The Client
“The vision for YouthConnekt Africa (YCA) is to connect the youth to socio-economic transformation. I identify with this vision for African youth.”
YouthConnekt Africa is an African home-grown solution positioned to provide relevant solutions for the global South and to support the implementation of relevant South-South initiatives to empower youth. The YCA Hub operates as a pan-African platform with the vision of connecting African youth for socio-economic transformation and aims to contribute to the achievement of Africa’s SDGs mandate, the AU 2063 agenda, and AU Youth Charter.
Key Objectives
Oxford HR had the pleasure of placing the YCA Executive Director.
Services
- Executive Search
Oxford HR placed Oulie Keita, a Malian national with 15 years’ experience in policy and advocacy work both in youth and women empowerment. Her initial aims in her new role include coordinating a global network to create a continental ecosystem for African youth; sharing experience and knowledge on program and policy design, youth initiatives, fund setting and reporting; and providing a conduit for resources at scale and data on youth to up-skill and finance African youth-led enterprises.
”I plan to disseminate different country’s key reinforcing policy actions and best practices, that have been documented in the YouthConnekt model, to be scaled-up in member states. The sharing of knowledge and success stories can enhance the realization of a demographic dividend, namely actions to Empower, Educate and Employ the African youth.
Oulie KeitaExecutive Director, YouthConnekt Africa
Oulie also plans to organize the YCA annual Summit, which connects the youth from across the continent and beyond with policy influencers, political leaders, and public, private and development sector institutions to engage, discuss, design, and accelerate youth empowerment efforts at the continental level.
Our search focused on identifying women in senior international development posts both as sources and potential candidates. We contacted over 130 individuals and received 63 applications for the role. Oulie was enthusiastic about Oxford HR’s involvement in the process, noting:
“I had great support from the Oxford HR team. They were available to answer any questions I had and to update me on the processes every step of the way.”
Oulie is excited to be a part of YouthConnekt’s future, and believes it will do great things for youth across the continent.
”I feel great to be in the position of making a difference in the lives of African youth, connecting them to socio-economic transformation.
Oulie KeitaExecutive Director, YouthConnekt Africa
Image Credit: YouthConnekt Africa
