Brenda Mareri’s Post

Stories of system change in action: Across Africa, 10 million people enter the work force EACH YEAR. Where are the jobs going to come from? This is one of the big systemic challenges facing the Continent. The Jobtech Alliance is part of a movement stimulating a tech revolution in job creation. As an Alliance they are working to change incentives, enable better collaboration, create new stories, harness collective intelligence- basically change the system- that will enable tech to play a role in creating more and better quality jobs. And we, led by Scott Hinkle and Lizzy Whitehead have been working with them. If you are interested in jobs, tech or just getting practical with system change then the blog is a good read zfrac zfra Adriana Keating Liz Wilson

How can we build an ecosystem around inclusive jobtech to create viable, scalable platforms that provide quality jobs for Africans? Check out this piece by Jobtech Alliance that outlines how they're using a systemic lens to ensure that #jobtech interventions go beyond isolated solutions, contributing to shaping the #jobtechsector for increased sustainability and inclusivity. The Alliance is working across multiple fronts to shift the dynamics of the current #jobtech system, including: - Building awareness and knowledge of jobtech - Nurturing an engaged, informed, and inspired community - Nurturing appropriate policies, standards, and tools, fostering a funding network, and - Stimulating global demand for African talent Read more: https://lnkd.in/dTabZmrc Michelle Hassan Carmen Wamukoya Precious Manyara Nomso O. Wairimu Gitahi Jacob Winiecki Phoebe K. #inclusivejobtech #systemicchange #jobcreation #talentdevelopment

 📢Earna Joins Forces with Jobtech Alliance to Empower Africa’s Youthful Workforce. Today, one of the most pressing questions regarding Africa's future is how to effectively engage the millions of young people entering the workforce each year. With a population exceeding 500 million and growing rapidly, Africa is poised to become the most youthful and dynamic workforce globally by 2050. However, the critical question remains: "Who will employ the millions of young people in Africa?" Organizations worldwide grapple with this challenge, and in response, Jobtech Alliance steered by Mercy Corps Ventures & BFA Global, was borne out of this necessity to address this gap The Jobtech Alliance today proudly counts over 150 platform members such as Selar, AltSchool Africa, and Shortlist Professionals each dedicated to making a meaningful difference by empowering African youth with the skills, training, and opportunities needed to work and earn a sustainable income. At Earna, we recognize the importance of financial resilience and security for this growing workforce. Through our carefully designed retirement and health plans, we enable young workers to build a robust financial safety net for their families and futures. We are excited to announce that Earna has officially become a member of the Jobtech Alliance. By joining forces with these fellow advocates, we are committed to shaping the future of Africa’s workforce. Learn more about our initiatives at www.earna.ai

On World Youth Skills Day we are glad to highlight our portfolio organisation Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and how their model is changing young South Africans’ lives by tackling key barriers of youth unemployment in the country.   Harambee works with government, civil society, and over 1,300 employer partners to support millions of young South Africans seeking and finding work. Harambee’s goal is to transform the work-seeking experience of 3 million youth over the next 5 years, including enabling skilling and work opportunities for 1 million applicants.   Harambee bridges the gap between high-potential youth and entry-level jobs by partnering with employers and offering work-readiness programmes to boost employability. They actively create industry alliances to create jobs and incentivise youth hiring, and engage with governments to channel resources towards combating unemployment. Through these partnerships, Harambee creates robust pathways for young people to enter the workforce.   Find out more in the video below!   #WorldYouthSkillsDay #VenturePhilanthropy #YouthUnemployment

Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator's November Breaking Barriers Report is a must-read (report attached). As always with Harambee, Sharmi Surianarain provides three critical and actionable insights to tackle the massive youth unemployment problem in South Africa: all well informed by years of research and case studies of success. Insight 1: Reversing the NEETs crisis requires widespread adoption of pathway management. Linking young people to job opportunities through the Pathway Manager Network has already demonstrated great success. We have used the SA Youth Employment platform in BPESA and in our own business at Paladin Consulting, Searle & Albertse - with great success. For those who are not part of this network, I encourage you to join; it is brining efficiency, effectiveness and equity into the labour market, at scale. Insight 2: “Investment grade” inclusive hiring hinges on shared understanding and sector-based facilitation. Perhaps the most undervalued form of investment in people. The BPESA conference in Cape Town featured a panel discussion that addressed precisely this. The subject, titled " Effective Inclusive Hiring and Upskilling Strategies: How Impact Sourcing, Upskilling & Future Skilling enabled by 4IR technologies, in-demand content, and supported by a collaborative network of local and global partners can enhance your business performance." - presented multiple case studies of the success of an integrated inclusive hiring practice followed by lifelong learning. The performance stats that were shared emphasize the economic benefits to business of this investment. Try it out! Our young people will not disappoint you. Insight 3: To move the needle on unemployment, we need to shift the contours of the economy itself, actively growing the informal sector. We could not agree more and are working with likeminded partners to add to this by taking formal sector work to the tier 2 and 3 towns and communities using the ubiquity of the digital economy and the enablement of The Collective X movement, to deliver digital services from these locations. Join us in scaling and replicating these models. Thanks for inspiring us, Harambee, and putting your insights into actions - always!

