A systems-informed, earn-while-learning programme equipping financially disadvantaged youth with practical skills, seed capital, and market linkages to build dignified, sustainable work.
Watch insights from Kenya's youth participants
Youth@Work targets the fundamental gap between skills acquisition and economic opportunity. Participants move from ideation to first sales within weeks and months.
The programme is grounded in evidence from pilots in Kenya and South Africa, which showed that youth can develop sale-ready prototypes within two weeks when training is practical, contextual, and linked to real market demand.
Delivery is through 9 Youth-Led Organisations (YLOs), embedding capacity locally and ensuring long-term sustainability beyond the programme cycle.
Collaborative Innovation Design (CID) - 10-day intensive labs per cohort
Quarterly mentorship cycles and peer learning via the Youth in Systems Change Hub
Market linkages: community showcases, buyer tests, procurement pilots
Each trained youth creates approximately 8 additional work opportunities through the ventures they launch and the ecosystem they strengthen.