Youth Economic Opportunities Conference: Jasmine Thomas (Citi Foundation) on the donor perspective and youth financial services

Insights from the 2012 Youth Economic Opportunities Conference

September 11-13, 2012 | Washington, DC

Jasmine Thomas of Citi Foundation joined Microlinks for an interview following her participation in the plenary session, "How Can You Partner with Funders?" at the Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference. In this video, Thomas highlights Citi Foundation's focus on building youth employability skills — both soft skills and technical skills — that will enable youth to transfer knowledge in different economies. She explains that Citi foundation also envisions youth as future entrepreneurs to fill gaps throughout the value chain.

After presenting at and attending numerous conference sessions, Thomas shared the big takeaways for Citi Foundation:

• As a corporate funder, it is important to increase private sector engagement and develop economic strategies that work for youth and include them in the formal economy; and
• It is important to find more ways to engage with programs that provide not just skills development, but also access to formal credit. Watch the video to learn more.

Bio: Jasmine Thomas

Jasmine Thomas is the Program Officer for International Financial Capability & Asset Building and Youth Education & Livelihoods at Citi Foundation. She is responsible for making and managing philanthropic investments that enable youth, adults and families to develop financial knowledge and skills, change their financial behaviors and build and preserve financial assets in 89 countries. In addition she manages investments in Youth Education and Livelihoods which support educational, entrepreneurial and training opportunities that lead to improved employment prospects for low-income youth. Thomas is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds a Master of Education degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College and a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Policy-Practice from New York University’s Silver School of Social Work.