Approach

GOYN’s approach is rooted in seven core pillars that guide our efforts locally and globally:

1. Place-based Collaboration: GOYN engages stakeholders in each community to work collectively to develop solutions tailored to that place’s unique economic and social context to unlock greater youth employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
2. Movement-Building: GOYN galvanizes local and global advocates to influence employers and policymakers to shift their mindsets, practices, and policies so as to reduce barriers to economic mobility for young people.
3. Learning Network: GOYN upholds a commitment to data, research, learning, and evidence-building, capturing and disseminating high-quality data and lessons learned and leveraging our global reach to promote knowledge-sharing and innovation through communities of practice and an ever-expanding Learning Lab.
4. Youth Voice & Leadership: GOYN places young people at the center of solution-building through our cornerstone philosophy of Authentic Youth Partnership, with an array of tools, curricula, and best practices bolstering skills, sparking innovations, and amplifying the voices of young people.
5. Innovative Financing: GOYN mobilizes diverse and innovative financing mechanisms for youth economic mobility and supports communities in building strong business cases for investment in OY.
6. Data & Technology: GOYN invests in community capacity to adopt data-driven and technology-enabled approaches, collecting comprehensive data, integrating digital platforms, and exploring AI to improve outcomes at greater scale.
7. Equity of Access & Opportunities: GOYN equips OY and adult allies with equity-centered leadership skills and access to platforms to accelerate youth-led civic engagement and advocacy for more equitable opportunities.

Authentic youth partnership is a key distinction of GOYN’s approach

Why It Works

• End-to-End Youth Leadership: Youth voice isn’t an add-on—it’s central to ideation, design, implementation, and measurement.
• Collective Accountability: Cross-sector collaboratives establish the locus of power and anchor decision-making among leaders and young people at the community level, capitalizing on contextual expertise and ensuring local relevance and ownership of solutions.
• Scalable & Sustainable: By focusing on effective solutions that are replicable, scalable, and result in systemic shifts, we deliver enduring impact, far beyond individual programs.

GOYN’s long-term commitment to locally-driven impact is reinforced by global-level support. We mobilize global and local funding partners, connect an ever-expanding global youth leadership network across regions and languages, strengthen capacity of local GOYN Anchor Partners and collaborative members, and foster mutual learning through research and case studies, communities of practice, peer exchanges and coaching, and a rigorous global data dashboard. We also contribute thought leadership and elevate youth voices on stage at international fora, ensuring OY help shape the global agenda. This centralized assistance ensures GOYN communities have the resources, information, and connections to accelerate change.