S1, E6: Leaving behind the Uninspired Achiever: Breaking South Africa’s Youth Employment Crisis

Evan Jones: [00:00:00] I also fell in love with what the ecosystem of impact work looks like the ability to traverse amongst different stakeholders in an ecosystem of impact work, which is unlike what you’ll find in traditional kind of. Corporate work cultures and diversity of impact work has really grabbed my attention ever since.

Georgi Enthoven: Did you know the average person will work 90, 000 hours in their lifetime? What if you could use those hours to find fulfillment and become a disruptor for good? Welcome to the work that’s worth it podcast. I’m Georgi Enthoven, and I’m here to demonstrate that. Again, thanks to my British friend, Ronald! so much!

The star of many of my videos has been the most beautiful woman to have ever been. She looks so good in it. Are you ready for another one of these videos this week? Get ready to make [00:01:00] it worth it, cause this is just the beginning!

What a great conversation we have ahead of us today, we get to hear from a South African called Evan Jones, who took the courageous journey from what I call an uninspired achiever to finding his calling as a disruptor for good. It was pivoting to a company called Harambee, a social enterprise youth employment accelerator in South Africa that got Evan off the corporate treadmill and into a role that has been life changing and life enhancing.

Building on his experience, Evan is now the CEO of The Collective X, bringing together industry leaders to address the critical shortage of digital skills in South Africa. He is indeed solving big issues worth solving, worth his valuable time and skills. The Collective X initiative sets to double South Africa’s output of high demand digital jobs in the next three years, while [00:02:00] simultaneously enhancing youth.

Digital skills, boosting employment and injecting billions into the economy before his big pivot to become a disruptor for good. Evan was a successful corporate operator, rapidly scaling global organizations in South Africa. Evan. So great to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for being here.

Evan Jones: It’s wonderful Georgi.

Thank you.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah, I have this burning question because I am dying to know the answer, but I have been told you have a remarkable entry into the impact space, and I would love to hear your journey of what got you into it.

Evan Jones: So it’s been the most unexpected gift I think life has ever given me, but you’re absolutely right, Georgi.

I spent all of my career in the corporate space working for large multinationals, listed organizations. I chased money. I chased the career. After leaving a large multinational, I ended up building my own business, which was pretty big and selling it to a multinational, [00:03:00] uh, chasing all the luxuries in life, all those sorts of things.

And one day at a conference, a dear friend of mine, that was the CEO of a social enterprise here. In South Africa approached me and asked me what I was doing. And I said, nothing, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my life, thinking about the next investment or something of that nature. And she said, well, why don’t you come spend some time in the social enterprise dealing with youth employment challenges?

And I agreed, but I went in very arrogantly thinking I’ll solve this youth unemployment challenge in a. Heartbeat coming from the corporate space. I went in arrogantly, I think very naively and started to really dive into the challenge of youth unemployment. And I think what really. The thing that really struck me six months into that journey was how frustrated I was getting with myself because of the complexity of the problem, and I started to fall in love with that complexity, um, and I started to fall in love really with the purpose and 15 years on, I’ve now realized the value of purpose led work in my [00:04:00] life, the value of purpose led work in my family’s life, I will never change direction, purpose led work or impact work will always be the key.

A part of what I do for the rest of my career.

Georgi Enthoven: Amazing story. So you had not sought it out and it hit you over the head and you went in maybe even thinking it would be, you’d be an advisor or, you know, come and sprinkle your fairy dust and great things would happen. And it sounds like the complexity of the problem, making it so challenging for you, got you really excited to roll up your sleeves.

Evan Jones: Absolutely. I mean, the, the problem of what we’ve been trying to solve now for 15 years, I mean, I still don’t have my head around it, continue to search for new solutions, but I also fell in love with what the ecosystem of impact work looks like, the ability to traverse amongst different stakeholders in an ecosystem of, of impact work, which is unlike what you’ll find in traditional kind of Corporate work cultures and [00:05:00] diversity of impact work has really grabbed my attention ever since.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. For our listeners, just to go back and give a big picture first, what is the problem you’re trying to solve at your work right now, which is at, what do you call the organization?

