Day 3 - Thursday, May 18

8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. 

Breakfast Sessions

 

Future Proof Skills: Developing Resiliency and Adaptability in a Time of Technological and Environmental Disruption

 

Track: Global Workforce

Room: Great Hall

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Organization(s): Education Development Center (EDC) and Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society

 

We are in a period of profound & rapid change, marked by four main trends: technological revolution; changes to the organization of work; global economic integration; and climate change. Work readiness skills and skills mismatches have been pertinent topics since the first incarnation of the GYEO summit. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, digitization trends have accelerated. Global awareness of climate change, an issue that youth care deeply about, has increased dramatically and is translating into practical action and new job opportunities. Young people who have invested in higher education are facing a competitive work environment and educational institutions struggle to keep up with the pace of digital transformation in today’s economy. It is time for our workforce development interventions to keep pace so young people do not get left behind, particularly in low-income countries. 

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Workforce development needs to ensure that youth: Develop the adaptability and resilience needed to navigate the pace of change and climate upheavals; Upskill and reskill as technology integration increases; Prevent deepening inequality between skilled & unskilled workers. The Future Proof Skills curriculum and approach helps youth build competency in areas such as digital skills, resilience, lifelong learning, and sustainability in an integrated manner through blended learning and workplace-based projects. This session will use the open seat method and targeted questions that tease out key issues and strategies. Discussions will include experiences from young experts in Liberia and Vietnam and will draw in participant ideas and insights to explore how we have all approached these pressing challenges. 

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Speakers: 

Nancy Chervin, International Technical Advisor- Youth and Workforce, Education Development Center (EDC)

 

Dannie Dinh, Program Manager, Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society 

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Hanh Huynh, Sustainability Consultant and Green Coach for youth of YSEALI-Mekong project, Education Development Center (EDC)
 

Korto Genegbanyan, HR Assistant, Liberia and Youth Advocate, Education Development Center (EDC)

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Social Entrepreneurship: Skills and Models

 

Track: Self Employment

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Room: Spring

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Organization: World Vision and Social Ventures Foundation

 

This session is about enabling youth to become successful social entrepreneurs, generating employment for themselves and others while leading sustainable social impact. Participants in this modified “open seat” interactive learning session will consider: (a) the skills, competencies, and mindsets that enable youth to become social innovators and entrepreneurs, (b) the Youth Ready + Evoke model (a World Vision and World Bank collaboration) that uses technology, triple-bottom-line business modeling and human-centered design to help youth innovate grassroots social venture solutions to global challenges like climate change, human trafficking, and sustainable cities, and (c) Social Ventures Foundation’s model of experiential social entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and social venture development which provide innovative solutions to poverty reduction and SDG challenges that are vetted by competitions and commercial proofs of concepts, and bridging the social impact startup funding gap at the bottom of the pyramid. 

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Speakers: 

Marc Blumenthal, Executive Director, Social Ventures Foundation

 

Dr. Barbra Freeman, Senior Consultant, World Bank

 

Aaron Ausland, Senior Technical Advisor, World Vision 

 

Supply, Matching, and Preparing for 2030: Promise and Pitfalls of Skills Training Programs

 

Track: Global Workforce

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Room: Ellsworth

 

Organization: Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

 

Policymakers have long acknowledged the need to prepare young people for the needs of the labor force, but job-skills training programs have a mixed track record of success. This session tackles some of the thorny questions of why and how training programs have succeeded and failed across different geographies, with a special eye towards youth-focused impact. Focusing on randomized evaluations of apprenticeships and vocational training interventions, this session will discuss the latest evidence on what methods have initiated and sustained youth involvement in the labor market. This session will pay special attention to technical and soft skills and their respective roles in enabling labor-market success for youth.

 

Speakers:

Jared Perlo- Policy Associate, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, J-PAL

 

Natalie Valent- Senior Policy Associate, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, J-PAL

 

9:15 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. 

Break

 

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

CRS Plenary 

 

Can new Financing Models Contribute to Solving Youth Employment Challenges on a Large Scale? 

