Educate! is a non-profit and social enterprise that focuses on reducing youth unemployment in East Africa by transforming education and skills training. Its approach is based on the idea that traditional curricula often don’t equip young people with the practical and soft skills needed to succeed in today’s job market, especially for those who may not complete secondary school.

Key Objectives in Kenya

In Kenya, Educate! runs both in-school and out-of-school programs:

In-school programs: introducing an “employment-focused subject” to secondary schools. This helps students learn how to start businesses, conduct market research, and manage finances.

Out-of-school programs: short bootcamps or livelihood training programs designed for youth who are not enrolled in school, with a focus on girls, young women, and rural youth. These programs combine mentoring, practical experience, and support to help them move into income-earning activities.

Educate! also partners with government entities, schools, and educators to embed and scale these approaches sustainably.

How Educate! Works in Kenya

Here are some of the defining features of Educate!’s work in Kenya:

Feature Description
Target population Out-of-school youth, especially girls and those in rural areas.
Bootcamps / SkillUp Six-week intensive programs combining skills training, practical work, and individualized mentorship.
Partnerships Works with schools, teachers, governments, and community mentors to ensure impact and sustainability.
Evaluation & Scaling Programs are designed to be cost-effective, scalable, and rigorously measured for outcomes like income gains, gender equity, and business ownership.
Impact in Kenya

Over a thousand out-of-school youth have participated in livelihood bootcamps.

Graduates of these programs often see significant increases in income — sometimes 50% to 200% compared to their baseline.

Outcomes also include improved gender equity, with young women showing stronger decision-making power and reduced vulnerability to early pregnancies.

Challenges

Some of the ongoing challenges Educate! faces in Kenya include:

Aligning training with real labor market needs so that skills remain practical and valuable.

Ensuring sustainability by building strong government and teacher buy-in.

Reaching rural and marginalized communities with limited infrastructure.

Tracking long-term results to confirm whether income gains and empowerment are sustained over time.