As we power forward into the future, many institutions have struggled to keep up. While education has changed the least in the last century, the world that school leavers enter has altered profoundly. Many people leave school feeling like they are not equipped to deal with the real world. Rather than the traditional cognitive skills favoured by schools, soft skills such as creativity, problem solving, teamwork or communication are increasingly important to employers.

Partners for Youth Empowerment (PYE) is filling this gap through workshops that teach people to understand what they want, express themselves, and make better choices. Ultimately they want to create a generation of people who have the insight and confidence to create the world they want to live in. They do this through programmes that include teacher training, workshops, and youth camps that use the arts – spoken, written, visual, dramatic and music – as the means for expression and understanding. It is about experiential learning, rather than intellectual teaching.

Now in seven countries (Uganda, South Africa, India, Canada, Brazil, USA, UK) the non-profit has already made a substantial impact. In India alone ten thousand students a year are going through the workshops, but the potential is global. The future for PYE is planet of resilient, creative individuals working towards a better world.

Claire is an international producer/ director based in London. The South African spends most of her time making content in sub-Saharan Africa about tech, healthcare and gender.