Young Leaders

The report 'Young Leaders' by WWF South Africa documents the first decade of its Environmental Leaders internship programme (2008–2018), which aims to bridge the gap between university graduation and professional employment in the green economy. The programme focuses on developing scarce green skills through work-based learning, dedicated mentoring, and professional networking to combat high graduate unemployment in South Africa.

• Since its inception in 2011, the WWF Environmental Leaders Programme has supported 128 interns from 20 different universities across South Africa.
• The programme has demonstrated high success in transitioning graduates into the workforce, with 76% of interns successfully seeking employment directly after the internship. Trend analysis indicates that 82% of interns find work within three months of completion, and an additional 15% find employment within six months.
• The internship programme has contributed to job creation, with 37% of the jobs obtained by interns being newly created positions. For the 2017 intake specifically, 42% of interns were placed in new jobs.
• WWF's approach to growing young leaders relies on five key components: focusing on skills in high demand, career-focused work placement, workplace skills training, dedicated mentoring, and professional networking.
• The programme emphasizes transformation and diversity, recruiting from various academic disciplines including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, law, and humanities. As of the reporting period, 83% of the interns were black South Africans.
• The programme is supported by a network of 32 partner organisations that host interns and provide mentors. These partners include a mix of NGOs, government bodies, and corporate entities such as Woolworths, Nedbank, and Spar.
• Financial investment in the programme has grown from an initial R2 million provided by Fondation Hoffmann to a cumulative total of over R20 million from various funders, including the WWF Nedbank Green Trust, Sanlam, USAID, and the Department of Higher Education and Training’s National Skills Fund.
• The programme's development was influenced by broader national strategies, including the National Development Plan and the National Skills Development Strategy III (NSDS III). The latter led to an inter-ministerial agreement in 2011 requiring all Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) to integrate green skills into their sector skills plans.
• WWF has expanded its model by supporting partners to launch their own initiatives, such as the South African Deep Sea Trawling Industry Association (SADSTIA), which launched an internship programme to grow marine science skills for the industry.

APA

WWF South Africa (2018). Young Leaders. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_decade_report.pdf

Chicago

WWF South Africa. Young Leaders. 2018. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_decade_report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF South Africa |title=Young Leaders |date=October 2018 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_decade_report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfsouthafrica2018young, author = {{WWF South Africa}}, title = {{Young Leaders}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_decade_report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }