CSI grant goes to supporting Aspire Youth

For 2021’s financial year, the E Squared team unanimously voted to support Aspire Youth as part of their CSI initiative.

Aspire Youth was launched by Mark Gamble in 2014 to work towards a solution that would enable young South Africans excluded from the economy, to realise their dreams of a better future. Over the years they have worked with thousands of young people, all of them, every single one, a person with a story and a dream – good people.

Mark found that many had dreams that remained unrealised due to poverty and the distinct lack of opportunity. With this in mind, Aspire Youth developed a two-phase plan to help these young individuals realise their dreams.

Aspire Youth’s phase one consists of a 12-month skills development programme where these young individuals have access to ‘Aspire Trade’ and ‘Aspire Sales’, giving them access to various micro jobs and other opportunities that generate an income. At the end of this 12-month programme, these individuals go on a graduation retreat.

E Squared has provided Aspire Youth with a grant that will allow Mark to run this retreat that transitions the current programme participants to the second phase of the programme; an entrepreneurship incubator that is currently being built out by them (www.aspireyouth.co.za).