Celebrating Young South Africans doing it for themselves

enke: Make Your Mark announces the enke: Innovation Roadshow, a series of events designed to recognize and celebrate young people who have been driving positive change in their communities.

It’s more than just a prize-giving ceremony; the enke: Innovation Roadshow is a series of events, which are taking place in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. The series is designed as an interactive showcase of the innovation demonstrated by young South Africans who have initiated projects of social change in their communities.

These projects are the culmination of 9-months of training, commitment and hard work by participants in the enke: Youth Award. The enke: Youth Award is a program in leadership, entrepreneurship and inspiration where Grade 11 learners develop their personal leadership skills and are empowered to harness their potential and challenged to inspire and empower others in their own communities to create change.

As part of the enke: Youth Award, learners are challenged to initiate a project to tackle a social issue in their own communities. “All we give them the tools and support to execute their idea, but the project is theirs,” commented Margaret Chandia, who has been tirelessly supporting participants to make sure their projects a reality. 

There are some outstanding stories of achievement and enke is determined to make sure that South Africa knows about these young leaders.

“It takes a lot of courage to start a project in your community, to mobilize your peers and to stay committed in spite of challenges,” says Melissa Nefdt, Program Coordinator at enke: Make Your Mark.

“People need to hear of  and celebrate the work of learners  like Percy Rakgalakane, who is teaching illiterate elderly people how to read, write and count, Morema Moloisi who raised over R14,000 to improve the Science Club at his school, and Lauren Rowe who collected 81 pairs of shoes to help disadvantaged young women play sports,” she continued.

Percy, Morema and Lauren are just 3 examples of learners who have initiated projects in this year’s program. 125 learners participated in the enke: Youth Award program in 2011 and their resulting projects have had an impact on over 2,600 people across South Africa. And that’s just in one year!

This multiplier effect shows the benefit of supporting young people and programs like the enke: Youth Award. Young people can be positive influences and drivers of social change in their communities, they don’t have to wait for someone to come in and do it for them.

“If we can start to create a mind shift that goes beyond ‘I’m going to wait for somebody else’ to ‘I’m going to do it myself’, then it’s going to change the way the country operates, “ said  enke: Presenter and 2009 enke: Youth Award participant, Tsakane Ngoepe, in a recent  interview with the Daily Maverick.

The enke: Innovation Roadshow is geared to celebrate those young people whose actions have loudly stated “I’m going to do it myself” and will show South Africa that young people empowered, equipped and inspired can and do have a lasting positive impact on society.

The enke: Innovation Roadshow events are being held in Cape Town (Saturday, 5 may), Johannesburg (Saturday, 12 May) and Durban (Saturday, 19 May). If you’re interested in learning more about this initiative, supporting and/or attending the event, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

enke: Make Your Mark is a youth entrepreneurship and education initiative that is building a network of young South Africans who are taking action on the most urgent  social issues. We empower young leaders to make their mark on their community, their country and their world.  Our mission is to connect youth across socioeconomic barriers, equip with tools for success, and inspire to take action in their community.

Website: www.enke.co.zaFacebook: www.facebook.com/enke.co.zaTwitter: www.twitter.com/enkeMYM