Pathways to Employment in Kenya
Summary
In 2025, Light Up Hope committed to preparing 5,000 young women in Kenya for employment and entrepreneurship by 2030. Through the commitment, students will be provided opportunities to connect with industry experts through on-campus, in-person seminars and online webinars and engage in community-based projects and internships that further soft and technical skills often lacking in academia.These opportunities will provide the students with insight into market needs and assist them in identifying marketable skills to increase their employability at graduation. This initiative will also help students develop and refine these skills by leveraging technology and partnerships with universities and local companies offering internship opportunities and industry-specific guidance. Finally, the initiative will offer financial and entrepreneurial training to equip young women with skills to manage their finances and create new income streams by linking them to opportunities within their communities.
Approach
Light Up Hope commits to bridging the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge for 5,000 Kenyan young women in public universities over five years, equipping them for employment and entrepreneurship through physical meetings on university campuses and virtual platforms. It offers its beneficiaries practical opportunities such as community-based projects and internships which avail a platform for practicing soft and technical skills otherwise lacking in traditional academia. Students will be provided the opportunity to connect with industry experts through on campus in-person seminars and online webinars. These opportunities will guide the students on market needs and assist the students in identifying marketable skills while still in school to increase their employability at the point of graduation. Light Up Hope’s project will also guide the students on how to access these skills by leveraging technology and partnerships with universities and local companies offering internship opportunities and industry specific guidance. Finally, the project offers financial and entrepreneurial training to equip young women with skills to manage their resources and create new streams of income by linking opportunities within their communities. This component will educate the students on raising capital for entrepreneurship by exposing them to sources of business funding.
This initiative builds on Light Up Hope’s existing similar interventions which have been successfully developed on a smaller scale, serving 100 students over the past three years. Light Up Hope boasts a team of highly qualified professionals in project management. Their staff is equipped to oversee the entire initiative cycle, from planning and coordination to execution and evaluation. They are skilled at navigating complex environments and associated risks, prudent management of resources, and adhering to timelines and budgets, guaranteeing that the project meets its objectives while maintaining standards of quality and accountability.
Action Plan
Year One
Q1: Formulation and signing of MOUs with universities and business partners. Program scheduling and logistics planning. Staffing and recruitment of facilitators. Training and certification of mentors/coaches. E-learning and content development.
Q2: Selection and onboarding of Cohort 1 direct beneficiaries. Program launch. Commencement of training on financial literacy, career development, business incubation, leadership. Commencement of virtual mental health and counseling sessions targeting 1000 individuals. Provision of education scholarships to 50 girls. Monthly reports on progress and reporting.
Q3: Placement of first apprenticeship cohort (100 girls) . Establishment of peer-to-peer mentorship clubs at the partner universities.
Q4: Graduation of Cohort 1. Business support for the first 50 businesses/individuals. Design and development of alumni engagement platform. Annual evaluation and reporting.
Year 2
Q1: Evaluation of Year 1 implementation and impact. Renew and/or expand MOUs with universities and businesses. Implementation of recommended improvements from Year 1 evaluation. Recruitment of Cohort 2.
Q2-Q3: Commencing of training for cohort 2. Monitoring and evaluation.
Q4: Annual report. Graduation of Cohort 2. Follow-up on Cohort 1: impact assessment and alumni engagement.
Year 3
Q1: Evaluation and partner review. Adjustments to program structure. Begin onboarding new strategic partners. Recruitment and onboarding of Cohort 3.
Q2-Q3: Cohort 3. Monitoring and Evaluation .
Q4: Graduation of Cohort 3. Annual Report. Progress tracking for Cohorts 1 & 2.
Year 4
Q1: Evaluation. Renew partnerships and improve platform features. Onboarding of Cohort 4.
Q2-Q3: Cohort 4. Monthly and quarterly reports.
Q4: Graduation of Cohort 4. Annual report. Longitudinal tracking of Cohorts 1–3.
Year 5
Q1: Evaluation. Stakeholder forum to review 5-year progress and future plans. Development of sustainability plan. Final cohort (Cohort 5) recruitment and onboarding.
Q2-Q3: Cohort 5. Monthly and quarterly M&E.
Q4:Graduation of Cohort 5. Final 5-year impact report. Program audit and sustainability transition.
Background
The Kenyan government and its partners have achieved a primary education enrollment parity index of 0.97 (UNESCO, 2023) . However, this progress does not extend to higher education and the workforce, where gender disparities persist. Despite government efforts to educate and equip its population for economic productivity, challenges such as systemic gaps, inadequate funding, cultural barriers, low technology adoption, and an overemphasis on theoretical learning have contributed to high unemployment rates, particularly among young women (World Bank, 2022) .
Oftentimes, female graduates in the country are ill-fitted for employment. The vast majority of public university graduates are lacking the skills required to meet the needs of the current job market and economic environment For instance, at Kenyatta University, Statistics students are only taught theoretical aspects of statistics and manual calculation without exposure to tech-based approaches such as coding and data analysis programs. This results in a skills gap, where graduates struggle to meet basic industry demands. By the time public university graduates acquire the additional skills needed for employment, their private university counterparts are already ahead, further widening the economic divide (Ministry of Education Kenya, 2023) .
Additionally, the lack of mentorship and career guidance further disadvantages girls, leaving them without the necessary networks and support to navigate the job market or explore entrepreneurial ventures (Kamau et al., 2024) . Without access to employment, many lack the business and financial knowledge required to start their own enterprises, trapping them in a cycle of economic dependency (ILO, 2023) . As a result, they often end up in lower-level jobs with limited career growth and lower pay, reinforcing poverty and deepening gender inequalities in economic participation (UN Women, 2022) .
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
To make this commitment a success, Light Up Hope is open to partnership with like minded partners to scale this concept to more institutions and reach more young people. Policy experts are also welcome to contribute towards policy advocacy in transformation of Africa’s higher education environment towards more adaptive curricula and frameworks that respond to real-world scenarios. These efforts will appropriately prepare students to not only be competent in the job market but also enable them to tackle the emerging challenges.,Through a partnership with local universities in Kenya and individual professionals in various sectors of the economy, the commitment is offering a community of partners and an opportunity for potential partners to join the network.