Executive Summary

This project, NextGen Youth Leadership Program, is designed to equip young people from low-income and underserved communities with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to become leaders in their communities and the global workforce. Through comprehensive training in entrepreneurship, executive leadership, business administration, and international management, the program aims to break cycles of poverty by building capacity for self-sufficiency, community empowerment, and sustainable development.

By addressing barriers such as limited access to education, lack of mentorship, and systemic inequities, the program will prepare participants to assume leadership roles in corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors while fostering entrepreneurship as a tool for local economic development.

​

Need Statement

Underserved communities often face systemic barriers, including poverty, lack of access to quality education, unemployment, and minimal exposure to leadership opportunities. According to national studies:

• Youth in low-income areas are less likely to access leadership training or mentorship.

• Many underserved youth face unemployment rates twice as high as their peers from higher-income backgrounds.

• A lack of career readiness programs leaves young people underprepared for the labor market.

​

Without targeted interventions, these communities continue to face cycles of disempowerment, economic instability, and limited upward mobility. A structured leadership development program with wraparound support is essential to transform challenges into opportunities.

​

Theory of Change

If underserved youth are provided with leadership training, mentorship, entrepreneurship skills, and wraparound support services (educational, emotional, and social), then they will gain the confidence, networks, and competencies needed to break barriers, access opportunities, and empower their communities.

• Inputs: Resources, trainers, mentors, curriculum, partnerships.

• Activities: Leadership training, entrepreneurship bootcamps, corporate simulations, mentorship pairing, international exchange forums.

• Outputs: Youth graduates with certifications, businesses launched, youth placed in leadership internships.

• Outcomes: Increased employment, stronger local businesses, youth-led community initiatives.

• Impact: Sustainable empowerment of underserved communities through the leadership of their own youth.

​

Wraparound Services

To ensure holistic success, the program provides:

• Academic support: Tutoring, GED/college readiness workshops.

• Mentorship: Pairing with corporate and community leaders.

• Career services: Internships, resume workshops, interview preparation.

• Mental health support: Counseling, stress management, wellness programs.

• Community engagement: Service projects connecting youth to their neighborhoods.

​

Goals & Objectives of the Training Program

p

Goal 1: Build youth leadership capacity in underserved communities.

• Objective 1.1: Train 200 youth annually in executive leadership, management, and business administration.

• Objective 1.2: Develop mentorship relationships for 90% of participants.

Goal 2: Increase entrepreneurship and economic opportunities.

• Objective 2.1: Deliver entrepreneurship bootcamps resulting in 100 business plans per year.

• Objective 2.2: Support launch of at least 25 youth-led businesses annually.

Goal 3: Promote global and corporate readiness.

• Objective 3.1: Provide 150 certifications in corporate training and international management.

• Objective 3.2: Facilitate 50 youth internships with corporate and nonprofit partners annually.

​

Activities

1. Entrepreneurship Training – Business plan development, financial literacy, startup incubation.

2. Executive Leadership Bootcamps – Decision-making, problem-solving, public speaking, ethical leadership.

3. Corporate Training – Simulations, corporate culture, professional etiquette, networking.

4. Managers & Management Training – Organizational leadership, project management, human resources.

5. Business Administration – Marketing, accounting, operations, strategy.

6. International Training & Exchange – Cross-cultural leadership forums, partnerships with global institutions.

7. Community Service Projects – Applying skills to address real community need