Boost

Boost, the program that changes lives

Boost is a program of excellence that supports talented and promising young people from underprivileged backgrounds. Boost’s ambition is to maximise the chances of success for such youngsters in higher education and facilitate their entrance into the labour market.

The program

To achieve this, Boost intervenes on 3 levels:

• Foster success: Support these youngsters during secondary and then further education, up to the moment they secure their first job.
• Develop personal and soft skills: Enable young people to confidently explore all facets of their personality and identity. Develop the skills needed to make their academic project, their professional career and, more broadly, their life project a success.
• Promote role models: Encourage our young people to become role models, by engaging in civic activities for the benefit of other young people within the Boost community. More broadly, encourage youth to get involved with other youth outside of the project who are facing the same socio-economic challenges as they are.

Boost offers a long-term approach. The program runs from the 4th year of secondary education until obtaining a degree and a first job (minimum 6 years).

Support for each Booster comes in many forms: group workshops, cultural activities, language courses, individual coaching, tutoring, mentoring and other opportunities. Our youngsters also receive financial and material support (scholarship, computer and printer).

The Boost community

In 2011, the King Baudouin Foundation launched the program in Brussels. Thanks to the SofinaBoël Fund for Education and Talent, Boost developed very quickly, both in terms of program content and geographically. Several partners then joined the program's founders. Boost is now active in 8 Belgian cities: Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, Verviers, La Louvière, Mons, Ghent and Ostend. The Boost community counts more than 600 young people, 118 jury members and the steering committee.

The selection

Each year, Boost launches a call for candidates to select new young talents who:

·        Go to school in a Boost city

·        Are in the 3rd year of secondary education (general, technical or artistic), have not repeated a year and have good school results

·        Grow up in a socially and economically vulnerable environment

·        Want to pursue their studies and obtain a higher education degree

·        Are eager to discover and develop their talents

·        Are motivated and ready to commit to a minimum 6-year program

Do you know young people who fit the profile? Then join us in making a difference! Visit https://www.boostfortalents.be/en/ for more information.