2024 Q4 Board Book (Staff)

The December 17-18th, 2024 Board Meeting, focused on the Foundation achieving its 2030 goals through strategic scaling, enhanced impact measurement, and increased organizational agility. The Foundation is also making significant strides in strengthening its partnerships and refining its operational model to better serve young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada.

Key activities and initiatives include:

1) Strategic Programmatic Focus: The Foundation is concentrating on scaling its impact within agrifood systems, digital technologies, and manufacturing, aligning resources with these key sectors to maximize youth employment opportunities. The Young Africa Works and EleV strategies remain central, with an emphasis on deepening work in entrepreneurship and workforce development. A revised definition of "youth-in-work" now includes young entrepreneurs receiving business development services, resulting in a new count of 13.3 million.

2) Enhanced Impact Measurement: The Foundation has refined its approach to impact tracking, focusing on individual, institutional, and national levels. There is a new emphasis on measuring institutional strengthening through co-created metrics with partners, and on capturing the full spectrum of youth employment through primary, secondary and tertiary pathways.

3) Organizational Agility and Culture: The Foundation is working to enhance its operational model by improving processes such as partner turn-around times and implementing Workday. It is also implementing a Culture Roadmap to ensure cohesive working norms.

4) Resource Allocation and Private Sector Engagement: The Foundation is strategically allocating its resources to align with its priority sectors, while also increasing its collaboration with the private sector. This includes a focus on leveraging partnerships with organizations that align with its mission and create public benefit.

5) Key Initiatives: The Resilient and Empowered Young Women via Rural Agripreneurship (RAYEE-II) program in Ethiopia seeks to support young women through agripreneurship. The Sustaining Excellence in Higher Education in Africa initiative is progressing with a focus on setting up an independent entity for the sustainability fund. The Mastercard Foundation Wayfinders Indigenous Youth Leadership Program in Canada is being developed to empower Indigenous youth to lead community solutions.

These activities demonstrate the Foundation's commitment to achieving its ambitious goals by strategically scaling its impact, improving measurement, refining internal operations, and forging partnerships. The aim is to create sustainable, inclusive opportunities for young people and contribute to broader economic and social development in Africa and Canada.