Digital Skill Building with Aspen Institute

The Western Union Foundation is proud to partner with nonprofits that help people who have migrated gain access to digital skill building and decent work opportunities like the Aspen Institute’s Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN).

The Western Union Foundation has been partnering with the Aspen Institute since 2020 and together launched GOYN’s Digital Skilling Pathways program to support opportunity youth (young people who are out of school, unemployed, or working in informal jobs) in Colombia. Designed and led by Fundación Corona, the Aspen Institute’s local partner at the helm of the GOYN Bogotá community, the program is devised to create an end-to-end pathway that enables young people, many of whom have migrated from Venezuela, like Andreina, to integrate into their new community and access formal jobs within the booming Colombian technology sector.

“I was 25 years old when I left my country, Venezuela, for Bogotá, in search of better opportunities. I was ready to do whatever came my way to reach new goals. What I never imagined was being able to access a wealth of new knowledge in the Global Opportunity Youth Network Bootcamp where I received training as a full-stack web developer.

The training has allowed me to acquire valuable knowledge in the world of technology. It’s also been an inclusive experience since it has closed gaps between genders in the field of technology. This entire experience translates into future opportunities for me, and I am personally grateful to those who have supported this learning program.” – Andreina.

GOYN is a multi-stakeholder initiative committed to creating place-based systems shifts for youth economic opportunity. Learn more about GOYN’s approach and opportunity youth across the globe.