Center For Youth Impact Partners Zambia
Empowering Youth in Zambia
Creating Sustainable Change for the Next Generation in Zambia
Center for Youth Impact Partners Zambia (CYI Partners) is a non-profit organization supporting education and youth empowerment in poverty-stricken communities in Zambia. We aim to partner with and raise awareness about the work of the ministry Center for Youth Impact in Kapiri Mposhi, in Central Province of Zambia and to raise funds for the building and support programming.
Our Direct Impact
Partnering with us will provide an opportunity for you to make a lasting investment in the lives of youth of Zambia as the youth center works to increase protective factors in program participants. Center programming will equip youth with tools and skills to overcome obstacles that impede their positive development including resisting risky behaviors and enabling them to grow into confident healthy adults.
Our Board
Allen Burnett, PhD
Retired Instructional Designer, EDMC Online Higher Education, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Visobe Welch-Burnett, MBA, MPA
Retired, Senior Research Project Manager, Lorain County Community College, Elyria, Ohio, USA; Independent Consultant, program evaluations for nonprofits and the public sector, Seven Fields, PA, USA
Chisomo K Selemani, MA
Associate Professor, at Baldwin Wallace University, Berea, Ohio USA
Sangwa Simfukwe, BSc Computer Engineering
Software Architect, Shipwell, College Station, Texas, USA
Donna J Capani, CPA
Retired Senior Tax Specialist, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
Art Stormer, M.S.
Retired high school math and science teacher including three years in Malawi, three years in Kenya, and two years in Ecuador. Now residing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
About The Youth Center
Center for Youth Impact (CYI) is a non-profit, faith-based organization serving in the North Park Extension of Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia. Youth Impact Center was registered under the Non-Governmental Organisations Act No. 16 of 2009 and incorporated on October 17, 2023. The Center is managed by an advisory board with diverse backgrounds. A management office headed by the Center Coordinator is responsible for running the day-to-day activities of the Center. The vision to establish the Center was born by Visobe Simfukwe (aka Welch-Burnett) out of a desire to give back to her country of birth and out of compassion for the youth of Zambia who generally lack basic resources to thrive. Visobe, who herself grew up in Zambia (now a holder of two graduate degrees), learned how to write in the dirt because paper and pencils were luxuries in her home, is keenly aware of the many challenges faced by Zambian youth which impede their positive development and to grow into confident healthy adults. Kapiri Mposhi was chosen because of the generous donation of land from Reverend Joe Simfukwe of Ndola, Zambia. Core Values Champion the youth: We believe the youth are the leaders of tomorrow and we are therefore committed to helping them thrive so they can develop into productive members of society. Consequently, youth are expected to be active participants in designing and implementing of Centre programs and activities. Love of Christ: We commit to love unconditionally every youth who walks through our doors. Gender and equity: The Centre will create a learning environment that is gender transformative. In addition, through the library and literacy classes, the Centre will seek to bridge the literacy gender gap in the surrounding community. Biblical worldview: We believe that the Bible is sufficient and correct in showing us how to live and treat others and our conduct will reflect its absolute truth. The Center will be a multi-purpose facility providing meeting space for the community. The vision of CYI is to impact youth (pupils who are in primary and secondary schools) and their families for the transformation of their communities. The mission of the Center is to bring hope to the lives of at-risk youth and their families by providing high yield learning opportunities that change the trajectory of their lives. The main feature of the Center will be a library. In addition to the library, the quiet and youth-friendly environment will be conducive to boys and girls receiving tutoring help as well as homework assistance. The Center will also offer character development programs, Bible Clubs, sports and recreation, career advising, life skills educational programs (e.g., horticulture), and adult literacy classes. CYI is committed to helping youth and their families build futures filled with hope and opportunity. The Center maintains a policy of non-discrimination with respect to employees and program participants.
Updates
The great need for services in the community have overtaken the timeline for establishing the physical facilities. Provision of services was not anticipated until the Center building was completed and furnished, (sometime in 2025, depending on resources). However, due to the great need, youth from the surrounding community needed immediate assistance with tutoring, especially those who will be sitting for assessment testing in July. Therefore, the board and center coordinator erected a temporary structure and tutoring services were commenced in May 2024. Fifty students are enrolled and they come for lessons at different times depending on the subject in which they need assistance. May 8th was the orientation to which parents were invited as well.
