OUR STORY

Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator is an independent, not-for-profit social enterprise that works with individual businesses, government agencies, local and international donors, industry sector associations, youth-serving organisations, assessment specialists, behaviour change experts and technology providers.

Through research and delivery, we contribute knowledge and insights about what is working to solve youth unemployment globally. Harambee was founded in South Africa in 2011 by business, government, and social partners. It established operations in Rwanda in 2018

Harambee works with business associations and across government to share our experience and data. This ranges from input to shape policies and incentives to building a system that can more successfully pathway young people to opportunities ranging from formal jobs to sustainable livelihoods to further learning. We engage with international donors and multilateral organisations to provide guidance on how their current investments can support solutions that work.

Harambee has received global recognition for its approach to innovation. We have created a culture that values learning by doing (most ideas are evaluated by finding “lean” ways to test them), continuously measuring the result of any innovation effort (key outcomes are tracked daily and weekly) and focusing on whether we have delighted our customers.

We partner with different stakeholders including the government, businesses and other civil society organizations to conduct research and learn from young people their challenges and what works. We regularly share our findings and learnings as we work to build scalable solutions to the systemic barriers that lead to youth unemployment.