Dear Friends
As I reflect on 2022, I’m filled with a profound sense of gratitude to God for His faithfulness to all of us that had the privilege of contributing to gold-youth’s mission- we got to participate in a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is his work. From the unwavering dedication of our Board of Directors exemplifying servant leadership to the passionate commitment of each gold teenage Peer Educator striving to embody the change they wish to see; significant strides were made this year. In 2022, we faced challenges, some familiar and others unprecedented, yet the resilience of the gold community has been unparalleled. We leaned on innovation, strengthened our partnerships, and fortified our commitment to the youth we serve, ensuring that regardless of the environment, our efforts remained undeterred.
Our 2022 Impact Report is not just a collection of numbers and activities—it’s a testament to the magic of collective effort and intentionality about shaping the futures of our young people across six diverse African countries- whilst holding the reality that we plant seeds that one day will grow. Some highlights of our journey this past year include:
Expansion into our 6th country, Uganda:
After months of research and stakeholder engagement, supported by our board member Wedzerai Chiyoka who is based in Uganda, we broke new ground in our first East African Peer2Peer hot spot. We are excited to learn together in collaboration with our new grassroots partner as we continue to offer youth leaders across six new communities in Uganda the opportunity to benefit from the tools, resources, and mentorship they need to impact the lives of youth to thrive.
Innovation, Learning and Pilots:
In the face of the changing global scenario, our “Model Development” pilot projects continued, enabling us to test and learn informing refinement of our model for future roll out. We pushed our boundaries and mainstreamed inclusion into our model, deliberately recruiting youth with disabilities from 2022.We failed and got up again stronger in our pursuit of bridging the maths concepts and reading for meaning divide, coming face to face with addressing the access to technology challenge (endemic across our target communities).We made exciting progress in our audacious technology scale engine build- completing a mini proof of concept of our end-to-end data capture needs as we pursue the digitization of our business requirements across gold-youth.
And we experimented boldly with the enterprise potential of our gold Grads, determined to unlock the secret to sustaining entrepreneurial capacity across our youth leadership pipeline, ground up.
Partnerships and Collaboration:
Our relationships with like-minded organizations and our gold-activated communities have deepened and expanded in each of our regions of operation. Together, we’ve made progress in supporting youth on the ground to co-create solutions to the pressing challenges their generation is facing.
Changed Lives:
In 2022 we saw 15969 youth Peer Educators and their Peers measurably equipped and supported to find the gold inside them, done in collaboration with community organizations and governments. This was evidenced by outcomes that demonstrate changes in social behaviour and renewed mindsets, improved education and increased skills attainment and employability. We enabled creation of 677 youth jobs and internships and navigated a courageous start-up phase of developing grassroots micro-business leaders at scale. The evidence is clear; there is hope.
Yet with all our achievements, we remain grounded by the vast scope of work that still lies ahead. As we gaze into 2023, our vision is clear: to further amplify our reach, deepen our impact, and ensure every young individual under our stewardship is inspired and mentored to harness their potential fully, reminded that they are seen and loved- created in the image of God with value, purpose and potential. I’d like to take a moment to extend my heartfelt thank you to every member of the gold team, our generous donors, dedicated community partners, and every individual and institution that has been a pillar of support for us. Our journey would be impossible without you. Your relentless drive towards our aim of impacting 10 million youth by 2032 serves as our beacon, guiding us to deeper and more meaningful work and relationships.
In conclusion, the pages of this report speak of a year marked by challenges and triumphs, but most importantly, of hope. Hope that with every step we take, we are forging a brighter, more inclusive future for our youth and the Africa they will lead and inherit.
