Who We Are
We exist to ensure that youth in Africa receive support in identifying & preparing for careers that suit their unique gifts & vocational interests.
Research shows that the average student in college will change their major 3 times before graduating. The YACD organization has identified this uncertainty as a solvable problem. Our flagship program is designed to strategically work with Africa’s youth in their last few years of high school and into post secondary training & entrepreneurship. We provide these youth with quality career developmental coaching & guidance. This is how we make a difference!
Anyone who has been uncertain or confused about a career path route can identify with the unwanted pain & fear that this emotionally brings.
Students should not face career-decision confusion alone. Professionals in today’s workplace have the selfless capacity to provide youth with the customized support that they need. When students receive both career developmental coaching & vocational exposure before college, they can much easier push themselves through difficult studying to further fulfill their workforce dreams.
Learn More About Our Programs
Youth of Africa Career Development, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps guide secondary school students in finding their vocational callings through curriculum based training.
The average enrolled college student before graduation changes their major
Times
The national drop-out rate for enrolled college students is approximately
Percent
The YACD organization has identified that frequent post-secondary school major changes & high drop-out rates are major problems. The delivery of career development curriculum in a safe and professional environment through trained coaching instructors serves as a solution to these addressed issues. In addition to our curriculum based training, all of our youth are required to take career assessment tests. We also make our best efforts in assigning our program’s high school seniors with top level college graduate and/or professional working mentors. The focus is to ensure that these mentors have valuable experience in our program participants’ career fields of interest. This final year phase of our program will in many instances be done within a professional mentor’s workplace environment when both appropriate and possible.
As a result of our program’s comprehensive training and exposure, students are much more motivated and focused in achieving their career goals at the next level of their professional lives. Hard earned parent’s money towards post-secondary school tuition isn’t spent on enrollment in a program without a defined-purpose. Our objective is ensure that all of our students have healthy levels of understanding and richer intellectual understandings about the career fields that they have serious aspirations on further pursuing.
Our Founders
Founders Willie & Kimberly Wynn met during their college years. Willie had just finished his university studies & had recently started free full-time volunteer work at a local community church. This came at a great opportunity cost of turning down an offered US federal government role with NASA to further pursue a more meaningful line of work of stronger conviction. In this non-profit role, he served countless youth and college students in his local community.
Kimberly was in her 2nd to last year of college studies when the two met. While in college, she changed her major 6 times.
Willie Wynn, Jr.
Founder & CEO
Approximately 30% of the adult life is spent working. YACD mentorship is like a practice bow that guides an arrow in striking the right target.
Kimberly Wynn
Co-Founder
Every person should be honest with themselves in finding the career that they want to do
Kimberly attributed her frequent college major changes largely to her pursuit in high paying job roles. She finished her college education, but didn’t immediately land the fairy tale career role as expected. She experienced some great frustrations while working in a number of careers post-college. Many of the jobs that she was hired for did not provide an overall fulfillment of her career-related passion. These burdening experiences largely served as a bridge of her understanding the importance of youth career development. Willie also experienced several frustrations in his for-profit career in a similar manner. As a District Sales Manager within the Security Industry, he held responsibilities for half a decade in staffing & training candidates. Many of his hired direct reports however lacked direction & overall motivation in their roles; no matter how much support & training they were provided. Many had superior talent, stand-out personalities and past high academic achievements. These workers however could not reach the company’s minimal standards in the field of sales. These referenced low work performances were not due to a lack of work ethic and talent. On the contrary, many were simply working in the wrong careers.
Kimberly’s destiny eventually landed her as well into a very similar role. She eventually started worked with human resource staffing firms. These corporations exclusively sought after candidates to prepare them for interviews and to fill job openings. As a result of both their HR staffing responsibilities, Willie & Kimberly both found themselves at similar crossroads. They mutually saw great young & older talent searching in roles that were not aligned not in with their interests or talents. This is a large part of why the Youth of Africa Career Development, Inc. exists. Willie and Kimberly have learned to never question talent in the workplace solely due to a failure to achieve high standards. They believe that if an employee has the drive to succeed and receives the proper support in the right career, few barriers can hold them back from achieving premium success.
About the Board
The YACD organization’s board of directors consists of a culturally diverse background of professionals from various walks of life. The fundamental role of this group is to ensure that the overall mission & integrity of YACD’s vision is adequately upheld & sustainably advanced to serve Africa’s youth in the arena of career development. It is important to note that nearly half of YACD’s eleven board members were either native born in Africa or the offspring of African immigrants.
Volunteer Program
The intent of this program is to serve as an internship training ground for last year high school students. We want each young person to to figure out if their present day career field of interest is an appropriate long term fit for their future.
Mentor Program
We are always seeking top level college students, entrepreneurs, leaders & professionals to serve as mentors for our youth. These individuals are needed to expose our YACD program participants to real life workplace settings both in theory as well as outside of the classroom.