Building a generation of African youth leaders.
The African Youth Leadership Institute is a Minnesota-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to developing the next generation of African and East African youth leaders in the Twin Cities. We center identity, belonging, and practical leadership skills, connecting young people to professional mentors who look like them.
What would it look like if African youth in Minnesota had a space that truly saw them?
When we founded AYLI, we asked that question — a space that saw them, challenged them, and invested in their potential. This is our answer, in progress.
In a single founding year we delivered leadership programming across three seasons, reached students from six schools, and built partnerships with professionals from medicine to public service. We did not just run programs. We built a community.
What we built
How we build leaders
Know Yourself
Explore identity, values, and your personal story.
Lead with Purpose
Develop vision, decision-making, and accountability.
Connect & Communicate
Build relationships, public speaking, and conflict resolution.
Build Your Future
Career awareness, advocacy, and community action.
What we do
Year-round programming that meets young people where they are — and moves with them from the classroom to community leadership.
After-School Program
Every Wednesday for five months, students build the foundational tools of Leadership 101 — communication, conflict resolution, public speaking, self-advocacy, and self-discovery.
Future Leaders Conference
A one-day intensive that brings together future leaders from five middle schools around the theme Breaking Barriers, Building Brighter Futures — with mentorship, art, drumming, and outdoor leadership.
Leadership Camp
Our most immersive experience yet — a multi-day camp built around three ideas: Know Yourself, Lead with Purpose, and Connect & Communicate.
In their own words
The best measure of impact is not a number. It is what students say when you ask them how it felt.
“We are not building programs. We are building a generation.”
Our founding year taught us what is possible. Year two is about scaling with intention — deepening school partnerships, expanding our mentor network, and building infrastructure that can sustain this community for years to come.
Be part of the movement.
Become a mentor, host an intern, offer space, or sponsor a cohort scholarship. Help East African youth lead change in their own communities.
