Pearl Pillay's journey in youth development

YOUNG AND UNSTOPPABLE

- NADIA KHAN

AT 33-YEARS-OLD, Pearl Pillay is redefining youth leadership and advocacy in South Africa.

Pillay, who hails from Chatsworth in Durban, has been at the forefront of youth upliftment for the past 12 years.

Pillay, who resides in Johannesburg, holds various positions including the managing director of Youth Lab, a youth development organisation; a board member of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA); and the national planning commissioner responsible for youth in the National Planning Commission. She is also a board member for the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa.

Pillay said her journey into youth and community upliftment started as a young girl.

“While I was still in primary school I volunteered at the Chatsworth Nelson Mandela Community Youth Centre, which was opened three years after the deaths of several children at a night-club, Throb, in 2000. I worked closely with Clive Pillay, who is the volunteer programmes co-ordinator at the youth centre. He was also an inspiration to me and many others because of his selflessness and he was always willing to help us grow. He didn’t just see us as ‘children acting like grown-ups’. He saw potential in all of us.

“There was a group of us who assisted him with designing and organising programmes. We did many programmes around drug and alcohol abuse, as well as literacy, the environment and climate change. In addition, we were involved in feeding programmes in the community and hamper drives for school children.