project F.I.R.E

Every opportunity. Every youth. No exceptions

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Inspiration - It started with a contradiction we couldn't ignore: some young people are drowning in opportunities while others have none, not for lack of talent, but lack of access. In Singapore, opportunities are everywhere, but they're scattered, hidden, or only reach those already "in the know." We wanted to level the playing field. Every young person deserves an equal shot, no matter their school, network, or background. That became F.I.R.E.

What it does - F.I.R.E. (Find, Involve, Reach, Engage) is a centralised platform that puts meaningful opportunities — internships, competitions, volunteering, workshops — all in one place. It solves three problems at once:

-For youth who can't find opportunities -For youth overwhelmed by too many -For youth who lack access altogether

One trusted destination instead of dozens of scattered sources. For schools, it maps directly to MOE's CCE, VIA, and ECG mandates so students engage and educators see impact.

How we built it - We built F.I.R.E. as a live web platform with a curated opportunities database at its core. Our seven-person team split the work across product architecture, data and admin management, marketing, finance, and user research. We started with real user research, how young people actually search for opportunities and why existing platforms fail them, then designed around it. We landed the IB Global Youth Action Fund for credibility and funding, and partnered with GIIS Punggol Smart Campus as our pilot school.

Challenges we ran into - Trust as newcomers, earning institutional credibility with schools as a brand-new group The unregistered hurdle, operating as a new youth group locked us out of much of the grants and sponsorship landscape Building from zero, every pipeline, tracker, and process had to be built from scratch Time, we're students first, coordinating seven people's responsibilities without burning out

Accomplishments that we're proud of - F.I.R.E. is live, a real platform, not a concept We won the IB Global Youth Action Fund earning 1300 SGD in funding. We secured our first pilot school partnership We built a full four-phase execution roadmap with clear ownership We turned a shared frustration into a functioning organisation with a committed team

What we learned

Execution beats ideas, the vision was easy; the systems, partnerships, and trust to deliver it were the real work Credibility compounds, one grant win opened doors across every future application Listen, don't assume, user research changed how we built Clear ownership = speed, a small team moves fast when roles are crystal clear

What's next for F.I.R.E. - Scale to 20+ schools across Singapore Grow to 1,000 registered users Host our Festival of Hope in September, workshops, open mic, student showcase, live demo, action pledges Raise 2,000+ SGD beyond our grant and secure 3+ sponsors Recruit School Ambassadors, publish user impact reports, and apply for IB GYAF 2027

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Updates

posted an update —

We're open to students throughout the entire WORLD!!, yes EVERY international student, regardless of where they're stationed can become a part of us as long as they showcase dedication. If you are hardworking, and aim to bring equality to the world doing your role in helping achieve one of the sustainable development goals of sustainable communities, then you are the one we're looking for.

You're required to update competitions around your area, in order for our project to expand beyond Singapore and go global. Comment your emails, and like the post to showcase your interest and we will get back to you!

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