Evan Jones: So for the last 15 years, I’ve worked across two organizations that are related. And so for the first nine of those years, we worked for an organization called the Rambi Youth Employment Accelerator.

In South

Georgi Enthoven: Africa, right?

Evan Jones: Yeah, South Africa, one of the continent’s largest not for profit youth enterprises trying to solve youth unemployment in South Africa. And in my efforts in Harambee, we had identified that digital jobs was an enormous opportunity for marginalized youth, both current jobs and future jobs.

And so we started to incubate an initiative within Harambee. That in the last few years has spun out into a brand new not for profit that is specifically driving the scale up of digital jobs for marginalized youth in South Africa.

Georgi Enthoven: That is incredible. [00:06:00] And I’m sure that that feels really rewarding. How close are you to the people you’re helping?

Evan Jones: Very close. I mean, over the last 15 years, I’ve, I’ve had thousands of firsthand engagements with the beneficiaries of our work. And it’s those engagements that inspire me. They’re energize me. They get me up every day. To hear their stories, number one of where they come from and their circumstances, but also importantly to hear what our work means for them when they benefit from our work is absolutely rewarding on a level that you just can’t.

Describe. I would say my current role, obviously I engage with them far less, but we are trying to drive systems change. So yeah, we’re trying to benefit. Okay.

Georgi Enthoven: What is the scope of unemployment for youth in South Africa? Like, can you help us understand what the problem is?

Evan Jones: It’s enormous. So South Africa is one of the, if not the highest youth unemployment rates in the world.

It’s sitting at around 65 percent youth, 65 [00:07:00]

Georgi Enthoven: percent

Evan Jones: of between ages 18 to 35. We also sitting in a very low growth economy. And every year there’s a, there’s a million young people entering the job market. Two thirds of whom are not finding their way into any form of education, employment or training. And so the problem is.

And it’s a ticking time bomb. And so this is why many of us are so dedicated to the cause of youth unemployment in South Africa to try and turn that.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. I had the benefit probably 10 years ago of sitting in a room with a. Class of Harambee students that were being trained for a call center, and they were almost finished their training and they were telling me their story of how they got there and the part that really stood out to me and has moved me and has held my attention ever since is how you maintain hope.

In statistics that are so unlikely, like when you say 65 percent [00:08:00] unemployment, how do you get up every day and keep trying to find work? And these amazing young people, I think hope is their best friend.

Evan Jones: Hope is their best friend. And you know, I think the mistake many leaders in South Africa make is see these individuals of unemployed youth as a problem.

But in fact, we see them as like the country’s greatest asset. The grit, the determination. That these young people have to try and create better livelihoods for them and their families is something all of us could actually quite honestly aspire to.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. I remember a young woman asking me, once I get into my role, how am I going to compete with the other people?

And I think that’s exactly what I thought is. I don’t think you realize how much you’re bringing to the table for any company to have that grit and resilience. I think you are so far ahead in the skills that are harder to develop.

Evan Jones: Yeah. You know, organizations are making the mistake to try and assess [00:09:00] these young individuals on traditional hiring proxies.

You know, have you got a certain math grade or have you got, you know, work experience and the truth is. They don’t because of a failed education system, and they don’t have work experience because the work doesn’t exist. But that’s not to say, and we’ve seen this time and time again with millions of young South Africans, that they don’t have the competencies, that they don’t have the right attitude, that they don’t have the determination.

And so we’ve really been trying to innovate to disrupt how we find talent, profile talent, and get talent into the world of work.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. I’m curious to go back to this conversation about stakeholders. I believe that the most exciting work we can do is work that is where you become this disruptor for good.

So the work is good for you and good for the world. And thinking about what you said about arriving into this work and feeling enormously challenged and that activated you. I wonder if also having such a complex [00:10:00] stakeholder structure of having to involve government, the private sector, probably not for profits and joining them all together is part of what makes it so exciting that you feel like you’re disrupting something.

