Innovations: Youth and Economic Opportunities

"This youth-focused double issue is the product of a shared passion to improve livelihoods and economic opportunities among the world’s 1.8 billion youth."

This collection of analyses, research, and stories is the result of gathering authors who could connect disparate concepts, innovations, theories, stories, or research results that move the youth economic opportunities agenda forward. Some authors include the voices of "young people describing the hard work, ambition, fortitude, and support needed from others to bring innovations to old problems...", including a young Ugandan farmer and a social entrepreneur. Articles also feature, among other topics: best practices and innovations in youth employment; the effect on youth of outsourcing in the digital data industry incorporating mobile technology into youth financial services programmes developing talent within the corporate workforce through the private sector; and provision of information and communication technology (ICT) training that empowers individuals with high demand skills in the private sector. Research used to underpin findings includes, for example, surveys on cell phone habits of 8-18 year olds in order to assess setting early behaviours in mobile banking and savings.

Innovations is about entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges. The journal features cases authored by "innovators; commentary and research from leading academics; and essays from globally recognized executives and political leaders. The journal is jointly hosted at George Mason University's School of Public Policy, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and MIT's Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship...."

Contents include the following:

Lead Essays:

• "Arnest Sebbumba - Finding the Word for Entrepreneur in Luganda
• Judith Rodin and Eme Essien Lore - Rethinking Youth Opportunity
• Ángel Cabrera and Callie Le Renard - "Go to college...!"
• Stan Litow - Innovating to Strengthen Youth Employment
• Carl Schramm - University Entrepreneurship May Be Failing

Case Narrative:

• Jacob Korenblum - Frustration, Fearlessness, and Fortune
• Martin Burt - The "Poverty Stoplight" Approach
• Kevin McKague et al. - Reducing Poverty by Employing Young Women
• Nell Merlino - Cracking the Glass Ceiling and Raising the Roof
• Shai Reshef - Going Against the Flow in Higher Education
• Fiona Macaulay - A World of Opportunity

Analysis and Perspectives on Policy:

• Nicholas Davis et al. - Ten Youth: Unlocking Enterprise Growth by Focusing on the Fortune at the Bottom of the Talent Pyramid
• Trina Williams Shanks et al.- Financial Education and Financial Access: Lessons Learned from Child Development Account Research
• Michael Chertok and Jeremy Hockenstein - Sourcing Change: Digital Work Building Bridges to Professional Life
• Akhtar Badshah and Yvonne Thomas - YouthSpark and the Evolution of a Corporate Philanthropy Program
• Jamie McAuliffe, Jasmine Nahhas di Florio, and Pia Saunders - It’s All About the Jobs
• Ann Cotton - Who Teaches Us Most About Financial Programing in Africa? 
• Jamie M. Zimmerman and Julia Arnold - Hope or Hype? Five Obstacles to Mobile Money Innovations for Youth Financial Services
• Beverly Schwartz and Deepali Khanna - Future Forward: Innovations for Youth Employment in Africa
• James Sumberg and Christine Okali - Young People, Agriculture, and Transformation in Rural Africa: An "Opportunity Space" Approach
• John Owens - Offering Digital Financial Services to Promote Financial Inclusion: Lessons We’ve Learned"

Further, "[w]ith the support and collaboration of the Citi Foundation, Making Cents International [plans to] leverage this Innovations issue as well as the annual conference, funder meetings, “Apply It!” webinars, blogs, crowd-sourced solution events, and other tools to engage a global network of partners to galvanize dialog, collaboration, and knowledge-building toward a collective global agenda for youth. Through its Collaborative Learning and Action Institute (Co-Lab), Making Cents [aims to] promote and improve economic opportunities for youth around the world. This year, the Co-Lab aims to strengthen knowledge management in the field, enhancing the scope and depth, diversity, and quality of how and what ...people learn. Co-Lab gives... stakeholders and partners a new platform to both add value and benefit from knowledge management that translates ideas into solutions."

To connect to the Innovations Journal through Twitter, click here.