Our launch trip was the culmination of over two years of work by team members in Nigeria, the US, the UK, and Canada.  After two years of conference calls, long email chains, long gchats, ‘road shows’ to potential donors, expert interviews, late-night discussions, late-night grant writing, and late-night number crunching, we found ourselves in the teeming, frenetic megacity of Lagos, with eight carefully selected ‘YouthBank Fellows,’ a newly-renovated YouthBank Center, half a dozen press mentions in Nigerian newspapers, and a roomful of potential partners and donors celebrating our success at the US Consulate in Lagos. 

Today we are monitoring our operations in Lagos, developing new ways for our all-volunteer executive team to work efficiently across three continents, and engaging in discussions with the CSR groups of major Nigerian banks to fund YouthBank as we scale up by expanding our work across the country.   

It’s been quite a ride, and we’re excited to share some of the adventures and misadventures we had and some of the lessons we’ve learned so far.  Among them are: how to launch a social venture on a shoestring budget; how to work well with a diverse team; and how to haggle with street vendors, taxi drivers, realtors, singers – just about everyone – in Lagos!

Talk to you soon,

Clara

YouthBank is a small business incubator connecting street youth (aged 18-28) with the skills, mentors, and resources they need to launch their own businesses and pull themselves out of poverty.

YouthBank invests in youth as agents of community leadership and economic development.

Through rigorous research and market surveys, we’ve developed a revolutionary business model: a network of YouthBank Centers that employ, train, and then invest in young people with lots of potential but few resources.

Each YouthBank Center acts as a community hub and a living business school classroom. Each aims to be a financially sustainable engine of entrepreneurship.

In August 2009, we took action by launching a YouthBank Center in Lagos, Nigeria.

We’ve already been invited to bring YouthBank Centers to cities all over Nigeria, as well as to Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, and El Salvador.

Please join us on our journey – we’re excited to:

•  hear about your ideas and experiences,
• share what we’re learning from our YouthBank adventures, and
• celebrate the amazing people we’re meeting along the way!