Evan Jones: Absolutely, Georgi. You know what struck me when I transitioned from a corporate environment into a not for profit that’s trying to create systems change for good is that you position yourself into an entirely different role among stakeholders. So with that comes a lot of, I think, responsibility as well.

You don’t come with an agenda. So typically government will. Open up to you or business will open up to you or civil society will open up to you because you’re not coming with a sales agenda or a profit agenda. And you have the great ability to convene and coordinate these stakeholders in a way where you can.

Really facilitate the right sort of outcomes amongst everybody. You don’t get into [00:11:00] that position working in a corporate organization. You’re either selling in a corporate organization, you’re operationalizing something in a corporate organization. You’re chasing a bottom line in a corporate organization.

You’re trying to cut costs in a corporate organization. What you’re not doing is facilitating. Multiple stakeholders to achieve social good. And I really find that it’s a position of real privilege to be able to do that and to have these sorts of interactions and dialogues with these stakeholders.

Georgi Enthoven: It sounds, I like that you talked about the responsibility of it.

And when I think of responsibility, it’s not responsibility you have to have, it’s responsibility you choose to have. It’s something that you opt in for.

Evan Jones: Absolutely. Without a doubt. I mean, we all know that the space isn’t about bonuses and dividends. You do it because you have a passion for it. You do it because you have a belief for it and you absolutely have to be responsible with it at the same time.

But what I’ve learned at Georgi is that It’s brought to [00:12:00] me just such number one fulfillment in what I do and in my life that is worth more than any sort of bonus structure, dividend structure, that personal fulfillment and pride in what you do. You just cannot put a price tag on it.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit about the reward.

So when I think of reward from work, it’s what gives you energy to keep going. And obviously there’s a financial component for most people, but what are the pieces that really for you make it a no brainer to get up again and after 15 years and show up and try and implement systems change in a country with a severe youth unemployment problem?

Evan Jones: I’ll answer your question, Georgi, with a small story. I interviewed a young lady that we had put into work a few months ago. Her name was Inga. She lived in a township. She had been looking for work for many years in terms of software development and software testing work. We put her through one of our [00:13:00] programs.

She shares a. Informal household with her father. Her mother passed away and she had two siblings who couldn’t afford to go through school. We placed her into her first work opportunity with very significant earnings and the financial inclusion that that drove. They moved into a middle income household.

She’s able to afford to put her two siblings. Into education and school. And she is thriving today. She’s traveling the world. Now I can recount many stories like anger to you, but it’s those it’s those stories. Number one that gets me out of bed when you tangibly feel the impact you’re having on the world and on the individuals.

The second that gets me out of bed every morning is the complexity of the problem. You know, you know, these problems haven’t been solved in many cases worldwide and the luxury of. Trying to grapple and innovate and pivot and be agile and really try and problem solve and test is what this work really [00:14:00] requires and often bureaucratic work environments don’t give you that.

I wake up every single day and go to bed every single night working in that manner. And I find that just incredibly rewarding and I guess as a leader of a social impact business, it gives me immense joy to lead a team of bright, talented, purpose led individuals. And this work attracts some of the smartest people I’ve met anywhere in the world, from whom I learn from every day as well.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. There’s a professor at Yale who says you either have a job, a career, or a calling. And with that, the research shows that your level of fulfillment goes up and it sounds like you had a career and built that, but now you have a calling and it’s just at a different level.

Evan Jones: Absolutely. Without a doubt. I mean, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t pivot from this work for.

Any amounts of money if I’m, if I’m frank, but it’s hard, it’s hard work. It’s stressful work. And so I think [00:15:00] understanding that, um, these problems come with very complex, as I said, very complex things to solve, very complex relationships to navigate. So it can on the other side of the coin also be very, very stressful at times.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. So just because it’s a calling, it doesn’t mean that it’s easy and it doesn’t mean that you’re in flow state, happy state all the time. That is not the definition of the calling. It’s the challenge. It’s the people you’re around, the gratitude of how you’re helping people, all those factors. Yeah.

