Promoting youth and employment
Promoting youth and employment
The Netherlands should be a country in which even the most vulnerable young people can find work. This is the goal we want to achieve together with the Youth & Work Platform (Platform Jongeren & Werk) by empowering and connecting professionals in the field.
The Challenge
The Goldschmeding Foundation was looking for an entrepreneurial party that could revive the Youth & Work Platform and help all young people in the Netherlands to develop their talent and have freedom of choice in their education and work. The focus is on the growth and scaling up of promising initiatives, and connecting the many initiatives in the Netherlands by means of a platform that facilitates contact and interaction.
The Approach
Many initiatives in the Netherlands are currently working to create a more inclusive labour market. A variety of organisations guide young people with a vulnerable position in the labour market towards employment, but these organisations often have a strong local focus. The Youth & Work Platform funds initiatives in the form of alliances between two or more parties working together on a particular topic – scientifically based and a high priority in the field. In doing so, we take a long-term approach and explore opportunities for growth and scale-up.
As a result, organisations working to support young people in the labour market are encouraged to collaborate. We also provide both online and offline platforms for contact and interaction such as meetings, a website, a LinkedIn page and a private LinkedIn group.
This enables us to unite organisations, professionals and researchers in sharing and developing knowledge, best practices and experiences.
‘Our work with the Youth & Work Platform is very diverse, which is what makes the job as platform manager so much fun. For example, we support social initiatives to enable them to make as much impact as possible, and we have also organised (and still organise) a conference on inclusivity in the labour market.’ – Sophie Offringa
Impact
Supporting and connecting initiatives through which young people in vulnerable positions can find and retain employment.
