The Future is Now: Lessons from Future Forward: Innovations for Youth Employment in Africa

Learn more about Ashoka's Future Forward initiative to change the narrative of youth in Africa and support systems-changing solutions for productive livelihoods.
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For more than six years, Future Forward, an initiative between Ashoka and the Mastercard Foundation identified and supported social entrepreneurs and young changemakers with innovative solutions for youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa. We elected 25 Ashoka Fellows across the continent, held a Globalizer Summit to help some of those Fellows scale their impact. We hosted an online challenge for African youth changemakers, curated an online course on the Future of Work, and hosted ecosystem events to bring together key players.

From that we saw exponential increases in the impact of the Fellows we supported, including the support for work that led to more than 233,000 (and counting) young people accessing new livelihoods. We also convened a community of practitioners, thought leaders, and young Africans who spread insights and effective approaches with a vision to redefine meaningful work and opportunity in the 21st century.

Learn more about the significant impact this partnership made in creating jobs and helping us rethink the Future of Work for Africa’s young people.