Kasthuri Soni, CEO of Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, believes that potential should be met with opportunity. Raised in a working-class family in Durban, South Africa, Soni credits her father, an artisan, with shaping her outlook. He emphasized education, discipline, and practical experience. Her advice, that while money can be taken, education cannot, remains central to her approach to work and life.
Soni initially wanted to become a teacher but discovered accounting and qualified as a chartered accountant through Deloitte, where she spent 10 years in various leadership positions. Although she was on a path to partnership, she found herself increasingly drawn to work that offered a deeper sense of purpose. Her career shifted when she joined the Soul City Institute for Social Justice, initially as head of finance and later as chief executive.
The move to Soul City Institute expanded her role from finance into organisation-wide leadership and reinforced her belief in adapting, learning, and leading through change. Soni later joined Yellowwoods while Harambee was being incubated as a separate entity, initially serving as chief financial officer before becoming Harambee's chief executive in 2022.
Today, Soni leads Harambee's strategy and operations, working with government, business, civil society, funders, and millions of young people to expand pathways into earning, learning, and self-employment. A central part of her work is SA Youth, which Harambee operates and manages as an anchor partner in the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention.
The SA Youth platform provides young people with free access to employment, learning, and self-employment opportunities and has supported a network of more than 4.7 million young work-seekers and more than 3,500 employers, connecting more than 1.7 million young people to earning opportunities. For Soni, the young people remain the greatest motivation.
Soni points to the story of Lindokuhle Skosana, who moved from aeronautical engineering to software development after financial constraints interrupted his university studies. Through SA Youth, he accessed courses and a coding bootcamp before becoming a software engineer. With more than 25 years of professional experience, Soni says her father's lessons continue to guide her.
Soni's broader message is equally clear: talent is widely distributed but opportunity is not. Her father's lessons - believe in yourself, then earn that belief through relentless effort - continue to guide her approach to work and life.
Key points
- Kasthuri Soni leads Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator in South Africa.
- SA Youth platform supports over 4.7 million young work-seekers and 3,500 employers.
- Soni's approach emphasizes education and self-belief.
