By Jesse Odippo | Communications Officer
We remain grateful for your continued support in driving us closer to our goal of equipping entrepreneurship skills to 100 youth in Kenya. As we receive, we continue to better our programs and strengthen our systems to serve the youth better as we work with them.
JAY4T recently had a LabStorm hosted by Feedback Labs, Listening for Livelihoods, which explored how youth feedback can move beyond data collection to real ownership. We were challenged to co-design with youth, treating feedback as a tool for accountability, skill-building, and systems improvement. The insights from the LabStorm are now shaping how youth voices influence program design and evaluation at JAY4T.
In line with that, JAY4T is launching the Youth Entrepreneurship program (YEP), which is an accelerator for the three employment social enterprises: Kaakazini, LigiOpen, and Sotetule. The program will run for 6 months, following a cohort-based approach to create a steady pipeline of beneficiaries, with the first cohort starting in March 2026. YEP is open to youth from Kisumu and beyond who are passionate about entrepreneurship, digital innovation, sports, agriculture, and community solutions, and who want to be part of founding teams of new enterprises.
The program will offer modules in areas such as enterprise creation and business model design, asset-based community development research, digital skills and technical workstreams, professional mentorship and many more.
In partnership with the Lutheran Technical Training Institute in Mamboleo, Kisumu, JAY4T was able to acquire an office, which will host the YEP cohort and be the official registered office the organisation will use to facilitate the YEP program – a home for the cohort! JAY4T has also secured partnership with three youth-serving community based organizations to leverage collaboration and extend reach of impact. Our partner CBOs include Kisumu Progressive Youth, Milimani United Community Engagement and Generation Impact Alliance (KGIA). We also recently partnered with Change the Game Academy for our team to learn fundraising and organizational effectiveness through the online courses offered, as we continue strengthening our operations. These collaborations enable us to have a smooth running of the program, as we work together with the institutions.
We continue to actively seek support as we prepare to kickstart our first program in March. Your support is what keeps us going.
One empowered youth brings us closer to an empowered generation.
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