Dr. Khaitsa Wasiyo is the Director of Youthful Impact, a program that builds employability skills with industry-recognized credentials.
More than 4 million young people in the U.S. are disconnected from education and employment. But that number doesn’t simply reflect a lack of motivation. I believe it reveals the holes in our education and workforce systems, not the character of the youth.
In classrooms, community programs, boardrooms and investment circles, we don’t just witness young people’s challenges; we shape their possibilities. CEOs, investors and system builders are part of this equation. It’s time to ask a different question: What system, investment or model would unlock the most value for young people and, in turn, our businesses?
Right now, real-world tasks—like supporting dispatch coordination, tagging inventory or managing a nonprofit’s social media—are often treated as side gigs or remedial work in the education pipeline. But what if we flipped that by building programs that fast-track careers through credentialed experience, mitigate employer risk and connect learning to real jobs?
In my view, these early contributions aren’t just tasks—they’re signals of readiness, resilience and untapped potential. When businesses include young people in the messy, real-world process of building and problem-solving, they model how ideas evolve through trial and error. This helps build confidence, a more resilient next-gen workforce and a business culture grounded in learning and innovation. In a future shaped by AI, what’s more valuable than humans who can adapt, create and lead through uncertainty?
Three Levers That Change Everything
At my organization, we’ve found that the most effective programs focus on three practical drivers:
1. Clarity of purpose
2. Skill alignment
3. Validated experience
These aren’t just ideas. They’re actionable levers that help young people build resilience, agency and a future they can see and shape.
Clarity Of Purpose: Starting With Potential
Through my company’s work, I’ve found too many young people—especially those facing instability—have never had the space to reflect on who they are or what they want. Clarity doesn’t come from handing them a plan. It comes from helping them discover their own. That starts by treating them not as cases to manage, but as creative thinkers, problem-solvers and emerging leaders.
Leaders developing programs for these young people can embed discovery tools such as interest mapping, storytelling and journaling alongside trauma-informed mentorship to create the space for purpose to emerge. When young people understand what matters to them, they engage differently.
And whether they’re navigating hardship or opportunity, what happens next depends on more than support. It depends on meaningful work and purpose-driven learning.
Skill Alignment: One Real Task At A Time
A powerful shift any leader can make? Stop overdesigning the pipeline, and start with one or two real tasks a young person could do today to get started in your industry. Whether it’s tagging products, preparing reports or building presentations, these entry-level contributions are valuable. And with the right structure, they can also be credit-bearing, skill-validating and confidence-building. You can consider working with experts who can help handle the academic and compliance components. (Full disclosure: My organization does this, as do others.)
It’s not about simply launching new programs. It’s about opening doors just wide enough for someone to step in and start contributing. You don’t need to agonize over whether a young person is “into tech” or “more creative.” Every industry has technical, creative and manual elements. The goal is to get them started.
This is not a call to throw young people into unregulated workplaces. It’s a call to design structured, age-appropriate and safeguarded opportunities where youth can begin contributing meaningfully. To make youth opportunities safe, age-appropriate and effective, business leaders can:
• Partner with schools or community-based organizations that offer established systems for student engagement, parent communication and clear safety guidelines through career counselors, educators and support staff.
• Set clear structure and expectations, including schedules, roles and mentorship check-ins. Some platforms and youth-service providers can help co-design and manage these frameworks.
• Include safeguards such as background checks, professional boundaries and trauma-informed practices. This can often be supported by experienced partners already working with youth.
Validated Experience: What You Can Actually Do
Once you let young people start contributing earlier—with the appropriate safeguards in place—tie their advancement to proven performance and relevant skill assessments. For instance, if the job demands advanced math, test for that. If it requires communication or leadership, measure that. Let learning grow with opportunity; don’t stand in front of it as a gatekeeper.
Perhaps a participant could earn a skills certificate and then apply those skills by working on or running a social media campaign, for example. They’d produce analytics, reports and a portfolio of work. That’s the learning-working model in action. It results in direct evidence of what a young person can do, not just what they’ve been tested on or asked to memorize.
In today’s world, I believe demonstrated capability should open doors. When a young person earns a credential and applies it in a real-world project, their work speaks for itself—validating both skill and readiness.
For example, in New York, a city mayor’s office partnered with us to place digital marketing graduates, who had relevant certificates, into real civic projects. Working with the city’s marketing team, they took on entry-level tasks that let them apply what they learned in a meaningful way. Imagine if all across the country, leaders had the same kind of pipeline, one where trained, capable young adults aren’t waiting to be “ready”; they’re already adding value.
A Call To Redesign Readiness
Today, AI can now recall facts, generate content, solve equations and summarize textbooks. That challenges all of us to ask: What makes human learning meaningful? Machines can mimic many outcomes. But judgment, creativity, empathy, lived experience and purpose remain uniquely human.
And young adults have a lot to say about the world they want to build—if we’re willing to listen and create real pathways for them to shape it. As leaders in business, education and community, our role isn’t just to support youth; it’s to build environments where their contributions are seen, validated and rewarded. If we get this right—even for the most disconnected youth—the ripple effects can transform not just individual lives but also entire communities.
And it starts with one simple thing: what you choose to do next.
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