Strategic Advocacy and Influencing for ESOs course launches

Advocating as a global network

In 2024 YBI joined forced with Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) to produce a flagship publication Youth Entrepreneurship Trends and Policy Framework. The framework was designed to equip policymakers and entrepreneur support organizations with fresh perspectives and actionable steps to empower a new generation of founders. It presented both a global authority, laying out trends in barriers facing young entrepreneurs, as well as being a practical tool by presenting 50 actionable recommendations for policymakers and enterprise support organizations to tackle challenges.

Following on from its success, and to aid in the adoption of the recommendations, Youth Business International, together with leading policy and advocacy expert Stephen Hunt, has produce a practical training guide to enable ESOs to put their advocacy plans into practice.

Available now on YBI’s newly launched EYE Academy, Strategic Advocacy and Influencing for ESOs is a course which equips ESOs with the tools, skills, and confidence to influence policies and systems that shape youth entrepreneurship.

The training is practical and focused on African contexts.  However, the tools, approaches, and principles are relevant to advocacy work in any region seeking to shift power, policy and practice to support youth entrepreneurship.

About the course

The course is designed to support participants to strengthen their advocacy and influencing work, regardless of where they are starting from. Through a progressive learning journey, it helps ESOs understand how change happens, analyse power and systems, prioritise advocacy issues, and build realistic strategies for influencing change. It also supports ESOs to strengthen internal roles, evidence use, partnerships, and learning routines — putting in place clear guardrails that enable them to sustain strategic engagement and influence in their ecosystems.

Through five progressive modules, ESOs will learn how to analyse policy systems, prioritise advocacy issues, design influencing strategies, engage stakeholders, and sustain effective advocacy influence. programmes.

By the end of the modules, participants will be able to:

• Understand what strategic advocacy is and how ESOs can influence entrepreneurship ecosystems beyond programmes or communications.
• Assess and strengthen organisational readiness, identifying realistic advocacy roles, internal systems, and resources that support sustained influencing.
• Analyse power and policy systems using political economy thinking and influence mapping to identify entry points for change.
• Develop focused advocacy strategies, including prioritising issues, shaping messages, and aligning actions with policy and influencing processes, and
• Engage stakeholders and sustain momentum by building coalitions, involving youth and women, tracking progress, and communicating results in credible and practical ways.

“ESOs working on youth entrepreneurship are operating in increasingly uncertain environments. Funding pressures, shifting policy priorities, and changes in institutional commitment mean that progress can no longer rely on service delivery alone.

In this context — particularly across Africa — ESOs are increasingly expected to play a more deliberate role in influencing the policies, institutions, and relationships that shape entrepreneurship ecosystems.”

Stephen Hunt, course author

There will be a introductory webinar taking place on 18 February for those who want to learn more about the course and hear from some of the leaders of enterprise support organisations who contributed. For more information and to book your place please visit here