Monitoring is designed to ensure that funds are being used for approved and lawful purposes as well as to assess whether the YES Fund is achieving its broader goal of unleashing youth entrepreneurship. Further, the YES Fund understands that the work its youth recipients are undertaking is difficult and that setbacks are likely. The monitoring process encourages candid exchanges about how things are going and whether the YES Fund model might be adjusted to get better results. Communication among the YES Fund team and recipients is expected to take place through consistent reporting and on-site visits. In the course of its work, the YES Fund team also plans to convene with recipients working on similar problems around the world in order to compare strategies and advance “effective practice” learning.

At-risk capital will be staged based on the successful achievement of targets as well as the recipients’ adherence to YES Fund standards. These targets will be set in coordination with youth at the onset of funding and reviewed quarterly throughout the duration of the grant. Targets will be both financial and non-financial. Financial targets will likely include items such as specific return on capital, market penetration/share, updated breakeven/growth projections, and outcomes achieved. Non-financial targets will likely include compliance with YES Fund reporting standards.