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Good practice Imported

DIA Urban Lab — Citi Foundation's Youth Innovation Pipeline in Kingston

Jamaica · Kingston · See the Jamaica profile · See the Kingston profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 74% 57/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Citi Foundation and Trust for the Americas' DIA Urban Lab has trained 1,350+ young Jamaicans (16–29) since 2016, funding 88 ventures, adding a 2020 digital-literacy track, and formalising private-sector mentorship with PSOJ.

1100 approx.
Youth trained (cumulative) (2019)
68
Ventures funded (cumulative) (2019)
>1350
Youth trained (cumulative) (mid-2020s)
88
Ventures funded (cumulative) (mid-2020s)
10000 USD
Seed funding pool (one 2019 round) (2019)
10
Entrepreneurs sharing 2019 funding pool (2019)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Trust for the Americas (with Citi Foundation and the Institute of Law & Economics)
Period
2016–present
Keywords
youth entrepreneurship, digital skills, innovation training, mentorship

Context

The DIA Urban Lab (Democratizing Innovation in the Americas) is a Citi Foundation-funded youth-innovation programme in Kingston, Jamaica, delivered by the Trust for the Americas with local partner the Institute of Law & Economics (ILE) since 2016.

Objectives

To target Jamaicans aged 16-29 with innovation and entrepreneurship training, mentorship and technology access, with participants competing for seed funding through periodic 'Pitch Tank' competitions.

Activities

Periodic Pitch Tank competitions award seed funding to youth-led ventures. In 2020 the programme added a digital-literacy and data-science track targeting at-risk youth's employability. In 2019 it formalised a mentorship partnership with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) to pair Pitch Tank winners with business mentors.

Results

Programme totals reported by the Trust for the Americas grew from roughly 1,100 youth trained and 68 ventures funded as of 2019 to more than 1,350 youth and 88 funded projects by the mid-2020s, with individual grant rounds averaging tens of participants — one 2019 round split a USD 10,000 pool across ten entrepreneurs. The same DIA model was subsequently replicated by Citi Foundation and the Trust for the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

Conclusions

The published metrics are programme-reported reach and funding counts rather than externally audited outcome evaluations — there is no independent tracking of venture survival, revenue or job creation after the grant stage. Independent Jamaican press (the Jamaica Gleaner) has covered individual funding rounds and the PSOJ mentorship agreement, corroborating the programme's existence and cadence without independently verifying the cumulative totals.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Trust for the Americas (implementer), Citi Foundation (funder), Institute of Law & Economics (ILE, local partner), Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ, mentorship partner since 2019)

Conditions for success

  • Sustained philanthropic funding from a single major donor (Citi Foundation)
  • A local implementing partner (ILE) embedded in Kingston
  • Formal mentorship partnership with the private sector (PSOJ) to extend support beyond the grant stage

Where it fits

Governance type
NGO/philanthropy-led
Scale
city
Income level
upper-middle-income

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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