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Room: Great Hall

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Organization: Catholic Relief Services  

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Of the 1.2 billion young people worldwide, close to half are not in education, training, or employed, or are underemployed or employed informally. In response to this major challenge, the youth employment and livelihoods sector has undergone significant transformation over the past decade and is expected to see even greater shifts over the coming years. To support that transformation, new financing mechanisms/models are needed to fund effective, sustainable and scalable youth employment and entrepreneurship initiatives, and reach young people on a large scale. However, youth employment stakeholders often lack familiarity with the range of financing solutions available, and clear guidance on when, how and where to use these products. The FinYouth report developed by GDI, CRS and the Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN) aims to fill these knowledge gaps by presenting a comprehensive landscape analysis of financing solutions for youth employment and entrepreneurship, highlighting the most effective and promising models and products in which to invest.  During this session, the panelists will share the genesis of this work, present key findings of the report, and profile one of the financing models mechanisms highlighted in the report.

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Speakers:

Beth Collins, Managing Director, Impact Investing, Catholic Relief Services 
 

Cyrielle Auffray, Manager, Global Development Incubator  
 

Ryan Moore, Director, Evaluation, Millennium Challenge Corporation 
 

Gabriela Carmo, Program Associate, Global Opportunity Youth Network at the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions 

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10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Break

 

10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Deep-Dive Breakout Sessions

 

Young People With Disabilities Are Ready To Work! ... Tackling the Challenges and Building on What Works to Increase Employment of Youth with Disabilities

 

Track: Global Workforce

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Room: Great Hall

 

Organization: Save the Children (Indonesia), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), International Disability Alliance, and Education Development Center (EDC)

 

Micro and small businesses in the Global South face structural challenges to disability and gender inclusion. Where there is the will to implement inclusive changes, businesses must address stigma and discrimination that often inhibits persons with disabilities from transitioning to work. At the outset of the session, presenters from Save the Children, USAID, the Education Development Center and organizations of persons with disabilities working in the Global South will introduce what has worked – and what hasn’t - to transform mindsets and practices to support disability inclusion. We invite the audience to join us in solving a series of challenges faced by micro and small businesses that are striving to implement inclusive practices and challenges that youth with disabilities face in obtaining work. The results of the session will be shared with project stakeholders.

 

Note: For this session, reasonable accommodations will be provided upon request. To request this, contact Julie Perdue, jperdue@savechildren.org by May 6, 2023.

 

Speakers:

Leah Maxson, Senior Inclusive Education Advisor, US Agency for International Development 

 

Evie Woro Yulianti, Program Manager of S2S, Save the Children (Indonesia)

 

Tania Tzelnic, Project Director, Education Development Center 

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Dorodi Sharma, Senior Advisor, Advocacy and Engagement, International Disability Alliance (IDA)

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Agriculture: Not Just for Farmers Anymore: Learn how Tech Wizards, Financial Experts, and Social Leaders are Creating Exciting and Profitable Livelihoods in the Food Value Chain and Saving the World at the Same Time

 

Track: Global Context Matters

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Room: Ellsworth

 

Organization: FHI 360

 

Meet three young professionals who are shaking up the agriculture sector –and they’re not farmers. Learn how jobs across the whole value chain—from research to civil society to finance—are transforming agriculture from destructive and poverty-trapping livelihoods to one of the most powerful weapons against climate change—and creating exciting jobs while they’re at it. So whether you’re interested in technology, finance, law, social justice or research, there’s a place for you to innovate a global sector, help billions out of poverty, and save the planet. 

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Speakers: 

Madhur Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Varaha Ag 

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Precious Phiri, Africa Coordinator, Regeneration International 

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Grace Lwin, Youth Economic Empowerment Specialist, FHI 360 

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Youth Matters: Make an Informed Career Decision Today for a Decent Job Tomorrow

 

Track: Global Workforce 

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Room: Fenton

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Organization: HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, Young Professionals Network of Albania and Youth Sounding Board, Nepal 

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To address youth unemployment, Helvetas-implemented projects in Albania, Nepal and North Macedonia employ the principles of an inclusive career and skills development systemic approach. Their hypothesis is that informed career decisions at an early age led to improved employability and decent jobs of young people. During this session, we will illustrate this through three successful models, for which participants are invited to jointly solve specific real problems:  

1. How youth advocacy in Albania has contributed to scaling up community career guidance services, while demonstrating the importance of working with the entire ecosystem? 

2. How the digital VET fair, which involved youth in all its intervention stages, supported youth in North Macedonia in pursuing a promising career path?  

