Proximity
We put young people physically in the room — inside embassies and institutions — because nothing replaces a real conversation with someone who does the work.
We close the distance between young people and the institutions that shape their lives.
Connect to the World is a youth engagement program working from Addis Ababa — the diplomatic heart of Africa — to make diplomacy, policy, and global opportunity accessible to the next generation.
Our story
Born where the world meets Africa.
Addis Ababa is unlike anywhere else on the continent. It is home to the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and more than a hundred embassies and international missions. Decisions that touch a billion lives are made within a few square kilometres.
And yet, for the young people who live alongside all of it, those institutions can feel impossibly far away — guarded by jargon, protocol, and networks they were never invited into. Connect to the World began with a simple frustration: the distance between talented youth and the world's decision-makers is artificial, and it can be closed.
So we started closing it — hosting events inside embassies, opening internship tracks with diplomatic missions, and building courses that translate complex institutions into clear, usable knowledge. What began as a handful of convenings has grown into a program connecting young Ethiopians and Africans with partners across three continents.
Our approach
Proximity, then practice, then a path.
We don't run one-off workshops and call it impact. Our model moves a young person from the outside of an institution to the inside of it.
Practice
Through internships and intensive courses, exposure turns into competence — the practical literacy to navigate systems like the African Union with confidence.
A path
Every program ends with a next step — a network, an application, a mentor — so momentum carries forward long after the cohort closes.
Where we work
Rooted in Addis Ababa, connected to the world.
Our location is our advantage. From a single city we can reach the African Union, dozens of embassies, and the multilateral bodies that set the continent's agenda — and we bring young people with us.
- Headquarters of the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
- One of the largest concentrations of diplomatic missions in the world.
- A young, ambitious population ready to engage the world.
9°N 38°EEthiopia
Addis Ababa — the capital of African diplomacy
Replace with a city photoWhat we stand for
The principles behind every program.
Access
Opportunity should not depend on the family you were born into or the people you already know.
Excellence
We hold our programs to a professional standard — because young people deserve to be taken seriously.
Pan-Africanism
We believe in a continent that speaks for itself, with a generation equipped to lead it.
Partnership
We work with embassies and institutions, not around them — building trust that lasts.
Join us
Help us connect the next generation to the world.
Whether you are a student, a diplomat, or an institution, there is a place for you in this work.