From Model to Movement: Learning from DOT's Youth Leading Change Project

"The report shares DOT's key insights about youth development and entrepreneurship.... It captures DOT’s evolving strategy along a trajectory of 'model to movement,' where youth are supported to become ...social innovators who are creating opportunities and transforming their communities."

The Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT)'s Youth Leading Change (YLC) Project to increase the engagement of youth in the economies of Kenya and Rwanda operates at the intersection of youth, technology, and social innovation. This evaluation looking at DOT’s YLC experience from the perspectives of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability examines the effectiveness of the DOT youth-led model in order to provide "insight into the ambitions and needs of young people in the rapidly changing world of work." The strategic framework of action and

investment in innovation developed in 2013 includes:

1. "Innovation in program design (focused on leadership and social innovation, mobile access);
2. Digital solutions (digital channels to youth, platform thinking, peer driven);
3. Replication (new business models to drive development); and
4. Measurement (measuring innovation and impact, fresh indicators)."

Against a background of high youth unemployment with 90% of the global youth population (42% of the total global population) living in low income countries "lacking the tools and motivations necessary to become leaders and changemakers in their societies", YLC began to work with youth between 16 - 29 years of age to find jobs or start businesses by developing skills that are in demand in their job markets, linking them with private sector actors, and supporting access to financial services and seed funds.  Recruiting university graduates (ages 24 - 29) into a year-long paid internship, the programme trains them as facilitators who "deliver training and empowerment programs in employment readiness (ReachUp!) and enterprise development (StartUp!)....Each of the Interns trains 100-200 young people in their communities through partnerships with youth-focused community organizations." 

DOT's developed a new strategic vision characterised by: 

• "Movement-building...;
• A commitment to feedback and learning...;
• An emphasis on community solutions, entrepreneurship rooted in local demand, and the changing nature of work;
• A recognition of the potential for digital disruption...;
• Greater support for youth-led design thinking, self-determined pathways to change, shared conception and co-creation of solutions and community projects;
• Enhanced focus on self-paced and self-directed learning...;

• A move away from service delivery toward supporting enabling environments by connecting diverse actors, forging new partnerships, and convening strategic networks."

The evaluation methodology included developing key questions (Section 2.2). Section 3 details outputs in terms of numbers of students delivering training, numbers completing training, percentage (87%) that then secured jobs or furthered their education,  number of local institutions engaged, percentage (80%) of students satisfied with the training, percentage (92%) satisfied with job opportunities from the DOT network, and percentage (99%) that joined the alumni network. Social outcomes show that: from baseline to endline there is an average improvement of more than 30% in gender attitudes;  50% of Kenya participants and more than 70% of Rwanda participants indicate they have a greater level of community involvement; and  "more than 50% in both countries feel they have an important role to play as a role model in their communities."  

Participant feedback on learning is supported by "lean experiments and strong feedback loops between implementers and participants..." that indicate whether training is relevant to local demand, for example, and whether skills are transferable.  DOT uses participatory M&E methods for ongoing assessment of learning outcomes, competencies, and shifting community needs and opportunities. DOT depends on the "multiplier effect" to efficiently increase the influence of the programme. It emphasises the possibilities of digital technology, engaging youth as action researchers in  user-centered or human-centered design (for example, a finding was that youth prefer to stay with the social network platforms they know rather than use new ones; another, youth need longer internships to optimise abilities). DOT develops strategic partnerships and aligns with youth targets in the Sustainable Development Goals. It recruits equal numbers of young men and women and gives gender equity training and addresses sex discrimination and harassment. 

Some key insights are: provide links to social venture capital funds and networks;  expand Intern deployment to include local government and civic departments; enrich engagement f alumni with annual job fairs, ongoing coaching and professional development, youth-to-youth exchanges, etc.; maintain longer engagement with DOT Interns and graduates; and improve the outcomes of promising social businesses by incubating, replicating, scaling and brokering social impact investment funds. For alumni, DOT networks have proved less sustainable than family or sector-specific networks, but tech hubs and incubation spaces may prove good connections for alumni networks. DOT connections with local organisations and strengthening of their capacity through DOT interns offers further sustainability as does mentoring and connections to entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Some of key insights and recommendations:

• "Supporting youth innovation has the potential to transform societies." DOT is transitioning from  positioning youth as project beneficiaries to positioning them as project partners. 
• "Catalyzing youth leadership requires investing in supporting structures and enabling environments while handing over leadership to young people."
• "Experiential learning helps young men and women develop capacities for social change and community leadership by doing social change." For example, mobile Open Data Kits can help youth track “their social impact over time and map outcomes."
• "Resilience is first and foremost about creativity and innovation." For example, "use of innovative participatory methods can elevate the agency of youth in the process and enable them to use data to influence decision-makers and access opportunities."
• "Transforming gender norms, rather than gender mainstreaming, is essential to the empowerment of women and girls."
• "Leveraging digital technology and opportunities in creative and innovative ways helps youth catalyze new opportunities, and supports systems-level change." For example, "[s]upport the development of innovation hubs that can catalyze thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems and enable established businesses to partner with start-ups."
• "Strategic and sustainable networks are critical to a young person’s success and can be facilitated through technology." For example, "[e]xpand community incubation to include partnerships with civil society organizations, local government departments, and the private sector."
• "Transformative social change only happens for young people when they have the power to not only deliver a program, but also to influence, inform and innovate."
• "Focusing on youth has a multiplier effect — when young people are equipped with the skills and motivations to secure employment or start businesses, it improves the social and economic development of entire communities."