Evan Jones: And you know, I’ll be the first Georgi to admit when I came from my corporate world in a very smug way into this not for profit world, full of attitude, full of arrogance with a fancy watch thinking I will solve this not for profit stuff easily.

I was under the false pretenses that this not for profit social impact space is full of philanthropists and butterfly chasers and. It needs professionalization and those sorts [00:16:00] of things and how wrong I was, you know, and when I entered into the space, I mean, just the level of person I was engaging with was unbelievable.

The structures in which they were operating in and how they were approaching problems in many cases was more sophisticated than corporate. So I do think a lot of people that come from the outside of the impact world have. Lots of false ideas about what this impact work is actually all about.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah.

Let’s talk about people. I love the saying that you are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with. And one of the important factors of becoming a disruptor for good is surrounding yourself by people with similar mindset and ambition to really contribute positively to the world.

And you had talked about how. impressive the people have been in the work environment. How has that enriched your life?

Evan Jones: Georgi, it’s been unbelievable. I mean, over the last 15 years, not [00:17:00] a year goes by where I’m not blown away by the caliber of individual that is attracted to this work. And that has The ambition to make the change from the corporate world or, you know, profit centered world to this work.

I’m surrounded by previous CEOs that are working in more junior roles. I’m surrounded by incredibly talented technical specialists that could be in any job in the world. I really believe that I’m surrounded by some of the smartest people I know. And I think in that vein, I’m also approached all the time by executives, by senior people, really, really wanting to make a change, but can’t.

And so I’ve just been astounded at how much talent the space really attracts.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah, let’s talk about that because you probably have these two worlds, like your world is divided in before the calling and after the calling. The people who look at you now and just see [00:18:00] so much fulfillment and satisfaction and pride from your work.

Why are more people not doing this kind of work? Like what are the realities that they’re facing? What makes it difficult?

Evan Jones: I mean, I think firstly, a lot of people are tied into traditional corporate pathways because of financial commitments and restraints, or at least under the illusion that they are caught, they tied up into kind of financial commitments that they’ve made in their personal life, but also future financial commitments that they’ve made with Big corporates or bonus structures or long term incentives that they just feel they can’t leave.

So, yeah, I mean, I think that’s probably been the first. The second is I think people love the idea, but quite a number of them are creatures of habits and think, well, I’m not quite sure about that. I’ll continue on this track that I’m on. So I think it does require a little bit of courage to make the step change.

And I’ll tell you what, I’ve hired some people [00:19:00] that have required a little bit of courage and nudging, and I’ve brought them into the space and they’ve never looked back. They’ve gone through the same sort of personal transformation. They find immense pride and job satisfaction as well.

Georgi Enthoven: How do you identify somebody that you’re going to hand pick and, and plant the seed?

Evan Jones: I’m constantly doing it, Georgi. So I’m constantly looking for talent. But, you know, this work, I will also say requires one to really roll one’s sleeves up and get stuck in. If you don’t have the ability to get into the messiness, if you don’t have the ability to be comfortable in the uncertainty, if you don’t have the ability to really try and test drive execution and fail and move forward, then this work is, I would also say is not cut for you.

I’ve seen many management consultants as an example over the years. I think, oh, well, let’s move into the space and be management consulting in our approach and they have failed and they have reverted back to [00:20:00] consulting the people I’ve seen most thrive are those that find comfort in the messiness of what this work sometimes needs.

You know, the solutions for youth unemployment are not there. You know, you can’t go and ask chat GBT, how do I solve youth unemployment in South Africa? Yeah. Thinking, testing, trying. And so you asked me, how do I find the talent? It’s people that I think will be comfortable in that space.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. When you say you can’t ask chat GPT, like, I just want you to help us understand how difficult it is to change unemployment at such large scale.

