In 2012 when the ACTIVATE! programme was initiated, we reflected on the realities of young people who in their schooling years, were actively engaged in making a positive difference in their lives, livelihoods, family and society. We learnt that some of these young people were in employment, some were studying in tertiary institutions, others were self-employed and the majority were unemployed.

We saw an opportunity to create a network where these young people could gather in their diversity and meet each other. To inspire and motivate one another through a community in the hope that they would become a collective force to promote and advance their individual and collective drives towards building a better life and livelihood for themselves and their communities.

To this end, we designed the ACTIVATE! Change Driver (ACD) programme and opened an application process for enrolment in the programme. Ten years later over 4325 young people have been through the ACTIVATE! Change Driver (ACD) programme and have gone on to create centres in their communities that are answerable to the direct needs of those communities, some have been featured on international platforms as policy advocates, and emerge on national lists of influence as leaders in their respective industries, to date, these young people continue to create platforms that seek to ensure redress and the empowerment of young people across the country.