Changing stories for youth in slums in Uganda
Partner
The mission
era92 Group, a Uganda-based social enterprise, had reached a tipping point in its growth.
It centered on a skills-building center for youth living in slums, with a range of other ventures and initiatives to support the youth and its financial sustainability.
era92 Group needed a business strategy that would untangle the mix of initiatives, provide clarity for the enterprise as it grows, and be compelling to investors, not just donors.
The approach
We took an internal dive and worked closely with the founder, advisors, and key employees to build a full understanding of era92. We workshopped ideas and drew out insights about what was true, what was possible, and what were era92’s goals.
For an external analysis, we were fortunate to have era92’s deep understanding of the youth they served, and we included a desk review to understand the system era92 operated in.
The insights
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The known
Youth living in slums face incredible challenges and hardships to break the cycle of poverty. They have greater needs and can be costly to invest in.
The unknown we discovered
Youth living in slums are more than their needs. They are resourceful, innovative, resilient, proactive, adaptable, ambitious, and more.
Youth are an untapped workforce with untapped potential, not a charity case.
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The known
For an organization with a strong social cause, the way to get funding is through telling a charitable narrative (i.e. a “sad story”).
The unknown we discovered
The “sad story” narrative perpetuates a message that contradicts era92’s message — “from handouts to handshakes” — and can perpetuate the poverty cycle and power imbalance.
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The known
The ventures are seemingly disjointed, serving different clients through different business models.
The unknown we discovered
There is, in fact, a clear and aligned mission behind all the ventures because they were intuitively created in response to youth needs, resource opportunities, and financial sustainability needs.
The ventures all fit into 3 clear types of new youth perspectives — serving youth as clients, hiring youth as employees, and investing in youth as entrepreneurs.
The action
We restructured all of era92’s ventures to fit into three clear portfolios, which reposition youth from being a charity case to being 1) worthwhile clients, 2) valuable employees, and 3) ambitious entrepreneurs worthy of investment.
The new structure provides era92 a foundation to add or change ventures, positions era92 as a strong business case, and gives investors clarity as they make funding decisions.
era92 has since been implementing the strategy in its communications and investment pitches, leading the way for how social enterprises can run.
