Positive Youth Development for Workforce Readiness and Employability: What Do We Know?
Webinar: Positive Youth Development for Workforce Readiness and Employability: What Do We Know?, on July 18 from 9:00 to 10:30 am ET.
Slides available here: www.youthpower.org/resources/youthpower-learning-event-positive-youth-development-workforce-readiness-and-employability
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This webinar, focused on workforce readiness and employability, is the first in a series that builds upon sector-specific analysis from our recently released Systematic Review of Positive Youth Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. The webinar provided insights into the following questions: What does Positive Youth Development (PYD) look like in workforce readiness and employability programs? What is the evidence of effectiveness of a PYD approach in improving workforce readiness outcomes? As a youth employability practitioner, how can you integrate PYD strategies into your own youth programming to improve outcomes? This webinar focused on workforce readiness and employability is a first in a series that builds upon sector-specific analysis from the recently released Systematic Review of Positive Youth Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
PYD is a guiding principle of USAID’s Youth in Development Policy. Both a philosophy and an approach, it is a paradigm shift in how we understand young people and how we provide youth services. Based on YouthPower Learning’s Systematic Review of Positive Youth Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, which examines implementation and evidence of PYD, the YouthPower Learning team has developed sector-specific briefs to deepen our understanding of what PYD approaches look like as they are applied to health, democracy and governance, and workforce readiness and employability.
Moderated by Nancy Taggart (Senior Youth and Workforce Advisor, USAID), this 1.5-hour webinar featured YouthPower Learning team members Daniel Plaut and Caitlin Moss to answer these questions and more. The webinar included research and practitioner perspectives on PYD from Dr. Sajeda Amin (Senior Associate, Population Council) on BALIKA and Ms. Anna Barrett (Senior Program Officer, Partners of the Americas) on A Ganar.
List of Speakers (see bios below):
- Anna Barrett, Sport for Development Adviser at A Ganar, Partners of the Americas
- Caitlin Moss, Program Officer, Results for Development
- Daniel Plaut, Program Officer, Results for Development
- Nancy Taggart, Senior Youth and Workforce Advisor, USAID
- Sajeda Amin, Senior Associate, Population Council
Agenda:
- 09:00 Introduction – Nancy Taggart
- 09:05 Presentation of WR&E Brief Findings – Caitlin Moss & Daniel Plaut
- 09:40 BALIKA & A Ganar Presentations – Sajeda Amin & Anna Barrett
- 10:00 Moderated Q & A
- 10:15 Open Q & A
About the Speakers:
Anna Barrett is a Sport for Development Adviser at Partners of the Americas, focusing on the A Ganar program. A Ganar is a youth workforce development program that utilizes soccer and other team sports to help at-risk youth in Latin America and the Caribbean find jobs, learn entrepreneurial skills, or re-enter the formal education system. She received her B.A. in geography from Dartmouth College and a M.A. in international development from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Prior to joining A Ganar, Ms. Barrett worked with other sport-for-development programs in Nicaragua and South Africa, as well as coaching soccer at Tufts.
Caitlin Moss is a Program Officer on R4D’s global education team, where she focuses on innovations in education, out-of-school children, and workforce development and youth employability. In her youth and skills-focused work, Caitlin is a co-author of YouthPower Learning’s Systematic Review of Positive Youth Development (PYD) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, and she led a landscape analysis of youth employability challenges and promising approaches to address them in Brazil, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, she leads R4D’s work with Educate a Child, an effort to analyze best practices and lessons learned in delivering education to out-of-school children around the globe.
Daniel Plaut is a Program Officer on R4D’s Global Education team, where he focuses on amplifying innovations for expanded education access, improved learning, and youth development. Daniel leads R4D’s contribution to YouthPower Learning, leading the Cross-Sectoral Skills for Youth Community of Practice and co-authoring YouthPower’s Systematic Review of Positive Youth Development (PYD) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Under R4D’s role as Pearson’s evaluation and learning partner, Daniel currently leads an adaptive learning engagement with ProLiteracy as they develop an adult literacy and employability web platform.
Nancy Taggart has over fifteen years of experience managing international education, youth workforce and gender programs in Sub-Saharan and North Africa. Prior to joining USAID, Ms. Taggart worked at Education Development Center (EDC) as the Youth Technical Team Leader in the International Development Division. Ms. Taggart also served as Project Director for several of EDC’s youth and workforce programs including the Jordan Workforce Development Program, Guyana SKYE, and the Garissa-Youth Program in Kenya. From 2010-2012, she served as the Deputy Director of the EQUIP3 Program, a USAID-funded global mechanism that supported youth education and training projects.
Dr. Sajeda Amin leads the Population Council’s work on livelihoods for adolescent girls. She is a senior sociologist and demographer with decades of experience generating evidence on empowerment programs for girls and women. She also studies the role of work opportunities in girls’ and women’s lives. She has edited, authored, or co-authored more than 80 research papers and holds a master’s in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School and a PhD in sociology and demography from Princeton University.