Youth 35 Foundation
About Y35 Foundation
Unlocking the potential of young people through talent discovery, direction, and development.
WHY Y35 EXISTS
Every young person carries something unique within them. A spark. A natural ability. A potential waiting to be expressed.
You see it clearly in children ,in how they think, create, and explore the world without limits. But as they grow, something begins to change. The environments they are placed in, the expectations around them, and the systems they move through begin to shape their path. And in many cases, they don’t just shape it, they limit it.
Over time, that spark begins to fade. Many young people go through school, make critical life decisions, and move into adulthood without ever truly understanding who they are, what they are naturally good at, or what they are meant to build. Not because they lack potential, But because that potential was never properly discovered, developed, or directed.
THE PROBLEM WE ARE SOLVING
Across Ghana and many parts of the world:
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Students often choose subjects based on pressure rather than strengths
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Career paths are limited to a narrow set of “accepted” professions
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Many young people lack clarity about their natural abilities
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Education feels disconnected from identity and purpose
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Talent is discovered too late often after key life decisions have been made
This leads to frustration, misalignment, and wasted potential at scale.
OUR STORY
Y35 Foundation was born out of both observation and personal experience. Our founder saw a consistent pattern: students reaching senior high school without a clear understanding of themselves.
This was not just a system problem, it was personal. After junior high school, our founder was admitted to study business subjects, an area where he performed well. However, due to expectations, he was redirected into a science path with the goal of becoming an engineer.
After years of struggling with subjects that did not align with his strengths, he eventually returned to business studies and excelled.
That experience revealed something powerful:
People thrive when they are aligned with their natural abilities.
And when that alignment is missing, potential is suppressed.
WHAT WE DO
Y35 Foundation is a youth development organisation focused on helping young people discover their talents early and build purposeful futures.
We work with young people, particularly from the Junior High School stage to help them:
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Understand who they are
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Identify their strengths and talents
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Explore opportunities aligned with those strengths
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Make informed decisions about their future
Our work is delivered through structured programmes, mentorship, and exposure to real-world pathways.
OUR APPROACH
At the core of Y35 is a structured development model:
Discover
Identify talents and strengths
Develop
Build skills around those strengths
Direct
Guide educational and career decisions
Deploy
Apply talents to create impact
OUR PROGRAMMES
Our work is delivered through a structured ecosystem of programmes:
Y35 Discovery Programme
School-based workshops for self-awareness and talent identification
Mentorship Network
Connecting young people with experienced professionals
Youth Conferences
Large-scale inspiration, exposure, and talent showcase
Talent & Innovation Challenge
Practical platforms to uncover abilities
Community Impact Projects
Applying talent to solve real-world problems
OUR VISION
A future where every young person discovers their talents early and is empowered to build a meaningful, impactful, and sustainable life.
OUR MISSION
To help young people discover their talents early, develop their strengths, and make informed decisions that lead to purposeful lives and societal impact.
We are now living in a rapidly changing world. Automation and artificial intelligence are reshaping industries and redefining what it means to be valuable. The future will not be built by routine skills alone.
It will be built by:
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Creativity
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Innovation
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Problem-solving
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Original thinking
And these qualities come from individuals who understand themselves.
At Y35, we believe that unlocking human potential is not just a personal benefit, it is a national and global necessity.
When young people are aligned with their strengths:
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They build better careers
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They create businesses
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They solve real problems
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They contribute meaningfully to society
And when this happens at scale, it transforms nations.
OUR LONG-TERM VISION
Y35 aims to become the leading youth talent discovery and development organisation in Ghana.
In the long term, we aim to:
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Build a national mentorship network
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Influence education systems and policy
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Produce research and insights on youth development
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Expand our model across Africa