and documents for Footsteps and I am grateful to Footsteps for even having some of my write-ups displayed on national newspapers. Moreover, often attending meetings of Team Footsteps has even improved my ability to pitch ideas, voice my concerns, stand up for ideas I believe in and much more.

After having been moved into the Operations Department of Footsteps, I was given the opportunities of talking with clients, attend important meetings as well as seeing many of our procedures first-hand. Under the guidance of supportive, I have learnt many of the ins and outs of the corporate world. While helping in promotions of one of our initiatives, Open Space, I even had the luck of speaking live on the radio. There, I was able to discuss some of my opinions and goals too. Footsteps has so far given me a lot of working experience and many opportunities to do things that I don’t think many other 15-16 year old kids get to do.

Under Footsteps, I have gained invaluable experiences that I believe will immensely help me on my future goals and ambitions and Footsteps has had a big hand in shaping many of my beliefs that I carry to this day. I consider myself extremely lucky for my experiences and I hope more people who have time and the enthusiasm to bring a change like me to utilize such amazing platforms and work towards many of the ideas similar to those of Footsteps’.