Social Innovation and Impact Institute (Si3)

The Si3 institute is born due to the big development challenges that Ethiopia and many other African countries face today because of stagnations in job creation and the surging youth unemployment problem. Every year, over 100,000 students in Ethiopia graduate from public and private colleges and universities, but only a handful are lucky to find jobs. The labor markets are unable to cope and failed to bend the unemployment curve. A recent World Bank study shows that about 2 million youth enter the labor market in Ethiopia every year. Determined to help change this, a group of Ethiopian and diaspora professionals came together to establish a premier training and research center to coach and mentor aspiring youth and help them succeed as entrepreneurs, innovators, and role models to ramp up productive employment and inclusive economic growth. We also partner with leading public and private agencies, philanthropies, and companies to provide small grants for youth-led innovative business startups. It will collaborate with the federal and state governments, leading research and development agencies and the private sector to provide demand-driven technical skills and on-the-job training for youth. The institute aims to progressively launch transformative ideas to tackle the unemployment challenge in the region. It will contribute to shaping the future of youth and local economies. At the international level, the institute has initiated strategic partnerships with the Stanford Social Innovation Institute, Yunus Social Business (the founder of Grameen Bank and pioneering concepts of microcredit and microfinance), and the Impact Hub center in Europe. It aims to open a SOCIAL INNOVATION IMPACT HUB in Ethiopia!