3. How does career guidance support Nepalese youth and returnee migrants to achieve decent employment?

 

Facilitators:

Ermira Shyti- Team Leader, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation (Albania) 

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Aagya Pokharel- Project Coordinator, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation (Nepal) 

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Speakers: 

Nadire Selimi, Regional Manager on Knowledge Management and Learning, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation

 

Françeska Muço, Secretary General, Young Professionals Network of Albania

 

Aagya Shrestha, Youth Sounding Board Member, Youth Sounding Board (Nepal)

 

Mihajlo Donev, Operations Director for Development, Innovation and Knowledge, Economic Chamber of North Macedonia

 

Clare Ignatowski, PhD., Board Member, Helvetas USA

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Research-to-Change: Local Youth Implementers Powering Inclusive Workforce Development with Data 

 

Track: Global Workforce 

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Room: Spring

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Organization: IREX, Ak’Tenamit Association, and Biz Nation

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Strengthening local workforce developments systems requires inclusive leadership from local youth organizations, who fill key gaps in delivering workforce-relevant training, offering programs to underserved groups, and more. USAID’s Youth Excel is supporting local youth organizations to do just this with data and evidence that they themselves generate. In this session you will learn about Youth Excel’s unique open-source implementation research approach (branded ‘Research-to-Change’). You will hear from two leaders at local youth organizations (Karen Carvajalino, The Biz Nation, Colombia and Graciela Coy, Ak’Tenamit, Guatemala) on how they have used Research-to-Change to strengthen and ‘power’ local-level inclusion in workforce development programs and participate in an interactive discussion on effective ways to support youth leadership in strengthening workforce development systems. 

 

Speakers: 

Graciela Coy, President and Legal Representative, Ak’Tenamit Association

 

Karen Carvajalino, Co-Founder, Biz Nation

 

Brian Batayeh, Technical Advisor for Implementation Research, IREX 

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11: 45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Break

 

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Deep-Dive Breakout Sessions 

 

The Leaky Pipeline – Alternative Pathways for Youth in the Digital Economy

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Track: Global Workforce

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Room: Spring

 

Organization: Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC), YouLead, and IT Academy Uzbekistan. 
 

The digital economy is a powerful driver of youth employment. However, the promise of digital opportunities has not been realized for many youth from rural regions, young women and those without a degree. This session highlights the approaches, tools, successes and challenges of building alternative pathways for youth into digital jobs: the YouLead Future Careers Bridge activity in Sri Lanka (IESC) and the ADA IT Women – Karakalpakstan activity in Uzbekistan (ACDI/VOCA). These programs build youth assets and agency utilizing digital platforms, training and mentorship; working with the private sector to be demand-responsive, sustainable and scalable. While the digital economy can be an agent of economic inclusion, we have encountered structural barriers that the ‘shift to digital’ has not overcome including employer stereotypes, rural connectivity, social and cultural norms, and embedded fees. The session will engage participants in co-designing solutions to address structural barriers to youth employment in the digital economy.     

 

Speakers: 

Jessica Mull, Senior Associate, Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC)

 

Vindya Silva, Partnerships Director, YouLead

 

Mansurjon Rasulev, Gender Equality and Social Integration (GESI) Manager, USAID Agribusiness Development Activity (Uzbekistan) 

 

Agroecology at Work

 

Track: Self Employment

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Room: Fenton

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Organization: VSO International

 

Challenges are mounting for young people seeking decent work in the agriculture sector. Despite historically finding opportunities for resilient livelihoods in the sector, more and more young people are now searching elsewhere for work. The impact of climate change and other compounding challenges – including lack of affordable land, scant financial resources, skills gaps, and rising production costs – are proving to be insurmountable barriers. What’s more, many modern agricultural practices threaten the future of food production through water mismanagement, soil degradation, and loss of biodiversity. In this session, we will address increasing youth engagement in agriculture through the creation of agroecological enterprises. Youth-led agroecological enterprises enable young people to become champions of agroecology and improve intergenerational dialogues to address climate and environmental challenges that have contributed to food insecurity, unemployment, and lack of nutrition at the household and community level. 

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Speakers: 

Sosina Mehertu, Youth Engagement Manager, VSO International
 

Angel Mutale, Youth Leader, VSO International 
 

Anne Kahuria, Youth Engagement Officer, VSO International 
 

Wezzie Chimwala, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, VSO International 

 

The Future of the Workplace Through Work-Based Learning Programs

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Track: Global Workforce 

 

Room: Ellsworth
 

Organization: GAN Global and CACIF

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As the world of work changes, many employers struggle to find employees with the skills they need, even though the workforce may have other skills and qualifications. This is referred to as a skills mismatch when education and training do not provide the skills needed in the labor market. Work Based Learning means that employees can be trained in the skills needed by the business, while simultaneously developing practicing experience. This helps to reinforce talent pipelines for individual businesses and industries, with know-on effects to the economy. Given in a win-win situation, WBL programs can be extremely helpful to address the challenges of the 21st century, and for that, we bring experiences and perspectives from youth, as well as from the private sector. 

