WHO WE ARE
Grow
Business training and personal development for young South Africans
INNOVATE
Business incubation
EARN
Immediate access to income generating streams
SERVE
Responding to social need within communities
A Brief History
AspireYouth started over a cup of coffee back in 2014. Our founder— then CEO of an established NGO — met with an old friend hoping to secure funding for a project. While he couldn’t offer funding, he did offer something else: an opportunity for young people to earn an income by selling his product.
With over two decades of experience in youth development, the founder was growing increasingly disillusioned with the traditional donor-dependent NGO model and deeply troubled by the ongoing impact of poverty on South Africa’s youth. That conversation sparked a new idea—what if there was a way to help young people access income and opportunity without depending on donor funding?
What emerged was AspireYouth: a social enterprise built to empower unemployed and out-of-school youth through income-generating opportunities and personal growth.
Through years of hard work, learning, and resilience, AspireYouth has evolved into a proven model, a passionate team, and a growing community of young people building better futures for themselves.
Our structure
AspireYouth operates as a hybrid entity, with both a non-profit company (NPC) AspireYouth Development Solutions and a Pty(Ltd) Aspire Youth Enterprise Development.
AspireYouth is managed by a Board of Directors and functions to manage the training unit within AspireYouth and other donor-based projects.
Aspire Youth Development Solutions operates our two core business operations and brokers micro-business opportunities for successful youth applicants.
Between 15% and 25% of all profit generated by our Pty(Ltd) is allocated to our non-profit company. We aim to cover 85% of the non-profit’s budget through the allocation of profit generated through the work of Aspire Youth Development Solutions.
Our Values
As a group of people serving the young people of South Africa through AspireYouth we have developed the following Values Framework to guide us in our work.
We value our shared Humanity
‘Umtu Ngumtu Ngabantu’
A person is a person through other people.
We live this value by:
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Treating everyone equally and respectfully with no bias towards race, creed, culture, religion or gender.
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Through acts of compassion and empathy.
We value our Work
Our work is a place to live with purpose and meaning.
We live this value by:
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Taking responsibility for our actions.
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Striving to support the mission of AspireYouth.
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To act with integrity and honesty in all our endeavours.
We value learning and growth
As a team we want to continually strive to grow in our competencies to navigate life and contribute to the wellbeing of others.
We live this value by:
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Living with a spirit of enquiry and curiosity.
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Staying open to new learning opportunities.
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Sharing new knowledge and expertise with our colleagues and the young people we serve.