The Foundation for Youth Social Entrepreneurship (FYSE) has awarded the Paragon fellowship (previously Asia Pacific Future 100) to 100 outstanding young entrepreneurs and social change-makers from all over Asia-Pacific.

The youth achievers are to embark on a yearlong fellowship, benefiting from regional networking, mentorship from professionals and entrepreneurs, capacity building and access to finance.

Youth entrepreneurs will gain experience from working on more than 50 online channels as positive role models in order to inspire more young people to become entreprenurial.

The Web site will not only provide young people with inspirational role models, but also provide information on turning their ideas into reality.

Fellowship holders hail from 10 Asian states, including Indonesia, Pakistan, China, India and Nepal, and have launched initiatives with social ventures or NGOs.

“I am an entrepreneur because I saw a social need that had to be addressed immediately, and I felt that I could adequately address it by taking it up institutionally”, says India’s Piyush Tewari founder of the Save Life Foundation.

Ejaj Ahmad, founder of the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre agreed: “I am an entrepreneur because I wanted to change my society and for me social entrepreneurship provided the perfect platform.”