What inspires us in life?

What counts as a life-changing experience? Which actions bring about positive change for more individuals than just myself?

The Dekeyser & Friends Foundation hopes to contribute to fulfilled individual lives, but also to bringing about social change. Our goal is to help young individuals to develop the courage to follow their own ideas and dreams. We believe that such courage cannot only be found through education but also through meeting inspiring people and through powerful experiences.

Living values such as optimism, tolerance, respect, global responsibility and courage as well as offering abilities such as teamwork in every project, we hope to foster not only personal fulfillment but also positive social change.

Our approach contains four building blocks that are present in every project:

Fellows: We aim to contribute to cosmopolitanism by bringing young people from around the world together to work jointly on concrete projects. Our method of selecting applicants is not based on previous performance. Instead, selection is based on the applicant’s demonstrated motivation and evidence that she/he will benefit from the project.  Our goal is to bring together as diverse a team as possible. Whilst the selection will happen in accordance with the project Friend, every young individual between the age of 18-28 (for US projects 21-28) can apply.

Friends: What motivates D&F Friends to offer a project? Our Friends want to give back and pass on their experience, passion and knowledge to young people. They also want to have fun and benefit themselves from the experience. What is unique about D&F is that the foundation makes working with young people for a limited amount of time on a defined project very very easy. Friends do not need to put in time, money or organizational skills beforehand. Dekeyser & Friends facilitates projects and thus enables Friends to give back and enjoy. 

D&F Academy: Every project aims at inspiring and motivating its participants, fostering great friendships, transferring knowledge and experiences – to trigger courage and optimism. This is substantiated by the Dekeyser & Friends Academy program, which is an activities program that builds around the topics of friendship, leadership, tolerance & respect, communication, courage, entrepreneurship, teamwork, passion, inspiration, and optimism. The program is full of fun activities, exciting talks and adventurous excursions!

A common goal: Under the guidance of the Friend, the Fellows, as a team, pursue a goal – be it a finished farmhouse, the beginning of a new village, being on stage. What is important is not the goal itself but the road to it and the positive experience that stems from it.

Every project thus unites four components:

Fellows: Every project offers diverse experiences that try to inspire and help young people to believe in themselves and develop capabilities.
Team: Each project brings together different cultures and generations for one project. This exchange allows fellows to make unique experiences and helps them on their way to determine their future.
Friend: Every project connects young people and experienced personalities. This enables a transfer of knowledge, experience and passion.
D&F Academy: Every project discusses specific values and offers coaching on certain abilities – fellows and friends discuss and unite around the D&F spirit.

The D&F Foundation aims to become a non-profit project management organization, enabling Friends to give back easily and as many Fellows as possible to benefit from our efforts.