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Speakers: 

Juan Manuel Aquino, President of CACIF Jr.

 

Javier Lau, Youth Perspective OAS 

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Rachel Meredith, Youth Lead and Senior Manager, Nestle

 

Emma Shuttleworth, Vice President of Talent Acquisition, L'Oréal

 

Ignacio Lopez, Project Director, CACIF Guatemala and Youth Leader, GAN Global 

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Youth Responsive Programming in Sensitive Contexts: Examples from Ukraine, Serbia, and Jamaica 

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Track: Global Context

 

Room: Great Hall
 

Organization: Making Cents International

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The conference panel titled "Youth Responsive Programming in Sensitive Contexts: Examples from Ukraine, Serbia, and Jamaica" aims to explore how three youth economic opportunities programs are responding to challenges faced by vulnerable youth in sensitive contexts. Panelists will discuss the need to integrate mental health support and Positive Youth Development (PYD) and trauma-informed care principles into programming to provide the necessary support to participants and staff. 

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The panel will feature representatives from three youth-serving organizations in Serbia, Jamaica, and Ukraine who are implementing workforce development and income generation programs in challenging contexts with youth who have experienced trauma from war, crime, violence, and discrimination.  

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The discussion will cover underlying factors that must be addressed in programming to succeed in these contexts, the importance and ways of integrating mental health support into programming, the essential role of implementing partners in sensitive contexts, and the support they need to be successful. 

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Speakers: 

Aleksa Savić, Executive Director, Grupa Izadji (Group Come Out) 

 

Dwayne Gutzmer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Institute of Law & Economics (ILE) 

 

Inna Lubynets, Team Lead, Ukraine, Making Cents International 

 

Lauren Littles, Specialist, Economic Opportunities, Making Cents International 

 

1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Networking Lunch

 

1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

Young Leaders Hour 

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Linking Learning to Action: Envisioning the Next Round of YEO 2030 Action Teams — A 17 Rooms Inspired Approach

 

Room: Great Hall

 

17 Rooms is a tool for communities to advance practical next steps (not perfect steps!) on local priorities for sustainable development. These next steps might bolster existing efforts or create something new. Everyone is encouraged to pursue actions big enough to make a difference and sized right to get done.  

 

YEO 2030 is using the 17 Rooms model to inform its 2nd phase of Action Teams. The 17 rooms model provides an opportunity for us to reflect on the work of the 9 YEO action teams, identify priorities for the next cohort of action teams that will advance SDG 8, and to begin to identify tangible next steps.  

 

Through this session, participants will be divided into 8 “rooms”/tables whereby each room will focus on a certain topical area which is advancing one of the SDGs, and how the topical area of focus contributes to the advancement of SDG 8, which will inform the next cohort of action teams. This process will help advance our YEO 2030 Initiative’s efforts to accelerate the achievement of SDG 8 by providing a framework for our community to examine the relationship between SDG 8 and other SDGs.  

 

Facilitators: 

 

Room 1: SDG 13: Climate Action — Green Jobs Action Team 

Facilitator: Rebecca Barbary, Youth and Workforce Development Manager, Palladium
 

Room 2: SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals — Private Sector Engagement Action Team 

Facilitator: Ignacio Lopez, Project Director, CACIF Guatemala 
 

Room 3: SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities — Youth Inclusion Action Team 

Facilitator: Taibat Hussain, Young People’s Action Team Member, UNICEF Generation Unlimited 
 

Room 4: SDG 4: Quality Education 

Facilitator: Sarah Little, Director of Programmes, Education for Employment
 

Room 5: Financial Inclusion 

Facilitator: Michael Boampong, Senior Youth Advisor, Child Fund International 
 

Room 6: SDG 3: Mental Health 

Facilitator: Catherine Dudun, Senior Associate Project Delivery, Making Cents International and Grace Park, Senior Associate Project Delivery, Making Cents International 
 

Room 7: Youth-Led Entrepreneurship 

Facilitator- Lauren Littles, Specialist, Economic Opportunities, Making Cents International
 

Room 8: SDG 5- Gender Equality 

Facilitator- Katelynn Warmbold, Senior Associate Project Delivery, Making Cents International 

 

2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. 

