From 1,850 Scholarships to 1,000+ Skilled Youth: How Tufuzu Na Family Is Building Kenya’s Next Generation

When a young person gets a chance they never thought possible, it creates a certain kind of hope. That’s the story behind Tufuzu Na Family, the flagship initiative of the Family Group Foundation, and it’s a story told not in slogans, but in numbers that represent real students, real families, and real futures.

Across Kenya, the Foundation has built a model that tackles two of the biggest barriers young people face: access to quality education and access to economic opportunity. Here’s what that looks like on the ground.

Tufuzu Na Elimu

For a bright student born into a vulnerable household, a good education can feel like a locked door. Tufuzu Na Elimu exists to hand over the key.

Since its inception, the programme has supported over 1,850 students from vulnerable backgrounds across all 47 counties with fully funded four-year scholarships. And when we say fully funded, we mean it — tuition, accommodation, uniforms, and upkeep are all covered, alongside annual mentorship that keeps scholars supported well beyond the classroom.

Right now, 976 scholars are enrolled across 412 schools countrywide, each one selected through a genuinely participatory, grassroots process. County and constituency panels work hand in hand with government representatives and Family Bank branches to identify students who deserve a shot at a better future — not through a top-down decision made in a boardroom, but through a process rooted in the communities these students come from.

Perhaps the most telling number of all: close to 90% of scholars transition to university through the Foundation’s Post-High School Pathways. This isn’t just about finishing secondary school — it’s about building a bridge to what comes next, including internships and employment opportunities at Family Bank itself. That’s a foundation investing in its own community’s talent pipeline, and it shows.

TUFUZU Youth Entrepreneurship: Skills That Pay the Bills

Education is one half of the equation. The other is making sure young people, especially those who may never sit a university exam, have real, marketable skills that lead to income and independence.

That’s where TUFUZU Youth Entrepreneurship comes in. To date, over 1,000 youth aged 18 to 24 have been equipped with market-driven skills in construction and ICT, sectors with genuine demand in Kenya’s growing economy.

Some of the most moving stories come from partnerships built around specific communities. Working with the KDF Military Wives Association, the Foundation has trained and certified more than 300 dependents of servicemen in plumbing, electrical work, and solar installation, with recognised NITA Grade 3 and NCA certification. A further 500+ young women from informal settlements in Nairobi and Kiambu have gone through similar training, a deliberate intervention that also helps reduce their exposure to gender-based violence, HIV, and teen pregnancy by giving them economic alternatives and independence.

For communities that training centres can’t easily reach, the Foundation brings the classroom to them. The “TVET on Wheels” model delivers hands-on, community-based training complete with starter toolkits, so graduates can walk straight into self-employment rather than waiting for a job to find them.

And because the future of work is digital, more than 350 youth have also gained skills in animation, software development, coding, and AI. Every single beneficiary across these programmes, regardless of track, also receives financial literacy and entrepreneurship training, because a skill without the know-how to manage money and run a business only goes so far.

Why It Matters

What stands out about Tufuzu Na Family isn’t just the scale, though 1,850 scholars and over 1,000 trained youth is no small achievement. It’s the intentionality behind it: reaching all 47 counties, involving communities in selection, targeting groups who are often overlooked, and building pathways that don’t stop at graduation but continue into internships, jobs, and self-employment.

It’s a reminder that meaningful corporate social investment isn’t about writing a cheque and walking away. It’s about staying in the story long enough to see young people cross the finish line, and then help them run the next race.

Read Also: Beyond Certificates: How Family Group Foundation Is Turning Youth Skills into Economic Opportunity