Who we Are

YEPI (Youth Empowerment Program Initiative) is a youth-led organization with the mission to address unemployment, poverty and violent extremism through entrepreneurship, leadership & environment. We offer a set of Flagship Programs in cooperation with our current partners and sponsors to support our target audience in their business endeavors, such as YEPI-SEED Program YEPI-GSC Program YEPI-STALMP Program Academy for Women Entrepreneurs.

For the purpose of reaching our goals in supporting our beneficiaries, which are our African youth (16-35 years) and women of all age groups, we mainly depend on our relationships and cooperation with our donors and sponsors. On the other hand, YEPI offers workplaces that can be rented and a few specialized courses for a small fee, whereas the majority of our trainings and workshops are free of charge.

We are located in Mombasa behind Posta Ganjoni and are active in several cities around Kenya, such as: Mombasa, Nairobi, Lamu, Nakuru

VISION:

To enable economic opportunities for youth and women in Mombasa and the Coast Region.

MISSION:

To build a sustainable organization for empowering and inspiring change in communities.

The Need / Problem 

• Youth Unemployment 
• Poverty 
• Violent Extremism

Thematic Areas

The Organization works under three thematic areas with its direct beneficiaries. These include;

• Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Leadership Development
• Environmental Conservation

YEPI’s Key Flagship Programs

YEPI-SEED Program

Through this 3-months program, youth learn about the fundamentals of starting and running a sustainable business covering 4 modules; Developing a Business Model, Identifying a Market, Business Plan and Pitch for Investement.

YEPI-STALMP Program

In this program, YEPI is implementing 2 projects in partnership with EACC and U.S. Embassy Kenya. Business Ethics and Leadership Training (BELT) and Student Entrepreneurship and Mentorship Program (STEMP).

YEPI-GSC Program

This is an innovative flagship program of YEPI that brings together 10 best and brightest entrepreneurs from around the coastal region of Kenya for a one week intensive bootcamp on Design Driven Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Pitching

Organization Model

YEPI’s Program Delivery Model can be grouped into four main activities, being trainings and workshops offered, the CE-Hub as a workspace, diverse networking events and alumni engagement activities. On an additional note it is worth to mention that we at YEPI aim to provide sustainable support to our participants. We do that, inter alia through YEPI Soko, which is a market place where new entrepreneurs can promote their products and/ or services. Future target: Turn YEPI Soko into a money generating income stream.

Currently, YEPI is only active in 4 counties across Kenya, whereas Mombasa, is our main target county. Our success stories indicate that the good work done so far should not be restricted within Kenya only. Our goal is to expand ourselves and reach additional youth and women in other parts of Africa. Next target: Partnerships with neighbouring countries, whereas Tanzania would be the first step.

Trainings and Workshops

Education and knowledge transfer to our participants is generated both virtually, as well as in person through:

• Trainings/ Workshops 
• Various specialized programs and seminars

Networking Events

Connecting people and giving room to inspiration and experience sharing is granted through various networking events hosted and organized by us:

• Annual Entrepreneurship Summit as the biggest event of YEPI 
• Meet & Greet in an informal setup 
• YEPI online being a one hour session for a chosen topic with a selected speaker to enable social connectivity during the pandemic

CE-Hub

Through our CE-Hub we managed to not only offer a workplace for our participants but also a place where they can get together, brainstorm on various ideas, share their stories and find a quite place to let their business ideas blossom.

Alumni Engagement Activities

• Alumni Engagement Activities enable us to stay connected and maintain sustainable relationships with our beneficiaries. 
• Our Alumni often cooperate as facilitators and/ or speakers to share their unique business experience with new joiners.

Achievements to Date:

Since our founding in 2014, we haven’t wavered from our promise. Through collaboration-across sectors, and between local and international partners, we have hosted training sessions in communities of all kind from Mombasa to Lamu to Nairobi and Nakuru, gathering together thousands of youth and women ready to change their communities. We trained them in the most effective ways to drive sustainable and inclusive growth, helped them turn their business ideas into reality, and connected them with mentors and like-minded social entrepreneurs

• 10 Years of YEPI serving the communities in 9 counties across Kenya
• 6500+ Empowered youth and women across Kenya who have gone through YEPI program
• 300+ Number of events, workshops and trainings conducted since 2014
• 1300+ Jobs, businesses and employment opportunities created since 2014