Y-ACT Youth In Action

What Y-ACT Youth In Action does

Y-ACT (Youth In Action) is a Kenyan non-profit youth-led advocacy movement founded in 2017 at Amref Health Africa by a cohort of young innovators. Headquartered in Nairobi with a core team of approximately 12, it provides tailored training, mentorship, coaching, and coalition-building support to African youth advocates and youth organizations, with thematic focus on equality, youth economic empowerment, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). Its program portfolio spans county chapters across Kenya (Nairobi, Kisumu, Kakamega, Samburu, Kilifi, Bungoma), regional campaigns (Sauti Sasa, Youth4UHC, Generation Equality), and dedicated regional projects in Zambia, South Africa, and Sierra Leone — including a Gates Foundation-funded tobacco control coalition of 10 youth-led organizations in Sierra Leone.

The underlying technology is a web-based advocacy platform anchored by the Youth Power Hub portal, the MYE Scorecard (a tool for measuring meaningful youth engagement), and a planned Pan-African Youth SRH Digital Knowledge Hub with a chat bot component, developed jointly with AfriYAN and the Youth4UHC Movement across 14 African countries. The MYE Scorecard, advocacy curriculum, research outputs, and policy briefs function as reusable intellectual property that travel with the movement.

Y-ACT is funded primarily through institutional donors and foundations — Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Comic Relief, and UNFPA — with complementary corporate partnerships (e.g., Procter & Gamble for menstrual hygiene distribution). All services are provided free of charge to beneficiaries; pricing is not publicly disclosed and the organization is not a revenue-generating entity in the conventional sense. Distribution is decentralized through county chapters, regional campaigns, and digital platforms, with direct engagement of county governments, Kenya's Parliament (including the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association), and the Senate.

Name

Y-ACT Youth In Action

Legal name

Y-ACT - Youth in Action

Website

https://yactmovement.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Y-ACT is a Kenyan non-profit youth-led advocacy movement founded in 2017 that delivers training, mentorship, and coalition-building support to African youth advocates on SRHR, gender equality, and youth empowerment across 14 African countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Advocacy Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (624110), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGADAD

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Education & Youth Development Nonprofits

SECONDARYEDAAAOAD

Youth & Young Adult Workforce Programs (Out-of-School Youth)

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Workforce Development Initiatives

SECONDARYEDAAAFAN

Youth-to-Adult Transition & Life Skills (Independent Living, Soft Skills)

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Community & Public Education Programs (Libraries, Community Centers)

Keywords

• Youth advocacy
• Meaningful youth engagement
• SRHR programs
• Gender equality advocacy
• Tobacco control advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Foundation/Donor Funding: Y-ACT operates as a non-profit movement funded primarily by international foundations and donors including Gates Foundation, Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Comic Relief, and UNFPA. Funding supports youth advocacy programs, coalition-building, and regional campaigns across Africa.
2. Partnership-based Program Delivery: Programs implemented through strategic partnerships with organizations like Amref Health Africa, Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA), and county governments. Y-ACT serves as an initiative implementing youth advocacy interventions funded by donors.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Y-ACT Youth In Action is a youth-led advocacy movement that delivers tailored training, mentorship, coaching, and coalition-building support to African youth advocates and youth organizations. Its core offerings center on advancing meaningful youth engagement, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender equality, and tobacco control policy advocacy across Kenya and Africa through programs such as Youth4UHC, Sauti Sasa, Generation Equality, and Youth-Led Advocacy on Tobacco (TCA).

Product overview

Y-ACT Youth in Action is a single unified youth advocacy movement rather than a software product platform. It operates multiple interconnected programs: a core advocacy movement providing training, mentorship, and coalition-building; regional campaigns including Youth-Led Advocacy on Tobacco (TCA), Sauti Sasa, Youth4UHC, and Generation Equality; grassroots County Chapters in Kenya; and tools like the MYE Scorecard for measuring meaningful youth engagement. The organization functions as an advocacy and capacity-building organization rather than a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Youth4UHC: The first Pan-African movement of youth engagement in Universal Health Coverage, launched during AHAIC 2019.
• Tobacco Control Advocacy (TCA)
• Sauti Sasa

