About

Our Philosophy 

Our philosophy is LAMS, it’s backed by research in the human and organizational sciences. All of our engagement, retention and performance solutions are distilled through the four drivers of LAMS 

Leadership Excellence Losing great people because of poor leadership and management is inexcusable. There’s no room any more for subpar. Great leadership is the foundation for an engaged workforce. Our Leadership Entrepreneurial Training and Coaching programs get results. 

Aligned Culture When a company lives by its values and these values are pervasive, engagement thrives. Values are a two way street, from the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top. We provide the channels to promote alignment. 

Meaningful Work and Life  Gone are the days when employees came to work just for a paycheck. Workers need to know that every role plays a part in the big picture. We help you infuse purpose, meaning and life back into the picture.  

Social Connection It’s harder to leave jobs when you love whom you work with. Research shows that workers are more productive, engaged and satisfied when they are socially connected to others in the workplace. We help you create internal and external social networks that connect. 

OUR APPROACH 

1. Training & Capacity Development 

Global Life Changers focuses on building the necessary skills and competencies for young men and women to be self-sufficient, facilitating their transition to adulthood. The objective is to enhance youth literacy, employability, civic engagement, creativity and wellbeing. We work with other women and youth organizations, trainers, researchers and youth workers to improve learning and financial opportunities for young men and women in a variety of areas directly related to their development, such as life skills, technical and vocational education and training, entrepreneurship, sustainable development, the use of ICTs, civic participation and leadership, among others. By this intervention, Global Life Changers promotes equal access to quality education, training and capacity building for young men and women in Ghana and Africa.

 2. Mobilization & Campaigning 

Mobilization and Campaigning remain an important component of our operations as an organization. We are strengthening our professional volunteer mobilization at the grassroots and are working to expand its numerical strength and capacity to serve as the national platform for holding government and development partners accountable for their commitments at all levels, including demanding transparency and social accountability on policies and programmes. We continue to use our national appeal and grassroots visibility advantage to mobilize and campaign for pro-poor, youth-inclusive policies and programmes at all levels. 

 3. Sustainable Development Goals Youth Action Campaign 

The SDG Youth Action Campaign has a three-fold objective: to raise the profile of youth as equal and competent development partners able to contribute meaningfully towards achieving the SDGs at all levels; to build consensus among a wide range of stakeholders on the importance of engaging youth as key actors in the development process; and to provide improved leadership, technical and operational capacity for youth engagement in local and national sustainable development efforts. 

1. Women and Youth Participation & Active Citizenship 

Despite the rhetoric describing youth as “leaders of today and tomorrow”, there are strikingly low levels of youth and women participation in public policy decision-making in Africa and the world at large. Women and young people remain at the periphery of socio-economic processes and governance structures, without recognition as social stakeholders with specific interest. The root cause of this problem include inadequate (and sometimes the lack of) appropriate channels and opportunities for women and young people to engage at all levels of decision-making. Without the necessary structures and political space for galvanizing women and youth input into national policy formulation, the voices of women and the youth are often excluded. At Global Life Changers, we are committed to providing opportunities for all women and young people to contribute to and benefit from national development, and we continuously advocate and make a strong case for their inclusion and active participation in all spheres of national life.

 2. Youth Employment & Livelihoods Generation 

Young people are entering different sectors of the Ghanaian or African economy in large numbers, putting immense pressures on government to wake up and face new challenges, including the increased need for jobs and livelihoods. They are faced with social and economic disparities, high levels of unemployment and rapidly deteriorating standards of living which reveal the heavy toll that unemployment and underemployment takes on young people, their families and communities through economic hardship, human suffering, social exclusion and loss of production. Yet, experience shows that when given the opportunity, women and young people can be intrepid innovators, productive workers, successful entrepreneurs, active union members, and valued customers. The challenge for all stakeholders therefore is to generate sufficient opportunities for all women and youth to use their talents, experience and aspirations – doing so under conditions of freedom, security, equality and human dignity. At Global Life Changers, we are committed to working with government, private sector and all relevant stakeholders to provide productive and sustainable livelihoods in both formal and informal sectors of the Ghanaian and African economy for young people from all parts of the continent and beyond. 

 3. Women and Youth Policy & Inclusive Governance 

At Global Life Changers, we believe that women and youth issues are better addressed when they are integrated into broader national development policies and programmes rather than as stand-alone initiatives. Evidence shows that excluding women and the youth from national development policies and governance structures could demoralize them, undermine social cohesion and lead to social problems such as crime, drug abuse, prostitution, vandalism, and general alienation in the vicious circle of poverty. The frustrations of women and youth have in the past provided excuses for adventurers to derail the process of democratization as was evident in Ghana’s own political history, and also in conflict ravaged countries in the West African sub-region. Thus, any policy for social, political and economic development in Ghana and Africa must recognize the importance of women and the youth in promoting social progress, reducing political tension and maximizing economic performance. At Global Life Changers, we are committed to working with government and all relevant stakeholders, including women and the youth themselves, to develop youth/women-inclusive policies and programmes at local and national levels. 