At a recent roundtable discussion hosted by youth development group Afrika Tikkun and tech giant Microsoft, #business #leaders from South Africa's largest corporations questioned whether the country's unemployment problem is due to a lack of jobs or a mismatch between the skills that young people have and the skills that employers need. During the dialogue held under the theme Skills Gap, Youth Employability and Employment industry leaders also identified a critical issue that is hindering progress in South Africa's skill development ecosystem: a lack of coordination and collaboration between employers and those who provide young people with skills. They warned that this lack of collaboration is allowing the skill gap to grow wider. Read more on BizCommunity.com: https://lnkd.in/dc-KCszv

As 2023 comes to a close, I am incredibly proud of the progress we made this year to advance workforce equity and inclusion for refugees, asylees, and other immigrants restarting their careers in the United States. In 2023, Upwardly Global: 🌟 Reached a record-breaking milestone in the organization's history with 10,000+ all-time job seeker placements in well-paying, skill-aligned jobs. 🌟 Helped nearly 7,000 immigrant job seekers through our Career Coaching Program, partnerships, and online learning platforms. 🌟 Placed over 1,000 job seekers — the majority attributed to women job seekers — with an average starting salary of more than $64,500. 🌟 Engaged 1,300 volunteers and recruited almost 300 new volunteers to support our mission.   Thanks to all of our partners who helped us create an ecosystem to successfully promote immigrant workforce inclusion by donating resources (financial and otherwise), establishing formal partnership agreements, inviting us to be a part of important policy discussions, and providing us with a platform where we could advocate for immigrant inclusion and better practices in the private sector. Partners like the Clinton Global Initiative, O.C. Tanner, JPMorgan Chase & Co. , Welcome.US, WorkingNation, Jobs for the Future (JFF), LinkedIn, Ashoka, Schmidt Futures, NBCUniversal, Accenture, Oliver Wyman, Evacuate Our Allies, The Afghan-American Foundation , and many others. The list is too long. #YearInReview #BeyondWelcome #EconomicInclusion https://lnkd.in/enXmWEnG

📢Earna Joins Forces with Jobtech Alliance to Empower Africa’s Youthful Workforce. Today, one of the most pressing questions regarding Africa's future is how to effectively engage the millions of young people entering the workforce each year. With a population exceeding 500 million and growing rapidly, Africa is poised to become the most youthful and dynamic workforce globally by 2050. However, the critical question remains: "Who will employ the millions of young people in Africa?" Organizations worldwide grapple with this challenge, and in response, Jobtech Alliance steered by Mercy Corps Ventures & BFA Global, was borne out of this necessity to address this gap The Jobtech Alliance today proudly counts over 150 platform members such as Selar, AltSchool Africa, and Shortlist Professionals each dedicated to making a meaningful difference by empowering African youth with the skills, training, and opportunities needed to work and earn a sustainable income. At Earna, we recognize the importance of financial resilience and security for this growing workforce. Through our carefully designed retirement and health plans, we enable young workers to build a robust financial safety net for their families and futures. We are excited to announce that Earna has officially become a member of the Jobtech Alliance. By joining forces with these fellow advocates, we are committed to shaping the future of Africa’s workforce. Learn more about our initiatives at www.earna.ai

By embracing a mindset change and acknowledging the value of skills, employers can actively contribute to bridging the gap between available resources and the needs of industries affected by the skills shortage. Afrika Tikkun Services views job creation as a superpower: not only does it help support families and communities, it also drives progress on gender equality, poverty eradication, social cohesion and inclusive economic growth

South African youth, despite high unemployment rates, are a vital part of the country’s workforce. But how loyal are they to their employers and what do they think of company leadership? infoQuest Africa (Panel Services Africa) looks into job-hopping Gen Z.