Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator has doubled the number of young people placed in jobs to 10,000, achieving its three-year goal. It now aims to place 10,000 young people annually and bring 500,000 closer to employment over five years. Harambee matches job seekers to opportunities using assessments and provides work readiness training. This approach has helped place over 1,250 additional young people and seen one in four candidates promoted within a year in some sectors.

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Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator | Reg No 2011/009632/08 | Registered not-for-profit organisation (120-429 NPO)
Directors : TG Campbell | NR Galombik | MM Shezi | K Soni
HARAMBEEYOUTH EMPLOYMENTACCELERATORACHIEVES 10,000 JOBS TARGET
Sets newgrowth targets to reflectsuccessof work-readinessprogrammes
Johannesburg – 15 October 2014 – Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator (“Harambee”) has doubled the
number of young people it has placed into employment in the last six months. Harambee announced in early
2014 that it had placed 5,000 young people into work and has now doubled this number to assist 10,000
youngpeople successfullyenterthe formal economy.
Founded in 2011, Harambee established its three-year, 10,000 jobs target in partnership with National
Treasury’s Jobs Fund, its founding social investor Yellowwoods, and a growing network of employers who hire
first-time job seekers into their organisations. “Our remarkable growth in three years reflects the commitment
of South African businesses and government – as well as young people themselves – who are all doing their
part to make a meaningful impact on the crisis of youth employment,” said Maryana Iskandar, Harambee CEO.
“We have grown from five founding employers to a network of 100 large and small business partners across
the economy in retail, hospitality, financial services, insurance, business process outsourcing, professional
services,manufacturing,logistics,technical andindustrial sectors.”
The not-for-profit company has now reset its growth target to place 10,000 first-time job seekers into
employment annually, and bring 500,000 young people closer to the labour market over the next five years.
“The Harambee model has been built for scale, rapid innovation and real solutions that address the supply-
demand mismatch in the South African economy. Employers struggle to find the right entry-level talent, and
young people struggle to access available jobs. Fixing this mismatch is Harambee’s value proposition to the
marketand to youngpeople,”Iskandersaid.
The Harambee model is based on research showing that if a young person can earn and keep a first job for at
least 12 months, it increases the likelihood that they stay productively employed in the economy over their
lifetime. Extensive data tracking systems measure candidate’s tenure in work and Harambee is currently
meeting or beating industry retention averages in all sectors. Within the financial services and insurance
sectors,one infour Harambee candidates ispromoted withinthe firstyear.
HOW IT WORKS
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator works closely with employers to identify appropriate entry-level
opportunities and then methodically sources young people who struggle to access employment,
predominantlythroughalackof social networksandfinancial meanstolookforwork.
Harambee uses a proven screening and assessment methodology to scientifically match candidates to suitable
opportunities and then puts successful candidates through a work-readiness intervention to ensure they have
the tools to succeed in the world of work. Every candidate who comes to Harambee receives tools and support
to empower them in their own journey to employment. The result of this has been an additional 1,250 young

2. Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator | Reg No 2011/009632/08 | Registered not-for-profit organisation (120-429 NPO)
Directors : TG Campbell | NR Galombik | MM Shezi | K Soni
people who reported that through Harambee’s work seeker support programme, they were able to secure
theirownjobs.
CHANGING MINDSETS
Harambee’s model is proving that South African employers can access a new, untapped labour pool with
promising results. Harambee’s research has shown the value of scientifically matching young people based on
their potential and aptitude, and then providing them with work-readiness bridging to succeed in the world of
work. Employers and government are seeing the upside of forward investing in South Africa’s youth to benefit
businessandsocietyaswell asfamiliesandcommunities.
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Learn more at www.harambee.co.zaandhttps://www.youtube.com/user/HarambeeWorkForWork
CONTACTS
BryonyMaxwell
Harambee YouthEmploymentAccelerator
Tel:011 593 0500 | 084 777 2901
Email:bryony@harambee.co.za
JenniferKann
LingoCommunications
Tel:011 447 0321 | 083 455 3289
Email:jennifer@lingocom.co.za