Localization means adapting to suit local realities. Our bootcamps are uniquely tailored to address the differing challenges and opportunities present in each community. Educate! conducts thorough research to understand the diverse youth needs, obstacles and economic landscape of the area. This in-depth understanding allows us to more effectively meet the specific needs of youth.

Empowering youth in Africa with skills for dignified livelihoods and employment doesn't just support them to improve their personal prospects – it can also trigger positive ripple effects throughout their communities. Prossy and Ivan from Uganda are among the many young people translating practical skills learned through Educate!’s livelihood bootcamp into impact.

Every year, 10-12 million young Africans enter the job market, but there are only 3 million formal jobs, resulting in 95% of youth working in the informal sector. As education systems in Africa grapple with preparing students for the realities of a labor market marked by unique challenges, innovative teaching methods have a critical part to play. Educate!'s Skills Lab pedagogy offers a scalable solution to empower youth.

Educate!’s core experience centers the critical soft skills we see as building blocks for long-term success. On top of that foundation, we layer the entrepreneurial skills youth in East Africa need to thrive in their largely informal local economies. Ugandan Educate! graduate, Ronnie, is leveraging this combination to drive the success of his small enterprise while also giving back to the community.

Through participation in the Educate! Experience, Peace was motivated to become a leader in her school and beyond - building confidence and becoming a fierce advocate for gender equity. We know that educated and empowered girls, like Peace, create more equitable societies. From shaping policies to providing learning materials that combat traditional gender norms, Educate! is committed to implementing a gender-transformative approach.

Ritah’s passion for entrepreneurship stems from her upbringing. From an early age, she was taught how to interact with customers at her family’s shop. These experiences instilled in Ritah the importance of leveraging her skill set to realize her goals. As an active participant in Educate!, Ritah continuously sought leadership opportunities - eager to grow both personally and professionally while also contributing to her community.

Throughout her life experiences, Sarah has developed an incredible zeal for the importance of self-reliance. When we last talked to Sarah, she was running a series of small businesses in Jinja, Uganda. For Sarah, these endeavors paved the way for independence when her father’s sudden passing left her family unable to support Sarah and her siblings. Coupled with entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, Sarah’s determination not only led her to finish secondary school and secure financial freedom but also inspired her to help those in a similar position. She ultimately dreamed of starting an orphanage. Today, Sarah is one step closer to this goal.

When her father passed away and her family could no longer afford her school fees, Olivia had to drop out of secondary school in Western Uganda. At 25 years old, Olivia viewed herself as a girl from a modest background, dependent on her mother to support her basic needs. Then, Olivia joined SisterConnect, an Educate! bootcamp aimed to provide an alternative pathway to employment for youth who are unable to access post-primary education. Over the next few weeks, Olivia would build more than just a business.

Despite learning from experience that women are capable of anything, when Joan entered secondary school, she started to feel like she didn't belong. Thanks to Joan’s perseverance, the network of support she created for herself, and the skills she’s honed through Educate!, today, Joan is a small business owner, a lab technician student, and an incredible mentor.

For nearly eighteen years the insurgence of the Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda incited violence. Today, the region still grapples with high rates of poverty, low primary and secondary school enrollment rates, and underdeveloped infrastructure. In spite of this, young people in Northern Uganda and young women in particular –  like Educate! Mentor Fiona – have been driving progress and acting as agents of positive change for their communities. 

Standing in the shade on the side of her grandmother’s house near Jinja, Uganda, Sarah flips through the collection of brightly colored kitenge fabric that she will soon shape into dresses, purses, and shirts. Proudly, she holds up each of her tailored pieces, grinning as she describes the intricate designs and how her ability to speak Kiswahili landed her a good deal with a fabric supplier in Tanzania. But Sarah’s path to get to where she is today — a confident young entrepreneur and provider for her family — has not been an easy one.

Born in the Mountainous Rwenzori region of Uganda, Benson was first introduced to computers by his father, who began teaching him basic computing skills at an early age. At just 21 years old, former Educate! Scholar Benson is not only a young entrepreneur and avid computer programmer with his own business, but a budding philanthropist as well.

Daniel Okurut, a former Educate! Scholar in Western Uganda, leveraged both his medical education and his business skills gained through Educate! to open a rural health clinic in his community. Today, he splits his time between his role as a Youth Leader and his clinic, where he employs two people and conducts 350 checkups a month.

In 2018, through an external qualitative evaluation in partnership with IDinsight, we gained a better understanding of exactly how and why our model creates impact, and identified the ways we can continue to strengthen our in-school programs.

What barriers still exist for girls’ education in Uganda? This is the critical question that Hawah Nabbuye, Educate!’s Deputy Country Director in Uganda, is seeking to answer this year as part of the Echidna Global Scholars Program, a visiting fellowship hosted by the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at the Brookings Institution.

Empowered, ambitious, and brave, Educate! graduate Abigail Chepkwurui is making waves for gender equity and driving change in her community. “I have to become a Member of Parliament.” For Abigail Chepkwurui, a twenty-year-old Educate! Graduate from Eastern Uganda, this is a goal she’s been actively working toward since before joining Educate!. “I’ll campaign for 2026.”

In Yumbe District, Northern Uganda, Educate! is partnering with secondary schools within three refugee settlements. Educate!'s program is particularly useful to these youth who are eager to learn the skills they’ll need to succeed in their new home. However, schools in these settlements face challenges that are unique to their circumstance. To ensure our program provides the maximum benefit to youth there, our staff must identify contextual challenges that might affect the program or students and modify the program accordingly.

Educate! has launched operations in the south of Uganda, and Dorothy Namubiru is the woman leading the expansion in the field. We sat down with Dorothy to celebrate her most recent promotion and to learn about how her work can create a grassroots movement of young leaders and entrepreneurs to drive sustainable development in the south of Uganda.