Products and services

• Y-ACT Youth Advocacy Movement Core youth-led advocacy movement providing tailored training, mentorship, coaching, and coalition-building support to African youth advocates and youth organizations, focused on equality, SRHR, and meaningful youth engagement across Africa.
• Youth-Led Advocacy on Tobacco (TCA) Regional tobacco control advocacy program operating in Zambia, South Africa, and Sierra Leone, providing scorecards, resources, and coalition support for youth-led tobacco control efforts.
• Youth4UHC Movement Pan-African youth movement for engagement in Universal Health Coverage, aiming to galvanize youth voices and hold leaders accountable on UHC commitments across 14 African countries.
• Sauti Sasa Campaign Regional campaign amplifying youth voices on teenage pregnancies and SRHR issues in Kenya, with platforms such as Sauti Mtaani supporting youth-led advocacy at county level.
• Generation Equality Campaign Gender equality campaign implemented in partnership with Children's Investment Fund Foundation across Samburu, West Pokot, and Bungoma counties, reaching 1,200+ vulnerable girls with dignity kits.
• MYE Scorecard Proprietary tool designed to measure progress toward meaningful youth participation, scoring both policymakers and youth advocates on different principles to ensure equal ownership and accountability, with fun illustrations and easy-to-understand scoring.
• Advocacy Curriculum Training and educational resources for youth advocates covering advocacy strategy, organizational development, and meaningful youth engagement.
• County Chapters Network Grassroots network of Y-ACT chapters across Kenya including Nairobi, Kisumu, Kakamega, Samburu, Kilifi, and Bungoma, enabling localized youth advocacy and coalition-building.

Quantifiable outcome

• First county to domesticate National MHM Policy
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Amref Health AfricacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Y-ACT was formed at Amref Health Africa by a group of young innovators in 2017. Amref serves as the parent organization providing institutional support, capacity, and network access. Y-ACT operates as a youth-focused initiative within Amref's ecosystem.
• UNFPAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnited Nations Population Fund partner. Y-ACT participates in UNFPA events including the 9th Global Symposium on Low Fertility and Population Ageing. UNFPA supports youth SRH programming.
• Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey partner in developing and launching the National Meaningful Youth Engagement Framework for Parliament in August 2020. Partnership includes MOU signing for MP sensitization on MYE importance. KYPA CEO Anthony Buluma co-curated the 2bonge LIVE virtual platform.
• Procter & GambleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Y-ACT in April 2020 to provide sanitary towels to 5,000 vulnerable girls during COVID-19 pandemic, addressing menstrual hygiene management needs.
• MYSA KenyaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on survey to understand Youth Friendly Services awareness and access among adolescents and young people in Nairobi County.
• YSO ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth Stakeholder Organization consortium adopted as key stakeholder for Joint Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity in the Senate following MYE Framework adoption.
• GYNED (Girls Youth Network for Development)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSub-grantee leading Y-ACT Sierra Leone tobacco control coalition comprising 10 youth-led organizations. Part of Gates Foundation-funded implementation approach.
• Ministry of Health and Sanitation (Sierra Leone)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormalized MOU with Sierra Leone Police for enforcement of Tobacco and Nicotine Control Act. Ministry collaborates with Y-ACT coalition on World No Tobacco Day activities.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Girl Effect: Global non-profit using media, mobile, and brand to empower adolescent girls on health, education, and economic issues. Comparable in SRHR/gender-equality mission and digital engagement of youth in Africa and South Asia.
• African Youth and Adolescent Network on Population and Development (AfriYAN): Pan-African youth-led network on SRHR and population issues, and an explicit partner in Y-ACT's Youth4UHC movement. Directly comparable in mission, youth-led governance, and continental SRHR advocacy.
• SRHR Africa Trust (SAT): East and Southern African organization focused on youth SRHR, advocacy, and coalition-building. Closely mirrors Y-ACT's regional footprint, target population, and donor-driven advocacy model.
• Restless Development: A youth-led development agency operating across Africa and Asia with a similar model of training young advocates, coalition-building, and SRHR programming. Directly comparable in mission, delivery model, and donor base.

Broad incumbents

• Planned Parenthood Global: The international arm of a major reproductive health organization funding SRHR advocacy across Africa. Operates at greater scale with overlapping advocacy goals and similar foundation funding.
• Amref Health Africa: The parent ecosystem in which Y-ACT was incubated. Operates a much broader health portfolio across Africa but overlaps directly on adolescent and youth SRHR programming, institutional capacity building, and the same donor ecosystem.
• FHI 360 Youth Programs: Large international development organization implementing youth-focused SRHR and leadership programs across Africa. Comparable in scale, donor base, and government partnerships, though as an incumbent rather than youth-led movement.
• Population Council: Global non-profit conducting research and advocacy on adolescent SRHR, with strong presence in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa. Comparable on SRHR research and policy-advocacy outputs but with a research-driven rather than youth-movement identity.
• Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) International: Large international development organization with a youth-focused portfolio in Kenya and East Africa. Comparable in capacity-building for youth advocates and government partnership models, though much larger and broader in scope.

Emerging players

• G100: Network of young African leaders focused on policy advocacy, governance, and intergenerational leadership. Comparable as a youth-led continental advocacy platform with selective government access.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/yact_africa
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Y-ACT
• Facebookfacebook.com/YouthActAfrica
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/y-act-youth-in-action
• Instagraminstagram.com/yact_africa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Y-ACT Youth In Action