enke: Make Your Mark

Rufaro is the Director of enke: Make Your Mark (enke), an organisation focused on bridging socio-economic inequalities in South Africa by empowering young people to generate social impact and enterprise. The organisation contributes to reducing the high rates of youth who are NEET (not in education, employment or training). The Trailblazer+ Programme supports high school students and trains them to lead education improvement projects in their schools. The Catalyst Programme gives unemployed post- school youth the mindset, skills and tools to access opportunities to thrive socio- economically, while the Community Partners Initiative aims to generate systemic change through collaboration with other youth development organisations.

Rufaro attended the One Young World Summit in Ottawa, 2016, and remains an active member of the One Young World South Africa Community. Rufaro connects with fellow Ambassadors, sharing her work and engaging in community events and opportunities.

enke has impacted over 12,800 youth through its various youth skills development programmes, whose social impact projects have in turn have impacted over 142,000 people in their own communities. Additionally, it has trained 681 facilitators to deliver its programmes, and reached 3,308 young people through other projects, such as the 2022 National Youth Service initiative, a specialised volunteer service project in partnership with the government. Additionally, enke has run a business generator that enabled the establishment of 19 youth-led enterprises, and provides bespoke consulting services to support effective design and implementation of youth-focused projects. Visit www.enke.org.za

“The One Young World Southern African Community is very active, and I made a deliberate decision to be active and participate within that Community itself. I stay connected to other people who are in the impact space and have access to a platform to share the work that I do.”