Like what kind of numbers are you putting? Are you able to bring into the formal sector?

Evan Jones: I mean, the problem is so multifaceted, Georgi. I mean, You’ve got around about 7 million unemployed youth in South Africa. You’ve got a low growth economy. I mean, when you map out the jobs in the formal economy, it’s only a few hundred thousand.

So you then need to think about employment, not only in the formal [00:21:00] economy, but in the informal economy. And it’s not just about formal employment. So, you know, there’s micro enterprises, small medium enterprises, there’s legislative problems all around that. There are spatial issues of where the work is and where the people are.

There are barriers to entry for women in particular and in certain roles. So there’s gender disparities. The list goes on. The problem is so multi layered. And when you start to peel away the layers of the onion, when you’re trying to drive societal change at a country level, it really does require systems thinking and very deep stakeholder engagement and rallying.

And you have to have a long, a long view at the same time.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. What were the skills that you had picked up either in your education or in your corporate world that have served you really well?

Evan Jones: I spent seven years working for a gentleman by the name of Edward De Bono and natural thinking and six thinking hats.

And he, you know, he’s a, he’s a bit of a guru [00:22:00] on the topic of natural thinking and thinking skills, which has really served me in my, in my career, but I found it’s particularly serving me well in my A chapter in social impact, number one, I think number two, really being heavily driven around implementation has been something I learned from my corporate career that I’ve bought into, into my social impact space, but that’s served me well in the social impact space.

A bias for implementation has certainly served me well. And then thirdly, I would say stakeholder management and relationship management. Is a really key skill in the space. You know, you’ve got to be able to sit opposite government and converse and find common ground. You’ve got to be able to sit opposite business.

You’ve got to be a, be able to sit with civil society. So I think those three for me have served.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. There’s another aspect that just from this short conversation that we’ve had that I am imagining [00:23:00] has been an important part that’s allowed you to be successful in both spaces, but it’s this idea of being willing to be a beginner and start and not know the answers to be the least experienced person in the room, potentially on the particular topic and still making it happen.

Evan Jones: You’re making me actually think of another one, Georgi, which is you have to have a low ego in the space.

Georgi Enthoven: Okay.

Evan Jones: Yeah. You have to have a lot of

Georgi Enthoven: space. Yeah. So actually it’s interesting because from what you’ve said in your corporate world, you’re operating at a high ego place. And so you may not even have known you could access that or transform to be putting your ego aside and really focusing on the deliverables.

Evan Jones: Okay. Right.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. Yeah. If you were to give advice to somebody young, starting out, knowing that obviously the first part of your career was financially rewarding and maybe provide the opportunity to do what you do now, what advice would you give that you feel is realistic?

Evan Jones: Firstly, [00:24:00] You know, the social impact space was not even a space that I was familiar with or considered in my career path.

It wasn’t even something on the radar. So I would really tell young people to really explore it, be inquisitive, understand it. You know, the stuff is multifaceted in So many spaces, you can be dealing with early childhood development, youth development. I mean, it’s just, it’s got so much color to it in terms of what social impact work actually means that there’s so much scope to, to explore.

And then even within that, besides what purpose. You may be interested in, even within that field, you know, there are so many different pathways. You can think about tech for good, you can think about finance and innovation and finance. You can think about how one scales businesses. You know, it’s just so many disciplines in this impact space as well.

It’s really multi dimensional. [00:25:00] would encourage young people to really understand the full landscape. Number one. Number two, I would really, if I could tell my 18 year old self again, I’d really tell myself that purpose led work is fulfilling and rewarding. on levels that I think traditional career pathways will not provide you.

But the value of that purpose and rewarding work goes so deep into one’s life. I’m proud of what I tell people I do. I’m proud of what I tell my daughter I do. My life and my work are much more integrated as one rather than separated. And that for me is just very, very valuable.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah, you don’t have to have these multiple personas as you show up in the office and leave behind where your heart is.

