FAQ

Youth everywhere have innate and incredible potential, with decades of opportunities and working years ahead of them, particularly in technology. We especially believe that marginalized youth living, working, and going to school in communities in the developing world have extraordinary potential. We envision a world in which our participants are equipped with adequate tools and resources preparing them to confidently compete for 21st century global opportunities. Young people are often the leading innovators in the use and spread of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as they adapt quickly and are curious learners.

Women are often the economic pillars of the communities that we serve. They re-invest as much as 90% of their household income back into the health and education of their children – the youth we also serve. We believe that investing in women and girls is one of the highest return-on-investment opportunities in low-income and developing world communities and that bringing more women into the labor force can provide a substantial boost to per capita income and GDP growth.

We choose countries and regions to invest in based on a blend of proactive and reactive approaches.

Growth by Acquisition (Proactive): YTF conducts a macroeconomic analysis of all countries in the region to determine which subset is more appropriate for program implementation. YTF may balance indicators of a country’s needs for its programs (such as high rate of poverty and low literacy) with gauges on the level of peace and stability. YTF delivers its repertoire of services including customized training material, human capital, and operational guidelines.

Growth by Initiation or Acceleration (Reactive): YTF partners with grassroots organizations interested in replicating the Community Technology and Learning Center (CTLC)-in-a-Box model. The organization or individual that initiates interest, the “franchisee”, co-invests to receive YTF’s repertoire of services including customized training material, human capital, and operational guidelines.
 
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Read more about what’s happening the regions and countries where we work.

This is how we talk about technology that is sustainable, accessible, and meaningful to the individuals and communities who are served by our programs. The technology we choose to teach and use must be aligned with the purpose of each program and meet these criteria to be considered appropriate. It needs to be applicable to 90% of the population, and used to research, document, and share information about the most basic problems for people living in the communities served.

Appropriate technology could be anything from a mobile device to a 3D printer to a software program.

This is what we call our training centers (officially “Community Technology and Learning Centers (CTLCs)”. They take a different form in every country, based on the grassroots organizations we partner with and what types of training programs the community needs. In each country, we have one flagship Digital Village, though YTF works more broadly across each country delivering programs in partnership with other organizations.

In most cases, it is an established location that provides hardware (like computers), employs local citizens as trainers, and hosts training programs most relevant to that community. They can be franchised to serve new communities.