The Women and Youth Empowerment Network (WYEN-Ghana) is one of our foremost and most extensive programmes bringing together innovative and energetic young professionals as well as enterprising women in different capacities who work with relevant stakeholders to lay the foundation for and work towards the promotion of a sustainable and productive future for all. Powerful partnerships with a sector focus on health, private sector development and democratic governance. Education, gender equality and environmental sustainability are central to this program. The Need for This Programme in Ghana The Youth of Ghana as defined by the National Youth Policy is persons aged 15 to 35 years, they constitute a third of the country’s population and the current female population represents 49.1 % of the total population as at 14th June, 2020. Despite their high cumulative number, they are disproportionately affected by poverty and inequality, and remain at the periphery of socio-economic processes and development structures, with little recognition as social stakeholders. As an intervention to address such gap, the Women and Youth Empowerment Network (WYEN-Ghana) brings together innovative and energetic development professionals to work with relevant stakeholders towards empowering women and the youth, both targets and agents of transformation and sustainable development. Global Life Changers as an organization through its WYEN Programme has been very instrumental in youth development policy, practice and research in Ghana. For more than 5 years, we have provided tailored skills training for thousands of young men and women leading to improvements in their leadership, financial & digital literacy, entrepreneurship and life planning skills. Through our service delivery, we have provided education, skills training, and technical support to thousands of young men and women, and helped them transition to self and wage employment. And, we continue to use our national and grassroots appeal to advocate and campaign for women and youth-inclusive policies at all levels. 

 Our Technical Expertise 

a. Delivering Employment Skills 

Global Life Changers under the WYEN programme specializes in helping women and young people develop function-specific skills, such as technical, vocational and academic skills, and accreditation for them, as well as employability and soft skills, such as the ability to solve problems, communicate ideas and information effectively, to be creative and to adapt to change. Our interventions have included retraining and up skilling programmes that provide skills development based on industry needs and combine training with job placement services. We engage public authorities and education institutions to design curricula and deliver formal education and technical training, including tailoring education and vocational training to specific industry needs by taking into account local perceptions and socio-economic contexts. We have fostered core employability skills in formal education through experiential learning for students, including internships, shadowing employees and field trips. We deploy world-leading curricula to foster lifelong learning through flexible training modules and programmes, with transferable certifications. We have a special focus on young women in all our skills building and job placement interventions in demonstration of our affirmative action in favour of gender parity in youth employment. 

 b. Fostering Entrepreneurship 

Under the WYEN Project, our expertise has contributed in fostering youth entrepreneurship, which includes deploying practical tools, such as real-life case studies, student-run business projects, and opportunities to shadow entrepreneurs. Over the years, we have engaged entrepreneurs as mentors in our education and training interventions. We offer much-needed mentorship to women groups and youth start-ups by facilitating exchanges with experienced entrepreneurs and employees. We create networking platforms and co-working spaces for start-ups to foster collaboration and innovation. Through our interventions, we have created visibility and recognition for many youth start-ups and entrepreneurs. We provide tailored training in entrepreneurship, life skills and job readiness, financial literacy and peer networking to youth that met the needs of the sector. We connect youth to demand-driven jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities through linkages to master craftspeople, private-sector employers and industry associations. We also deploy mobile technology to reach more young men and women, and matched informal labourers with job opportunities. 

c. Connecting Talent to Markets 

Global Life Changers has extensive experience connecting talent to markets through facilitating networking, matchmaking between young people and employers, counselling, changing perceptions and ensuring the inclusion of marginalized and disadvantaged youth. We provide career guidance and job-search support to boost formal employment opportunities for young women and the youth in general. We facilitate access to job market information by leveraging organizational networks and youth perspectives and we close information gaps on vocational training and apprenticeships for prospective applicants through image campaigns and role modelling. Our hand-holding approach to placement support has enabled thousands of young women and men to gain employment over the years, especially youth from deprived backgrounds. We specialize in reintegrating youth who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) into the labour market through customized training and placement support, by promoting flexible working models to keep young mothers and youth with family constraints engaged. d. Facilitating Access to Youth-Inclusive Financial Services Essential to Global Life Changers’ technical expertise in youth employment and entrepreneurship programming is a conscious effort to work closely with financial institutions to develop tailored products for young men and women. We have successfully facilitated youth engagement with financial institutions across the youth product development cycle. This includes making the business case, designing the product, piloting, rollout, and continuous review. It is the strategy of Global Life Changers to ensure that all project beneficiaries have access to tailored banking products that meets their needs. Beyond linking women and the youth to financial services, Global Life Changers also provides ongoing financial literacy training to enable the youth and young women manage their personal finances. e. Policy Advocacy At Global Life Changers our advocacy efforts are mainstreamed into all programmes. We continuously engage policy makers and development partners through appropriate channels, with the view to integrating the recommended actions into national youth policy. Thus, women and youth policy advocacy remains a continuous process for Global Life Changers. 

 OUR PROJECTS 

1. Youth Leadership for Global Impact 

This project is contributing to expanding opportunities for youth leadership and active citizenship towards a more inclusive global society. The project is aimed at providing young people with improved skills for effective social change leadership. The project offers opportunities for young people to apply leadership skills through the development and implementation of youth-led projects. We are doing this by running Youth Leadership and Public Speaking Academies in the target locations, offering learning trips to successful leadership projects and institutions, supporting participants with technical and financial assistance to develop and implement their own social change leadership innovations, and matching participating young leaders with mentors who serve as role models, coaches and guides for participants’ leadership experience. We honour successful young leaders who complete the programme with a Certificate of Achievement, and induct them into the Young Agents of Change (YAC) where they continue their leadership journey beyond the project. 

SUPPORT US

 Thanks for choosing to support Global Life Changers. Your support is greatly appreciated and enables us continue inspiring and supporting young people all over Africa and beyond. No amount of donation is too small. And, rest assured, your donations will not go to waste; over 85% of all donations go directly into programme implementation while the rest go into programme administration. We promise to remain totally transparent about how all our funds are utilized. All donors will receive regular updates on the amounts raised and how they are being used. If you are in Ghana and would like to make a one-off contribution to support our work in Ghana, please send us a cheque payable to Global Life Changers. We will contact you back to acknowledge receipt. If you are resident outside Ghana or would like to set up regular donations, please contact us directly for further discussion on ways through which you can send your support. 

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