The Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre (BYLC) held the graduation ceremony for its second month-long training programme titled 'Building bridges through leadership training' at the Brac Centre Inn in the city on Thursday.
US Ambassador to Bangladesh James F Moriarty attended the programme as chief guest, Dr Gowher Rizvi, adviser to the prime minister, as guest of honor, and Dr Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, as special guest.
The event was also attended by distinguished businessmen, academics, civil society leaders and members of the press.
A total of 30 students were competitively selected from the applicants of over 92 schools and colleges for this award- winning programme.
These 30 of Dhaka's best and brightest, representing 21 different schools and madrasas, spent a grueling month attending the leadership training programme which included workshops on leadership, public speaking, teamwork, problem solving and community service.
After two weeks of intensive training at Biam Foundation in the city, the participants spent more than 725 hours for community service at Tablock slum in Mirpur and Narandi village under Monohardi in Narshingdi.
They undertook various projects on health, education and environment. Addressing the graduating participants, the US envoy said, “Not only you served, but also you came together to serve. Though you attend different types of schools, madrasas, Bengali medium schools, and English medium schools, you worked together. This is crucial. The future of Bangladesh does not just belong to English medium students, or Bengali medium students, or Madrasa students. It belongs to all of you. All of you together will decide what you want the future to hold.”
Dr Gowher Rizvi said, “Contrary to popular belief real leadership is not position or authority, it is about creating change in society by positively impacting the lives of others. BYLC's leadership programme is a brave attempt to raise awareness and promote real leadership among the Bangladeshi youths.”