Engaging Young People: 2013-2014 Youth Think Tank Report

Over the last two years, The MasterCard Foundation’s Youth Think Tank examined youth engagement in the non-profit and private sectors in five countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. Through interviews with their peers and the organizations that engage them, the Think Tank explored the kinds of activities undertaken, the benefits of these engagements, as well as the barriers to participation.

The MasterCard Foundation launched the Think Tank initiative in 2012. A new Think Tank is established every couple of years by recruiting a group of young people from our programs. They conduct research in their communities, make recommendations based on their findings and advise the Foundation.

Though it is relatively new, the initiative has played an important role in the design of our programs. The findings of the Youth Think Tank has informed our Economic Opportunities for Youth programs, which target young people in skills development, employment and enterprise development.

The Youth Think Tank found the following:

• Young people are motivated to engage in their communities out of a desire to help and feel the main way to do this is to provide and receive mentorship.
• Young people face several barriers to finding engagement opportunities, and in making full use of them once they have been invited to participate. Women, in particular, struggle to confront the negative stereotypes held by older generations and organizations.
•  In order for youth to overcome the barriers to engagement, young people see a need to change mindsets around the value of their opinions and ideas, as well as the quality of their engagement opportunities.
• Organizations engaging young people should consider recruiting them via diverse channels and networks such as social media, radio, organizational websites, and through school and community networks.
•  Youth engagement requires work. Providing young people with appropriate orientation and mentorship, as well as ongoing skills development, is crucial to the success of a youth engagement initiative, both for young people and for organizations.