The SAYDS Fellowship
Learn to see the system.Lead change within it.
A fellowship equipping young people with the complexity and systems thinking skills, knowledge, and experience to tackle complex social problems in their communities.
- 100Youth guided
- 3Cohorts since 2018
- 1Multi-stage journey
to systems leadership
What Is SAYDS?
A fellowship for young people tackling complex problems
SAYDS, short for Systems Acumen for Youth-Led Development Solutions, is a non-profit organisation focused on equipping young people with systems acumen so they can play meaningful roles in addressing the complex social problems affecting their communities.
The fellowship grew out of the recognition that complex problems such as poverty, climate change, food insecurity, and other community challenges cannot be effectively addressed through simple solutions alone. SAYDS was created to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to understand these problems and contribute to systemic solutions.
Since 2018, SAYDS has guided 100 youth across three cohorts through an intensive, multi-stage journey to become systems leaders.
Who Is This For?
For young people at every stage of becoming a systems leader
- Senior high school students looking to acquire practical systems thinking skills
- College students aspiring to build careers in community development and international development
- Recent graduates seeking practical systems thinking tools for social change work
- Young professionals in social change careers looking to solve complex social challenges
- Youth leaders running social entrepreneurship initiatives and non-profit organizations
- Passionate youth dedicated to serving communities impacted by complex systemic factors
- Youth aspiring to lead initiatives and organizations that tackle complex social problems
If any of that sounds like you, you belong here.
Program Foundation
Designed around how people actually learn
This approach is called HIESEA, Hierarchical Iteration for Effective Systems Enhancement Acumen. It is SAYDS’s step-by-step model for building durable complexity and systems thinking skills: fellows lead from the start, analysing a real social problem and proposing a first solution on their own, then refining both through several structured rounds, gaining more independence as their understanding deepens.
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01
Learn
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02
Explore
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03
Apply
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04
Feedback
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05
Refine
- Then round again, with more independence
The Research Behind It
At SAYDS, our fellowship is designed around proven research on how people actually learn, moving away from textbook memorization toward hands-on problem-solving. We directly integrate core insights from contemporary knowledge and learning theories to structure how fellows acquire, organize, and apply ideas. By bridging how the mind builds conceptual understanding with how real-world expertise develops, our step-by-step model guides fellows to connect local data with core systems concepts, like how small actions trigger chain reactions or how local networks shape everyday behavior. Instead of just studying isolated examples, fellows use practical analytical toolkits to see the full picture behind complex issues.
Learning happens by tackling complex community challenges through experiential fieldwork, testing ideas directly on the ground rather than inside a lecture hall. Fellows work collaboratively in small teams, exchanging diverse perspectives and refining their solutions through continuous peer-to-peer feedback. This active, team-based approach helps changemakers build expert-level instincts, giving them the confidence to take what they learn from one challenge and successfully solve entirely new problems anywhere.
The Fellowship Experience
More than a course. An experience built around doing.
Start with a real problem
Fellows come together around social problems that matter to their communities.
Build your systems perspective
Develop the knowledge needed to understand complexity, systems and the forces shaping social problems.
Analyse the system
Use the Complexity Analysis Toolkit to investigate the relationships, interactions and dynamics underlying a problem.
Design systemic interventions
Use systems thinking to explore stakeholders, perspectives, boundaries, trade-offs and possible interventions.
Take your learning into the community
Apply what you are learning through research, community workshops and engagement with people affected by the problem.
Grow as a systems leader
Receive feedback, demonstrate your learning, work with others and develop the confidence to contribute to development work in your community, with mentoring and coaching from professionals who help close specific skill gaps.
The Toolkit
Tools for seeing the system, and changing it
Complexity Analysis Toolkit
Understand the problem before intervening.
The CAT introduces key concepts from complexity theory and guides fellows through progressively applying those concepts to the complex social problem their group is studying.
Understand → Analyse → Reveal the system
Systemic Intervention Toolkit
Move from understanding to action.
The SIT introduces concepts and approaches that help fellows apply systems thinking to identify appropriate interventions, considering stakeholders, perspectives, boundaries, costs, benefits, and possible courses of action.
Explore → Deliberate → Intervene
Systemic Insights for Policy Toolkit
Design policies for sustainability.
Once fellows join SCA, they use this toolkit to translate systemic insights from their community work into policy recommendations, the same approach SCA members have used to produce SID Policy Summaries submitted to county governments.
Insight → Recommendation → Policy
First understand the system. Then decide how to intervene in it, and how to shape policy around it.
Kenya and USA Fellowships
One fellowship model. Two tracks.
The SAYDS Fellowship equips young systems leaders wherever they are, using the same HIESEA framework in every track.
SAYDS Kenya Fellowship
For young people working to understand and address complex social problems in their communities in Kenya.
Explore the Kenya FellowshipSAYDS USA Fellowship
Systems Thinking for Inclusive Policy Work. A specialized track built on the same systems thinking framework, focused on inclusive, participatory policy work.
Round 1 applications close in
Round 1 deadline: November 30, 2026
Round 1 applications for the SAYDS USA Fellowship close on November 30, 2026.
The Community, SCA
The fellowship doesn’t end when the program does.
Graduates become part of a community of systems thinkers and leaders working together to strengthen development outcomes in their communities.
Through SCA, fellows collaborate on complex social problems, share knowledge, organise workshops, build partnerships, engage other young people and advocate for more effective approaches to systemic problems.
First Cohort, Already In Practice
- Formed and registered 4 community-based organisations
- Facilitated 6 SID Policy Community Forums
- Delivered 12 SID Policy Summaries to county government leaders
The Fellowship Journey
Seven stages, start to systems leader
- 01
Group & Establish
Build learning teams and establish baseline knowledge.
- 02
Understand Complexity
Develop the ability to analyse complex social problems.
- 03
Identify Systemic Interventions
Use systems thinking to determine appropriate interventions.
- 04
Shape Development Policy
Learn how policy processes work and how to participate in them.
- 05
Share Systemic Insights
Demonstrate and disseminate what has been learned. Fellows have shared their work at the AYSID conference, held 25 November 2022 and again 1 to 2 August 2024.
- 06
Join the Systems Leadership Community
Become part of SCA.
- 07
Serve & Learn in Community
Apply systems thinking through community development activities and forums.
Apply
Ready to become a systems leader?
Applications are now open for the SAYDS Fellowship.
Have questions about the fellowship? Get in touch →