Positive Youth Development initiatives typically encompass myriad strategies, interventions, and activities.  Some are planned, clearly defined, staffed, and funded – for example, an awareness-building campaign or community mobilization effort.  Others may be spontaneous, emergent, informal, or sporadic, such as networking, leadership development, or network/coalition building.   

As an organization,we are cognizant of the fact that we need to have the relevant resources and investments to ensure that the activities/ interventions take place accordingly. Such resources include funds, networks and our knowledge, and thus we refer to them as inputs. 

Our outputs are the immediate results of our activities and they are necessary for achieving the outcomes. They are positive indicators that the outcomes are on track. 

Results and Outcomes: Our theory of change frequently refers to outcomes or changes.  The Youth Cafe’s outcomes are the core results for young people, Youth-Led/Youth-Serving Organizations, and partners.  These are the long-term outcomes that The Youth Cafe’s change efforts ultimately point to. 

For The Youth Cafe, our ultimate goal is to realize a sizable, lasting, and positive change in the lives of young people in Africa. The Youth Cafe defines “youth” as those aged between 15-35 years without prejudice to other definitions. The young people we work with identify in many different ways. Their race, ability and disability, marginalization and vulnerability, social class, sexual orientation, economic level, educational attainment, attitudes, religions, families, and many other backgrounds help form their identities. 

To achieve our desired result, many other types of changes must occur along the way.   Some of these “on the way” changes reflect actual changes in young people’s lives, either at the individual or population level.  Changes in young people’s lives can include changes in knowledge, skills, behaviors, health, or conditions for young people or their communities.  These changes are defined by The Youth Cafe as impact. 

Typically, changes for individual youth are the first things that occur as a result of the programs, services, actions, or planned strategies of youth initiative.  As individual changes reach a greater scale, they may contribute to population-level changes.  For example, if enough people increase their income, poverty rates may decrease.  The individual impacts are the building blocks of community change; if they do not happen, it is unlikely that a community will improve.  However, these individual changes are not enough, by themselves, to ensure that positive changes will last.  

Many of the changes that affect The Youth Cafe’s desired results for vulnerable youth occur in entities other than individuals.  These changes include changes in institutions, service systems, community norms, partnerships, public will, policies, regulations, service practices, business practices, and issue visibility– a concept which The Youth Cafe defines as an influence.  A related term, leverage, describes changes in public or private funders’ investment strategies for youth programs.  

The tables in the ensuing pages illustrate different types of inputs, activities, outputs,impact, influence, and leverage outcomes, representing the most likely steps on the pathway to community change.  The tables provide examples of impact at both individual and population levels as well as changes in influence and leverage that may result from The Youth Cafe’s efforts.