About Us
We help build pathways to decent work through partnerships, collaboration and innovation. We work with funders, youth development organisations, business and government to ensure that these best practices are implemented so that impact is amplified and youth unemployability can be substantially and sustainably reduced.
By identifying and engaging with how young people are affected by poverty and inequality at their root causes, Lucha Lunako provides its foundational development model, “I Have It, You Have It, Youth Have It” ™ as a holistic approach to youth development. This foundation development model aims to assist young people to develop the basic mental, emotional, psycho-social and competency tools needed to transcend the often traumatic conditions of their upbringings, build solid foundations and move towards employability and earning sustainable livelihoods.
Our focus is not necessarily to identify high performers or individuals with high potential, but rather to identify, test and refine the best programmes and methodologies, overlaid with behavioural theory and sequencing, that engage the average young person in a way that encourages them to drive their own development and build their futures. We do this from both the top down, through conceptualisation and design, and the bottom up, through implementation and iteration; some of the best programmes are often rendered meaningless if they are not implementable on the ground, and made engaging and attractive to young people.
What we
stand for
We envision a world where youth use their agency and skills to access sustainable and decent work, with the ability to build aspirational careers. Where they develop themselves into active citizens who participate in the economic activities of a nation, and address poverty and inequality.
Download our mission, vision and values
Unemployment Rate
Million
Youth Population
What makes us unique
We address root causes
Extensive networks across business, NGO, and social enterprise sectors
Focus beyond ‘’what’’ to “how” of delivery for deep impact
Entrepreneurship and impact investing mindsets with deep understanding of start-ups, small businesses and corporates
Strategic sustainable development and SDG problem solving experience
Cross sector experience in human development, leadership and economic development
Integrated implementation partners
Collaboration for success!
A radical call to action
We want funders, decision makers, development practitioners, government, business, youth organisations and concerned citizens of South Africa to act now! Together, we can to do something about the challenges our youth are facing. In our report you can find out how to be part of this mindset shift – and how you can collaborate, support innovations, measure success, create transparency and focus on long-term impact.