About Youth
Lab
Youth Lab is dedicated to empowering young people and fostering active participation in their communities. Through our community-focused programmes, civic engagement initiatives and educational efforts, we build youth capacity and ensure their voices are heard.
We create platforms for young people and decision-makers to collaborate, develop strategies, share ideas, and implement plans that improve the lives of the youth and their communities. Our uniquely crafted methodologies, diverse skills, and strong social capital enable us to drive new thinking and inspired action, making a tangible impact.
Youth Lab is a registered non-profit company (NPC) and is a Level 1 BBBEE contributor, with 100% of its ownership being young, black women.
OUR STORY
Youth Lab was founded in 2012 by a small group of young South Africans who wanted to challenge the prevailing political culture. They saw that discussions about politics and policy were often limited to political parties and those with strong affiliations. They believed that young South Africans were deeply concerned about the issues affecting their communities and the broader political landscape. These young voices deserved to be heard without the fear of political intimidation or being dismissed for their non-partisan stance.
Thus, Youth Lab was born. Initially, it served as a policy think tank, facilitating dialogues across South Africa on key policy issues and producing youth-centred research that enriched the youth development landscape. Over time, Youth Lab evolved into a more hands-on organisation. Moving beyond its roots as a think tank, it became a community-centred organisation that designs and implements interventions that directly impact young people and their communities. The insights gained from these initiatives continue to shape the understanding of youth development in South Africa.
A youth-led & youth-focused organisation, we aim to:
The Team
Managing Director
Pearl Pillay
Pearl Pillay is a renowned youth development specialist with a Master’s Degree in Political Studies from Wits University, focusing on youth participation in policy-making. She joined Youth Lab in 2014 and has since worked across Africa, training public officials and contributing to election observation missions in Liberia and Tunisia.
Projects Manager
Mangaka Tau
Mangaka Tau has served as a project manager and facilitator with skills training experience on the Youth Lab team since 2019. In her previous work, she was a senior facilitator for the MTN Foundation, Youthlife Skills Development Institute and Dorcas Aid South Africa. She has also worked as a project manager at Strategic Training.
Operations Manager
Yola Xotyeni
Yola Xotyeni joined the Youth Lab team in 2019 and is responsible for the general operations of the organisation, as well as project management, facilitation and managing stakeholder relationships and partnerships. Yola is also a youth activist and mental health advocate and co-created and led Youth Lab’s Psychological First Aid programme.