Novi Retno Ardianti Makes It to the Top 5 in the International Youth Forum on Innovation (IYFI) in Singapore

The idea of Youth Entrepreneur Care that was initiated by Novi Retno Ardianti made it into the top 5 in the International Youth Forum on Innovation (IYFI) in Singapore (20-23/9/2017). The event was organized by Education and Connection (Edconnex).
Novi, a student of English Language Education (PBI) study program of Universitas Ahmad Dahlan (UAD), was able to compete with several other IYFI participants from Asia. Her idea was to create an innovation for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) program initiated by the United Nations (UN).
“The idea that I have is to encourage young entrepreneurs to care about others, instead of only being an entrepreneur. Each month, we can provide incentives for people in need, such as those in orphanages and disaster victims.”
She conveyed that youth should be active in creating and innovating, not just staying at home. She, born in Yogyakarta, is currently a custom pillow entrepreneur, apart from being a student at UAD.
With her business, Novi is able to employ several employees and send donation to orphanages and natural disaster victims in a number of occasions. In addition, she can pay for her tuition and have additional pocket money from her business. Now, the business that she started when she entered UAD already has a gross income of around 7-9 million a month.
“I was initially just a reseller, now I self-produce the products. By becoming a young entrepreneur, I am trying to be independent to help my parents. Even though you have already had a business, you must still care about other people in need,” said Novi, who is also the head of the UAD Debating Community (DeCo) for the period of 2017-2018.
Novi has recorded more than 10 achievements from the regional, national and international level competitions and events. Currently, she is trying to advance her business as an implementation of her idea which becomes the top 5 at IYFI. The bigger and more advanced the business is, the more people can be helped.
It should be noted that IYFI is a forum for international youth to propose innovation and discuss the UN SDG program. The participants include youth from the Philippines, India, Singapore, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and China, whose papers had been previously selected. (ard)