Measuring What Matters: Generation’s Approach to Impact Assessment
Generation at 10 years: 137,000 lives, $1.9 billion in wages, 17 countries Mark a decade of transformation—Generation empowers lives, drives global wages growth, and expands opportunity across 17 countries worldwide.
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People across the globe work to tackle significant, complex problems, and they all share the same goal: to create genuine, lasting change. For funders, that means knowing their investment transforms lives while delivering value for money and making the best use of limited resources. You need proof that your dollars create a measurable impact, not just pad statistics.
We understand this challenge. As a global nonprofit supporting people to achieve economic mobility through employment, we’ve built our entire approach around measuring what truly matters. Not just how many people we serve, but how their lives change – and keep changing – years after they graduate from our programs.
Beyond the Numbers Game: Generation’s Three-Pillar Philosophy
Many nonprofits focus on increasing the number of people they reach and track this closely, and funders want to see big numbers. But greater reach alone doesn’t equate to impact. Fewer nonprofits track the longer-term impact of their work. It’s harder to do, and it’s not always where funders ask the most questions, making it difficult to prioritize.
Generation measures impact across three dimensions simultaneously, with the ambition to move forward on all three dimensions simultaneously:
Breadth captures our annual and cumulative volume of graduates worldwide. We’ve supported 139,000+ graduates across 17 countries since 2015, indirectly supporting over 432,000 family members through increased household income.
Depth tracks employment and income outcomes within three to six months of program completion. This isn’t just about getting people jobs, it’s about getting them good jobs that pay living wages.
Durability measures sustained employment, income, and well-being outcomes over time. We follow our alumni for up to five years after graduation to demonstrate change that lasts.
Each impact dimension matters. Push too hard on breadth without depth, and employment rates plummet. Focus only on immediate outcomes without tracking durability, and you miss whether change actually lasts.
The Metrics That Matter
Generation doesn’t just count graduates; we track transformation. Here’s what our data reveals that helps us continue to refine and improve our programs:
Who We Serve
What are the characteristics of the learners we serve at Generation? 52% are female, 28% have dependents, 72% don’t have a university degree, and 90% were unemployed when they joined our programs, with over half unemployed for six months or longer.
These are talented individuals who are seeking an opportunity to transform their lives and those of their families.
Employment Outcomes That Last
76% of graduates are employed within six months of program completion, rising to 83% at six months. These are not quick wins – they represent reliable livelihoods and a sustainable path to a living wage: two to five years after graduation, 76% of our alumni remain employed, 70% are in high-quality jobs (defined by wage, job stability, purpose and belonging), 71% can meet their daily needs, and 56% are earning a living wage.
That’s not just job placement, that’s the foundation for economic mobility.
Our graduates have earned $1.9 billion in cumulative wages since 2015.
Generation yields an 8:1 ROI, generating $8 in wages over 5 years for every $1 invested in our programs. When you invest in Generation, you’re not funding training. You’re funding transformation.
Employer Validation
87% of employers would hire Generation graduates again. And, 79% of employed graduates hired in the last 12 months were hired by repeat employers who’ve worked with Generation before.
Employers see the value that our talented graduates bring to their teams.
Independent Validation: Third-Party Impact Assessment
Generation doesn’t just measure our own success; we seek independent third-party evaluations that help us assess our impact so we can continue to improve. We’ve partnered with independent research institutions and academics to conduct rigorous evaluations across multiple countries.
Mathematica Studies
- India: Multi-Year Study
Mathematica compared Generation graduates to participants in government training programs for similar professions. The results? 66% of Generation graduates found employment within 90 days versus 21% in the comparison group – a 3X difference.
Generation graduates earned 14-38% higher wages than the comparison group at three to six months post-program. At 15 months post-graduation, 44% of Generation graduates remained employed versus 25% in the comparison group.
As a result, Generation programs the cost per percentage point of long-term employment achieved and the cost per dollar of average learner earnings are both 30% lower for Generation programs than government-funded programs.
- Kenya: Long-Term Employment Success
60% of graduates found paid employment within 90 days, with 83% retaining employment for at least three months. At 15 months post-graduation, 55% of Generation graduates remained employed compared to 34% of non-selected applicants.
United Kingdom: Administrative Data Validation
The UK Department of Work & Pensions’ Employment Data Lab found that 83% of Generation learners found employment within a year, with 73-80% remaining employed two years after enrollment.
Generation learners experienced a 3.6X increase in wages from the year before enrollment to one year after. Of five similar organizations evaluated, Generation showed the best outcomes.
France: Koreis’ Impact Study
An independent evaluation of our programs in France conducted by Koreis found that while Generation learners are significantly more vulnerable than counterfactual – being 2.4x more likely to be long-term unemployed and 2.7x more likely to face financial challenges – they are 2.3x more likely to secure employment within six months of graduation and 2.5x more likely to secure permanent employment.
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Generation at 10 years: 137,000 lives, $1.9 billion in wages, 17 countries
How We Collect and Use Data
Generation has gathered a data set of 48+ million data points along the learner and alumni journey spanning 49 professions and 17 countries. We collect data at multiple touchpoints: before learners enroll in our programs, throughout our training, immediately after graduation, and through alumni surveys up to five years later.
This isn’t data for data’s sake. We use these insights to continuously improve our programs and provide transparent reporting to funders and partners.
Real-World Impact: Stories Behind the Statistics
Numbers tell part of the story, but context completes it. In São Paulo, Brazil, Generation graduates now fill 6% of all annual entry-level Java developer and software engineering roles. That’s not just employment – that’s driving systemic change by transforming hiring practices at scale.
Across 13 locations in seven countries, Generation graduates hold more than 5% (and up to 23%) of entry-level jobs for target professions. We call this ‘impact share,’ and it’s a more meaningful measure than individual graduate tallies.
Our alumni don’t just get jobs – they build careers. Many who start in entry-level roles advance to intermediate and managerial positions, demonstrating sustained career growth years after graduation. David-André exemplifies this trajectory. After graduating from Generation France’s Customer Care program in 2019, he started as a Customer Care Consultant at Doctolib and has since been promoted to Account Support Consultant, remaining with the company for almost five years.
Why This Matters
Generation’s approach gives funders something rare in the nonprofit world: credible, third-party validated evidence of long-term change. Our transparent reporting makes it easy for you to demonstrate impact to your own stakeholders.
When you fund Generation, you’re not just supporting job training. You’re investing in a proven methodology that creates measurable economic mobility for people and their families around the world.
The Value of Measuring What Matters
Metrics matter, but they should always be plural. Generation’s commitment to measuring breadth, depth, and durability simultaneously ensures that growth in one area doesn’t come at the expense of another.
We believe in the power of jobs to change lives. But we also believe in the power of rigorous impact measurement to prove it. Ready to partner with us for greater, measurable, and durable change? Learn more about our impact and external evaluations.
