Skills For Impact

Impactpal Development Services Limited

Skills For Impact

Skills For Impact is an employment pipeline program for the social impact sector

Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Nigeria

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

—

Nigeria, home to over 220 million people, faces a deepening youth unemployment crisis—over 60% of the population is under 25, yet more than one in three young people remain unemployed. In Northern Nigeria, insecurity, poverty, and climate impacts have further disrupted education and job access, especially for girls. At the same time, Nigeria’s nonprofit and social impact sector is growing but lacks skilled, trustable talent to power its work. Skills for Impact is closing this gap by equipping unemployed and underemployed youth with practical creative and digital skills tailored for the social impact space. Through a hybrid model of expert-led training, live mentorship, and hands-on project placements, youth learn storytelling, digital strategy, content creation, and nonprofit tech tools. Each participant works directly with real-world nonprofits, building portfolios and gaining experience that leads to jobs or the launch of freelance social impact agencies. The program not only empowers youth to earn a living wage—it also builds capacity for African-led development efforts. By turning skills into livelihoods and talent into impact, Skills for Impact is shaping a skilled and passionate workforce for the African social entrepreneurship ecosystem, who are ready to power Africa’s future from the grassroots.

Skills for Impact is a work-readiness and work placement program that helps young unemployed Nigerians learn creative and digital skills they can use to get jobs or start small businesses in the social impact sector. We teach young people how to create content, manage digital campaigns, manage impact projects, run nonprofits or social ventures, learn grant-writing, tell powerful stories, and use simple tech tools that nonprofits and impact organizations need. The program is a mix of live online classes, self-paced videos, personal development, real projects and job-matching. After training, participants are matched with real nonprofit organizations to practice what they’ve learned and build their portfolio. We also connect them to jobs. We use a custom online learning platform for easy access to lessons, and tools like Canva, Google Workspace, and social media apps for skill practice. Our approach is low-tech and mobile-friendly, making it accessible even in low-resource areas. The goal is simple: to help youths gain economic prosperity by turning their passion and creativity into a profitable career/business while also supporting African nonprofits with the digital talent they need to grow their impact.

Skills for Impact serves unemployed and underemployed young Nigerians aged 18–30, especially those from underserved communities where insecurity, poverty, and limited access to education have left many young people without viable career paths. Many youths have limited access to quality education, digital tools, or networks that connect them to meaningful work opportunities. As a result, they are often stuck in the informal economy or without any income at all. At the same time, Nigeria’s nonprofit and social impact sector is growing but many of them fail within the first three years of operation due to lack of access to skilled digital talent to power program management, fundraising and storytelling. This creates a gap where young people need jobs, and impact organizations need skilled help—but there’s no bridge connecting the two. Skills for Impact addresses both needs. We train youth in practical creative and digital skills—like storytelling for impact, project management, filmmaking and connect them to opportunities. This builds confidence, skills, and real portfolios they can use to get jobs or freelance clients. The impact is twofold: young people gain access to income and career pathways, and nonprofits gain the capacity they need to scale their impact.