AFKInsider: How has the government assisted the program?

Angelica Towne: In 2012, the Ugandan National Curriculum Development Centre asked us to incorporate our curriculum and student business club structure into the national curriculum. We now reach 25,000 students through this government partnership.

AFKInsider: Why do you feel there is a need for such a program?

Angelica Towne: Globally, 311 million young people are unemployed, largely due to the mismatch between education and life after school. This problem is most acute in Uganda where 50 percent of the population is under the age of 15. Uganda’s population is the youngest in world, and it has the highest youth poverty rate with 94 percent of youth living on less than $2 a day. Yet the memorization-based education system does not adequately prepare youth for the challenges they will face after school.

That’s where we come in. Educate! works to transform the education system in Africa, starting with Uganda, to prepare youth to be leaders and entrepreneurs who can create small businesses, improve their livelihoods and drive long-term sustainable development.

AFKInsider: What have been some of the challenges you have faced with Educate!?

Angelica Towne: Working with new schools and finding the right donors. We also strive to get the best results for our youth and to have the best monitoring and evaluation in our field. This can be a challenge but we are continually improving and expanding our M&E capabilities to ensure that we are using data to improve our model and to fully understand our impact. Our innovative work in M&E includes the creation of evaluation tools unlike any that previously existed in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the Secondary School Assessment Tool (SSAT), and a partnership with Innovations for Poverty Action for a randomized control trial (RCT).

AFKInsider: What are your long-term goals?

Angelica Towne: In the next few years we hope to deliver our experience to 100 new students at one school in Uganda, getting us closer to our milestone of delivering our model across 200 schools to 20,000 students throughout Uganda. Our vision and hope is a world where African education systems prepare youth to be leaders and entrepreneurs who drive long-term sustainable development.

AFKInsider: What do you enjoy the most about Educate!?

Angelica Towne: Seeing the students fulfill their potential. I get to see the pictures of students holding their livestock and produce up proudly. I hear them tell stories first-hand of solving problems at their schools and in their communities by creating innovative lights or inventing new radio transmitters for emergencies. Nothing brings me more joy and motivation than to share in their accomplishments. I believe the youth have so much to teach us about how to create a better future.