Education & Youth

Our Education and Youth portfolio works to expand access to education and employment for Africa’s young people by identifying effective, affordable, and inclusive solutions—and accelerating their adoption in low-income contexts. Our focus is on enabling young people to navigate successful transitions into further education and meaningful work, while strengthening the systems that support them.

Grounded in the Bertha Centre’s commitment to social justice, our work prioritises the generation, interrogation, and application of evidence to improve the education and youth development pipeline. We seek to understand what works, why it works, and for whom—while critically examining the systems, power dynamics, and definitions of evidence that shape educational outcomes. Through convening, research, and knowledge sharing, we bring together diverse stakeholders—from school leaders and social change organisations to government, funders, and the private sector—to catalyse more equitable access to quality education, employment, and skills training.

Our goals are to:

• Equip young people aged 15–35 with skills in social innovation, personal development, entrepreneurship, and workplace readiness
• Build systems-thinking capability among youth development ecosystem stakeholders to enable strategic, high-impact action
• Design and deliver short courses and executive education programmes that strengthen youth-focused organisations
• Create spaces for dialogue and experimentation between youth development stakeholders and private sector leaders to test innovative approaches to supporting young people