How a Youth Employment Program Helped Fabio Rebuild His Future
During a recent field visit to Barro Alto, a small city in Goiás, Brazil, I witnessed firsthand the challenges and quiet resilience of a community often overlooked. Barro Alto is home to just 10,000 people, nearly 18% of youth between 15 and 24 are unemployed, and the rate tends to be even higher in small towns like Barro Alto, where formal jobs are limited and informal work dominates.
Growing Up Without Opportunity
If you’re born in a small town in Brazil, your world starts small and often stays that way. Even thinking big can feel out of place, like you’re breaking an unspoken rule. Dream too loud, and people look at you funny. In Brazil, the rural poverty rate is almost 38%, compared to less than 20% in urban areas.
As a teenager, Fabio Valerio worked informal shifts as a motorcycle delivery driver for the local supermarket. He didn’t have a safety net or a career plan. Fabio was working to survive, not because he lacked ambition, but because no one around him had ever seen what thriving looked like.
A Life-Changing Accident, and an Uncertain Future
At 19, a motorcycle accident changed everything for Fabio. In an instant, he was unemployed, and he had a physical disability. With limited qualifications and a disability, the job market felt like a locked room he didn’t have the key to.
In the beginning, everything is hard, right? I was 19 at the time,” he explained. “For someone that age to suddenly be limited, unable to do the things they were used to every day…everything changes, you have to adapt. I had to relearn how to live in a different way.”
A Door Opens: Discovering a Youth Employment Program
Then, one day, while scrolling through Instagram, he came across a post about free professional training through the Crescer program, a partnership between TechnoServe and Anglo American. It didn’t promise miracles, just a chance for a qualification.
And sometimes, that’s enough.
He signed up for the course, where he learned how to navigate interviews, write a resume, and build a plan to land his first interview. But more than that, he stepped into a room where the instructor didn’t just teach, they dismantled the quiet beliefs that had been holding him back for years.
After the accident, I wasn’t used to being around people in crowded rooms,” Fabio explained. “I felt kind of…left out, you know? But there, I began to see things in a whole new way. TechnoServe showed me a door I thought was closed — and through it, I opened a path. That helped me get to where I am today: employed and moving forward with life.”
Today, Fabio is back in the workforce, working in a major company in an administrative role in warehouse management. He now has a career plan, formal employment, and benefits, things that once felt out of reach.
What Is Programa Crescer?
Crescer is a youth employment initiative that equips vulnerable young people in Brazil with the skills, tools, and support they need to enter the job market or start their own businesses. Implemented in regions where opportunities are scarce and informal work is common, the program bridges the gap between potential and real career prospects. By combining technical training with mentoring and access to networks, it gives young people a clear path forward.
Skills, Confidence, and a Career Plan
Participants gain practical tools like resume writing, interview preparation, and financial literacy, but the transformation goes deeper. They build confidence, develop soft skills such as teamwork and problem-solving, and learn to design a career plan that reflects their ambitions. Many arrive uncertain about their future, but they leave with the clarity, structure, and resilience needed to take the next step.
About TechnoServe’s Youth Employment Programs
TechnoServe has decades of experience designing and implementing youth-focused initiatives across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Each program blends technical training with personalized mentorship and job placement support, ensuring young people don’t just learn, they succeed.
In Brazil, Crescer is part of this global effort, helping a new generation of youth gain the confidence and capacity to build brighter futures. For donors, it represents a proven, high-impact investment in both human potential and systemic change.
Why Youth Workforce Development Matters
For communities like Barro Alto, where economies depend heavily on mining and professional opportunities are limited, youth workforce development is essential. Without support, many young people are locked into cycles of informal work and poverty. Programs like Crescer break this pattern by helping youth find stable employment, contribute to their local economies, and strengthen the social fabric of their communities. Investing in young people’s futures is one of the most powerful ways to ensure long-term prosperity.