Evan Jones: Totally right. And, and I think, you know, when I look back at my work, I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve done, proud to tell my friends and [00:26:00] family, look at what I’m doing. And that sense of pride is also just, yeah, it’s wonderful.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. I love the concept of standing on shoulders of others who’ve come before you and after you and when thinking about these really big problems that can be overwhelming, but you just have to take it one step further and somebody else will take it to the next step.

How has that played a part for you? Like, it sounds like you stood on the shoulders of Mariana who introduced you to Harambee originally. And how are you thinking about it for somebody who can take over from where you are?

Evan Jones: I’ve had the privilege, Georgi, of standing on shoulders of many giants over the last 15 years, and there certainly are a handful that have stood out.

But I mean, it’s without a doubt, I mean, the leaders that I’ve worked for are some of the most formidable leaders I’ve come across anywhere in the world. And how they lead and how they go about their work has developed me. And just incredible, incredible, incredible ways. Mariana is [00:27:00] definitely one of them, but there are others.

And what I will also say is there’s some incredible world leaders. And I won’t name names that have stepped out of big profile roles into the space to really create meaningful and systemic change. And I’ve had the privilege of working with these individuals, some of whom sits on my board and it’s grown me personally.

And I hope I can do the same for. My colleagues and some of the people that I’ve got the privilege of leading.

Georgi Enthoven: Lastly, to wrap up, I always like to see if there are any resources that you would recommend, if there is like a book that you has moved you a lot or sort of shaped how you think and, or in the space of youth unemployment, are there resources or anything you think it’s important for somebody to follow or to get into the loop to understand more about the industry?

Evan Jones: Sure, I mean, I think from a book, you know, some years ago, we [00:28:00] were building out a tech platform for Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and a social enterprise out of San Francisco nominated a coach to us that came from the business world. And this individual was one of the executives out of Google.

She was the CIO at USAID. And then she wrote a book called Lean Impact, um, and Mei Chang. And so she came to South Africa and I had the great privilege of collaborating with her on, on how we think about our technology platform for scaled impact, but certainly her book, Lean Impact, I’ve taken a great deal of inspiration from, not only from the stories that it tells, but in how one could think about approaching impact work in a lean way.

I’ve ever since been a huge advocate for it.

Georgi Enthoven: Oh, that’s wonderful. Well, thank you so much for giving me your time today and sharing all your thoughts on your transition. It definitely is helpful to hear firsthand from somebody who has gone from corporate to their calling. So thank you so [00:29:00] much.

Evan Jones: Thank you, Georgi.

It’s a huge pleasure and just thank you for facilitating these sorts of conversations. It’s wonderful.

Georgi Enthoven: Yeah. Okay. Take care.

Evan Jones: Okay. Georgi. Bye bye.

Georgi Enthoven: I want to share my thoughts on this conversation. When we think about compensation, our minds often jump straight to the paycheck, but true career compensation encompasses everything that energizes.

and sustains us. For Evan, tackling South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis isn’t just work, it’s a source of profound purpose that fuels his drive. Evan’s crystal clear sense of purpose, his unwavering commitment to addressing youth unemployment in South Africa isn’t just a career choice, it’s a calling that aligns perfectly with the best version of himself, a person he feels proud to be.

I also recognize the gift of the positive feedback loop from his work too. The conversations that he has with the young people who have found employment and lives have been transformed, feed his energy and his motivation. [00:30:00] It’s a powerful reminder that when we find work that creates value for others, it often returns at value to us in ways that transcend traditional measures of success.

And that’s a wrap for today’s episode of Work That’s Worth It. Remember. Every conversation we share is designed to empower you to build a career that’s truly worth your time and energy. There are future disruptors out there just like you who would appreciate the conversations in this podcast. Please support me by spreading the word and sharing this episode with a friend or two or visit my website at georgienthoven.com. That’s spelled G E O R G I E N T H O V E N dot com. Until next time, ask yourself, what problems am I solving and are they worth my valuable time? Your intentional choices today can lead to exponential impact tomorrow. Thanks for listening!