Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator is a South African
nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
founded to address the youth unemployment crisis by connecting employers to first-time job seekers.
About
Harambee seeks to address the
South African youth unemployment crisis by helping companies hire young, first-time job seekers. The organization has developed a
mobile-based network that collects job-seekers' details, assesses candidates, offers training, and matches them to employers looking for their skillsets. By signing up for and showing up regularly to classes and training, candidates can demonstrate reliability, and thus employability. The goal is to encourage companies to take a chance on workers with no experience, often from poor households. As of May 2019, Harambee has a network of 500,000 young job seekers and 500 company partners.
According to
RTI International, Harambee was involved in the development of a curriculum for digital literacy and professional networking skills hosted on the gcyerti.com website.
Recognition
Harambee has been the recipient of a number of grants and awards, including the
Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship
The Skoll Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California. The foundation makes grants and investments intended to reduce global poverty. Jeffrey Skoll created the foundation in 1999.
The total assets of the foundation (includi ...
, a finalist for the 2019 Conscious Companies award
and the Global Center for Youth Employment award. It was one of the
Aspen Institute's 2015 John P. McNulty prize laureates and also received recognition from
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
and a $3.5 million grant in 2020. In 2019, they were voted the 8th most popular brand in South Africa in the "Coolest Campaign Targeted at Youth 2019" category.
History
Harambee was founded in 2011 by
Nicola Galombik, who is also the Executive Director at Yellowwoods, a global investment group based in South Africa. The name "Harambee" is
Swahili for "we all pull together". The organization was incubated by Yellowwoods in partnership with the
South African Government
The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa.
Executive authority ...
's
National Treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
's Jobs Fund.
Maryana Iskander
Maryana Iskander (; ar, ماريانا إسكندر; born September 1, 1975) is an Egyptian-born American social entrepreneur and lawyer. In 2022, she became the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Wikimedia Foundation, succeeding Katherine Ma ...
took over as Chief Executive Officer in 2012. According to Iskander, their initial goal was to "scale and place 10,000 people into their first jobs".
In 2015, Harambee made an on-stage commitment at the
Clinton Global Initiative to provide unemployed youth in South Africa access to 50,000 jobs and work experiences. As of June 2019, Harambee had connected 100,000 young South Africans to employment.
References
External links
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
Social enterprises
Non-profit organisations based in South Africa