The story of the Rwanda Youth Partnership and Rungano-Ndota is one of innovation on two continents.
In Rwanda, a group impacted by poverty and the genocide in 1994 formed Rungano-Ndota to support some of the region’s most vulnerable youth, empowering them as people and entrepreneurs.
Back in Boston, the Rwanda Youth Partnership, led by executive director Todd Fry, supports Rungano-Ndota’s work through advising and fundraising for the organization.
Fry, who has worked at such organizations as Milton Academy and the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said there are lessons to be learned from how Rungano-Ndota empowers young people and how the Rwanda Youth Partnership supports, but never directs, the Rwandan organization with its on-the-ground efforts.
Raising “a dream generation”
Fry first got connected with Rwanda more than two decades ago, through a young Rwandan man who participated in a Boston youth leadership program run by Fry. He said he stayed in touch with the young man, who went home to visit family in Rwanda around 2005 and, upon seeing the emotion healing still needed after the genocide, created a youth healing center. Fry and a few other supporters banded together to raise funds to support the center.
When the center’s work wound down in 2016, Fry said a new idea for supporting Rwandan youth was born from several 20-somethings who had participated in the programming and felt its impact.
“The basic concept was that they wanted to help, as they would put it, our younger brothers and sisters in our community to overcome this fundamental challenge of intergenerational rural poverty,” Fry said. “We know they need to make money. But we also know that simply teaching them how to do business will not be enough.”
This new organization, called Rungano-Ndota, or “a dream generation,” takes a holistic approach to supporting youth in Rwanda’s Ruhango District. The core three-year program focuses on leadership, entrepreneurship and personal wellness. About 200 youth are in this core program and 73 graduates are launching an alumni network.
Rungano-Ndota’s latest report shows that 193 businesses have been started by its participants as of the beginning of 2023, with 168 seasonal jobs and 24 full-time positions created.
The formula for success
When a person joins Rungano-Ndota, Fry said, the organization sticks with them for life. Rungano-Ndota isn’t trying to train thousands of youth in computer skills in a single month and then move on, Fry said. Its leaders want to connect personally with each participant. Fry says that’s one of the reasons behind the organization’s success.
Among the components of Rungano-Ndota’s programming are events that bring all the youth together for leadership development and community building activities. The organization also hosts what Fry described as support groups for different people, such as single parents. To further connect with the youth, Fry said the Rungano-Ndota team also visits each person at their home to let the participants know that they understand the reality and challenges that they’re facing.
After youth spend several years in the program, they will be able to join the new alumni network. Fry said this group is organizing pooled savings and other efforts to build a long-term community of support.
For its part, the Rwanda Youth Partnership focuses on fundraising, collaboration, coaching and taking people to engage with Rungano-Ndota on visits to Rwanda.
Rwanda Youth Partnership also hosts virtual visits with Rungano-Ndota for those interested in learning more about its work. The next one is on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
It’s common for organizations doing work overseas to take a large role in directing the programming. Fry, whose work with Rwanda Youth Partnership is on a volunteer basis, said the organization works hard to avoid this heavy-handed approach.
“Given that we have done the fundraising…that gives us a lot of power. But we have been very clear from the beginning. We are a volunteer network of support,” Fry said. “We all work as volunteers in support of them.”
Boston leaders answer the call for support
Several Boston-area business leaders are involved in the Rwanda Youth Partnership, including Glynn Lloyd, executive director of Mill Cities Community Investments and Foundation for Business Equity; Jon Kanter, CFO at Public Consulting Group; and Monica Zeno-Martin, executive director at the nonprofit Parenting Journey.
Kanter said he was introduced to the Rwanda Youth Partnership through a former colleague at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. He began attending Zoom meetings and then visited Rwanda one year ago. Kanter said he’s typically skeptical of how much real impact nonprofits have on the ground. His visit to see Rungano-Ndota made him confident the organization was doing important work.
“It’s transformed lives. The number of businesses that they set up, the families therefore that they’re feeding is incredible. It’s truly uplifting and inspirational,” said Kanter, who is now on the Rwanda Youth Partnership board.
Fry said he hopes the models of these two organizations can inspire others, whether they’re looking to set up a program like Rungano-Ndota or Rwanda Youth Partnership, or volunteer for one.
“I think what my colleagues in Rwanda are doing is so good, so effective, that I just want more people to know about it because it may be a useful model for them to adopt and learn from,” Fry said.
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