Break 

 

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Deep-Dive Breakout Sessions

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Tackling Unemployment in Ethiopia: Examining Capacity Building Approaches by Exploring how Research Informs Design and Implementation

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Track: Global Workforce

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Room: Ellsworth

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Organization: International Youth Foundation (IYF)

 

Join the International Youth Foundation to explore one of the USAID Integrated Youth Activity/Kefeta project’s approaches to supporting youth employment and self-employment. Our session will 1) explore barriers to youth employment from the perspective of youth, youth-serving organizations, policy actors, and higher education institutions from research conducted across 13 cities, 2) discuss how this data informed a multi-faceted capacity building approach, including adaptation of local curricula that addresses soft and technical skills, and 3) examine implementation, lessons learned, and challenges through recorded testimonials from youth and youth-serving organizations. 

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Speakers: 

Elizabeth Salazar, Senior Technical Advisor, Economic Opportunities, International Youth Foundation (IYF)

 

Ronnie Murungu, Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East, International Youth Foundation (IYF). 

 

Private Sector Engagement and Youth Resilience – The How To’s of Meaningful and Impactful Partnership

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Track: Global Context Matters

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Room: Great Hall

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Organization: ACDI/VOCA, Aplameda (USAID funded), and Nestle

 

Using the most conflict-affected areas in Colombia as a case example, we will explore how a public-private partnership between the USAID Youth Resilience Activity, Fundacion ACDI/VOCA Latin America, and Nestle is generating meaningful economic opportunities for vulnerable young people and contributing more broadly to their resilience. We will share practical guidance on the “how-to’s” of structuring these partnerships and hear directly from two young participants about how they are engaging in, informing, and benefiting from this initiative. This will be a launch pad to a larger group work session on fundamentals and promising practices around the “how to’s” of generating and sustaining partnerships that deliver on economic opportunities as well as resilience outcomes for vulnerable youth. 

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Speakers: 

Morgan Mercer, Senior Director, Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion, ACDI/VOCA

 

Angela Suárez Alvarez, Acting Chief of Party, ACDI/VOCA Colombia

 

Carlos Barragán, Public Affairs Director, Nestle 

 

How Alternative Pathways to Employment can Catalyze SDG 8 and Untap the Potential of Out-of-School Youth in Africa

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Track:  Self Employment 

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Room: Spring

 

Organization: Educate and Wezesha Impact 

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Until universal access to secondary education can be achieved, how can we prepare the 50% of youth in East Africa unable to access formal education with the tools to build their livelihoods in today's labor market? Within this session, representatives from Educate! and Wezesha Impact, two organizations working to tackle youth unemployment, will explore this question and the growing need for alternative pathways to employment for young people unable to access formal secondary school, where nearly 90% of all youth are expected to work in the informal sector. Each presenter will share insights on the current landscape of alternatives for out-of-school youth and how their organization is working to expand economic opportunity through entrepreneurship through skills training, mentorship, and practical hands-on learning experiences. 

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Speakers: 

Alex Kelly, Director of Growth and US Country Director, Educate 

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Solomon Mugambe, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Wezesha Impact 

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Natasha Hornsby, Director of Marketing and Communications, Educate 

 

4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

Mental Health Plenary

 

Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts: Working Together for Youth Mental Health 

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Room: Great Hall

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COVID, conflict, climate disasters, and discrimination of all kinds continue to weigh on the mental health of the 1.12 billion youth across the globe, negatively impacting their ability to access and sustain work. The need for cross-sectoral, holistic, and comprehensive youth mental health programming has never been greater, and the international development community’s efforts to reimagine youth economic opportunities will only be successful when the current mental health crisis is addressed. In a dialog moderated by Adam Brown, our panelists will discuss their innovative, evidence-based, cross-disciplinary work with vulnerable youth in Ukraine, El Salvador, and Eswatini, the essential role that community members play in their respective programs, and where to go from here.   

 

Speakers: 

Adam Brown, Head of the Trauma and Global Mental Health Lab at the New School for Social Research

 

Kateryna Vorobey, Research Associate, Making Cents International

 

Margaryta Oksanichenko, Workforce Development Manager, FHI 360 (Ukraine)

  

Celina de Sola, Co-Founder and President, Glasswing International

 

Sanele Sibiya, Executive Director, Rock of Hope & Grantee under Youth Excel (Eswatini) 

 

5:15 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.

Youth Closing Statement: Youth Manifesto 

Room: Great Hall