Service learning is one of the few youth development approaches that public systems can scale quickly—low cost, high visibility, and easily embedded in schools and civic programs. Yet high-quality service learning is difficult to execute: structure, reflection, and community relevance are essential for impact. As youth unrest grows globally, this session explores how well-designed service learning provides a constructive outlet for youth agency and strengthens the social contract, with employment emerging as its most tangible expression. We’ll examine how service learning and community engagement—done with rigor—can simultaneously build employability skills and reinforce social cohesion at scale.
David Kakishiba
Executive Director
East Bay Asian Youth Center
Bio
David Kakishiba is the longtime Executive Director of the East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC), where he has led four decades of community-rooted youth development, school partnerships, and leadership pathways that help young people build power, agency, and opportunity across Oakland and Sacramento. Under his leadership, EBAYC has grown from a neighborhood program into a multi-site anchor institution serving thousands of youth each year, integrating culturally responsive supports with community engagement and advocacy. David also served 12 years on the Oakland Unified School District Board—including multiple terms as Board President—where he championed public accountability, community-driven reform, and authored Measure N, a landmark initiative expanding college and career readiness. His career spans nonprofit leadership, education governance, and civic advocacy, all grounded in a belief that young people can drive real change in their communities when systems and adults create space for meaningful service, voice, and leadership.
Miguel Primo Armendáriz
Country Office Director, Mexico
International Youth Foundation
Bio
Miguel Primo Armendariz joined IYF in 2023 as Mexico’s Country Office Director. A recognized international development professional with 20+ years of experience in education and workforce development, Miguel has held leadership positions at international institutions, within governments, and in academia. His experience includes serving as a university professor and researcher and as Director General at state CONALEP and Baccalaureate College subsystems in Chihuahua, leading upper secondary education national strategy for the Federal Ministry of Education, and successfully leading the Skills for Prosperity program for the British government in Mexico with outstanding results. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Economics School of the Chihuahua State University and a master’s degree in human resources management from the Accounting and Administration School of the Chihuahua State University.
Liz Vance
Director of Innovation
International Youth Foundation
Bio
Liz Vance is the International Youth Foundation’s Technical Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. Liz joined IYF in 2013 with more than fourteen years of experience in academia, the nonprofit, and private sectors facilitating multi-sector solutions to wicked problems in the fields of youth, economic and community development and well as community safety and justice. Prior to joining IYF, she built the organizational and technical capacity of Hispanic-led and serving nonprofits throughout the Americas with Hispanics in Philanthropy; developed and facilitated trainings for global artisan entrepreneurs on market-oriented product design with ByHand Consulting; worked with local organizations to design violence prevention initiatives with TetraTech’s Community Life and Citizenship Program; scaled Crea Comunidades de Emprendedores A.C.’s interventions to help marginalized women micro-entrepreneurs grow and consolidate their businesses in rural Mexico; and spearheaded systemic change initiatives related to education, recidivism, policing and housing with Urban Strategies Council in the San Francisco Bay Area. Liz has a Master of Science in Development Management from the London School of Economics and holds bachelor’s degrees in development studies, geography, and education from the University of California Berkeley, where she taught in the Education Department after graduating. Outside of work you will find her in the mountains, on the dance floor, or with her nose in a book.
