Young people are directly affected by the decisions being made today
THE CHALLENGE
Where this work begins
Young people are often left out of the decisions that shape their futures and face limited access to the skills and opportunities to build them. We work across employability, entrepreneurship, skills development, leadership, and civic participation, creating pathways for young people to earn, lead, build, and participate
OUR MODELS HERE
How we respond
The Youth Leading Change Model
This model develops the administrative capacity, negotiation skills, and policy literacy that young leaders need to influence the institutions around them, preparing youth led coalitions to shape and improve existing state systems.
Systems Accountability Model
Applied here through youth consortiums, this model strengthens the compliance and governance structures of youth led organisations, deepening their standing as credible partners in civic and policy processes.
Impact Spotlight
Young people reached
Youth led organisations mobilised
Policymakers engaged through youth led advocacy
FROM THE FIELD
Building futures, shaping decisions
Through our Mastercard Jobberman training, more than 39,000 young people were trained in soft skills for employment and leadership. Through Youth Leading Change, 35 youth fellows were supported to strengthen their leadership and policy engagement, while 21 youth-led organisations came together to develop and advance the Northwest Youth Policy Agenda, which was adopted as a shared framework for youth priorities across the Northwest.
OUR PROJECTS
Youth Leading Change Program (YLCP)
Supported By:
Across Northwest Nigeria, young people’s participation in governance is closely tied to access to leadership opportunities, organisational capacity, and meaningful spaces to engage public institutions. Through YLCP, BCAI worked with young leaders, youth-led organisations, communities, government institutions, and other stakeholders to strengthen youth leadership, civic action, and policy engagement. The work contributed to the development of youth leadership capacity, stronger youth-led organisations, practical community action, and the formal endorsement of the Northwest Youth Policy Agenda, strengthening the foundation for coordinated youth participation and policy action across the region.
Jobberman Young Africa Works Project
Supported By:
Through the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Strategy, implemented in partnership with Jobberman Nigeria, BCAI contributed to strengthening the employability and life skills of over 39,000 young people across more than 160 communities in Kano State, 70% of whom were young women. The initiative built competencies in leadership, communication, problem-solving, and workplace readiness while engaging traditional rulers, community mobilisers, and volunteers to strengthen community ownership and expand pathways to dignified employment for young people.
Youth Multi-media Fellowship (YMF) Project
Supported By:
Young people were using mobile phones and social media every day, but had limited opportunities to use these tools to influence conversations and policies on reproductive health. The Youth Multimedia Fellowship trained and mentored young people and youth-led organisations across six countries to create multimedia campaigns, engage communities, and advocate for policy change on issues including child marriage and female genital mutilation. From 2018 to 2021, the fellowship reached more than 24 million people online, produced over 9,000 multimedia products, and contributed to policy commitments across Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and Pakistan.
Many of these same young leaders go on to run the health awareness campaigns in their own communities.
