Call to youth to become active citizens through leadership opportunity
Author: ACTIVATE! Change Drivers

Youth non-profit Activate, a leader in transformative youth programmes in South Africa, has issued its annual call for youth to apply to its leadership training and mentoring programmes. This opportunity is free to the youth who qualify.
The ACTIVATE! Change Drivers programme is an eight-day, two module training programme offered to youth across South Africa. It has had over 4200 young people participate in its training programme, joining the network of young leaders contributing to a meaningful society in South Africa, by becoming social changemakers.
The programme is transformative for the young people who have been on it, creating a network of peer-to-peer support and ongoing learning that is unrivalled. Many go on to start their own businesses and non-profits, creating meaningful change in South Africa. Activate has profiled many of their stories in their Heroes book released last year.
Activate Change Drivers Programme Manager, Ashley Roman, explains that if young people want to make a real contribution to South Africa and if they want to create a better society, they should sign up. “The benefits for them is that they will create a network with other young people who share that same interest and desire to make this country a better place. They will get to share experiences and share resources that could help support a better society. Not only that, they will learn valuable skills, like creative thinking skills, problem solving skills and critical thinking skills, which are also valuable skills in the marketplace today.”
Roman said Activate provides a space to have that conversation on what problems young people are facing and what they want to do about it: “Activate introduces innovative thinking tools to help young people find solutions for those problems they are facing. The network value is the real social capital.”
The unemployment rate among the Activators – the youth within the Activate Network - is 29%, which is below the national youth unemployment rate of 52.8%. On the social front, 90% of all Activators are involved in prosocial activities while 44% are involved in HIV/AIDS initiatives. At least 90% of all Activators showed interest to vote in 2019 compared to the national average of 71%, and 70% have signed a petition before, this is more than 15% national average.
To join the ACTIVATE! Change Driver’s program, apply to: https://formstack.io/039A1. Activate encourages youth living with disabilities to apply. If you do not have access to the internet, please visit an ACTIVATE! office or station near you. For assistance with applications, please send an email to recruitment@activateleadership.co.za or send a WhatsApp message to 072 612 6318.