Our approach is powered by young people, grounded in evidence, and driven by a commitment to equity. We blend systems-level change with innovative programming to empower youth to excel as leaders, innovators, and changemakers.
IYF’s approach is centered in:
- Youth Agency & Leadership Development: IYF equips young people to unlock their agency and lead transformative change. Young people recognize their strengths and aspirations, understand their options and develop the confidence, relationships and support needed to act.
- Demand-Driven Skills Development: IYF helps employers, education systems, and training partners identify changing labor-market needs, translate those needs into competencies, and embed demand-driven curricula into classrooms. IYF uses rapid systems mapping, Skills Needs Gap Assessment methods, employer and industry validation, curriculum design, training-of-trainers, and partner capacity-building to create talent pipelines that can be sustained beyond a single project.
- Development of Life Skills: IYF integrates essential life skills—including leadership, problem-solving, communication, and civic engagement—into every program.
- Evidence-Based Innovation: Robust monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning systems, together with global research partnerships, ensure our strategies are data-driven and our impact is scalable.
The success of IYF’s programs is built on youth-informed design: listening to young people, involving them in shaping solutions, and translating their insights into tools, trainings and campaigns that feel relevant, trusted, and actionable. In some programs, this takes the form of a Youth Ambassador model, where young people serve as communicators, peer leaders, content creators, and program advisors. These young people help translate industry and global trends into language, stories, and formats their local peers can trust, relate to and act on.
How we work:
- Co-designing with young people: IYF engages young people as co-creators of programs, campaigns, and tools, building leadership, agency, and problem-solving skills while making sure every initiative reflects youth realities.
- In Schools: IYF works with local education and training systems, aligning the curriculum, teacher training and classroom instruction with the current demands of the industry and the needs of young people.
- With Employers: We engage with local employers through workshops & consultations to understand and respond to their talent challenges.
- With Community Based Organizations: IYF partners with and builds capacity of trusted local organizations to deliver skill-building, case-management, mentorship & wraparound services for youth disconnected from school & work.
- Online Learning & Campaigns: IYF delivers digital learning and outreach programs using mobile-friendly models and interactive content. We use cohort-based mentoring as well as self-paced learning to help young people navigate career and education goals online.
Learn more about how we work…
With youth
With schools
With employers
With the community
