loveLife rebrands, develops youth leadership

Since its inception, the organisation has realised the benefits of unlocking the power of youth leadership, through higher rates of employment and completion of tertiary education amongst its corps of young leaders, called groundBREAKERS.

This is especially powerful when viewed in the context of South Africa's youth unemployment situation: For many young people, there is a significant gap between leaving school and finding employment, and research shows that during this time, they are much more vulnerable to social ills such as substance abuse, HIV infection and crime. According to the National Planning Commission, youth unemployment is "the greatest risk to social stability in South Africa."

The organisation believes that by expanding youth leadership programmes such as its groundBREAKERS programme, it can help young people bridge the gap between school and work.

The new brand proposition of 'Powering the Future' talks directly to this primary objective of building complete young leaders - it works with young people to help them develop their leadership skills and realise their full potential.

Digital programme coming

It will also be launching an addition to its line-up of programmes in October 2013 - an innovative new digital programme aimed at empowering South Africa's youth to make better choices through a combination of education and reward.

While young South Africans continue to need knowledge about HIV and safe sex messaging, it has become clear that motivation is also needed to act on this knowledge to commit to sustained behaviour change. The new digital programme will combine educational programmes with rewards for positive behaviour such as being tested for HIV and attaining high academic marks.

"The shift to a stronger focus on youth leadership feels intuitive, as this has always been a key part of our programmes - our groundBREAKERS programme is one of the most well-recognised and well-respected youth leadership programmes in the country," comments CEO Grace Matlhape.

An additional layer to the brand proposition is leveraging its unique position as a major player in civil society to build trust through shared projects between government, industry and communities to create opportunities for youth empowerment that have sufficient impact on a national scale.

For more information, got to www.lovelife.org.za