WE SEE YOU

WE SEE YOU
Today's Youth & Tomorrow's Future
Exclusive Interview with Ivolaine de Nobrega
Featured in 'Innerviews'
Hosted by Allié McGuire

Ivolaine de Nobrega knows that the greatest untapped resource in our society is not funding or technology, but the potential of young people who were never given a fair starting line. At StreetPro, she stands beside them as they rise, speak, and shape systems that once shut them out. This conversation explores the heart, the hurdles, and the hope behind a mission determined to change the future by empowering those who will inherit it.

ALLIÉ: When you look back at the moment StreetPro shifted from being an idea to becoming a true calling, what was happening in your life that made you feel compelled to build something that didn’t yet exist, but clearly needed to?

IVOLAINE: It was my eldest son. As a mother, you see the talents and capabilities of your own child. But the school had a completely different view of him than I did. They simply said, “These are his test results. That’s it.” So I told them, “Then I’m going to test him again.” And when those results came back, they were completely different from what the school had concluded. The results showed that he was capable of higher education. And I thought, Okay.

​But it wasn’t just my son. His friends were always at our house. I’ve always believed that if you know who your children spend time with, you understand the environment they’re in. And I started to see that these kids had so much talent, yet they were placed in educational levels that didn’t fit them.

That year, we saw a significant number of students dropping out of school. I kept asking myself, How is this possible? So we started researching. What we found was that many kids drop out because they choose an education or a school that doesn’t fit their needs. Others are dealing with challenges that make it difficult to attend school at all, or they simply don’t have the right mindset yet.

So I asked myself, What can I do? And that’s when StreetPro was born. StreetPro stands for “street professionals.” It’s built on the belief that everyone, you, me, every child, has a unique talent. The goal is to discover that talent. What are you passionate about? What lights you up? What makes you want to keep going?

Once that becomes clear, the next step is finding an education, a school, or a training path that aligns with that passion. Because when you’re doing something that excites you, the chance of dropping out becomes much smaller. That’s the foundation of StreetPro.

​ALLIÉ: I love that it’s rooted in individual passion. Because when you’re on a path that isn’t aligned with who you are, it’s so easy to fall off. There’s no excitement pulling you forward.

IVOLAINE: Exactly. Sometimes we do what our parents want us to do because we’re trying to fulfill their dreams. Or we follow our friends because they’re going in a certain direction. But many kids don’t really know themselves yet. They don’t yet have the ability to see what’s next. That’s why they need guidance. We need to walk with them through that process.

ALLIÉ: Absolutely. I love so many of the words you’ve shared with me and with others. One thing you’ve said that really stayed with me is that inequality of opportunity threatens the fabric of our diverse society. I love that, and I believe it deeply.

Can you share a moment, maybe with one young person, when that truth felt painfully real and impossible to ignore?

IVOLAINE: Oh, there are so many stories, Allié. So many. For a lot of kids, for a lot of people, their chances are tied to where their crib is. That’s the reality. We need to provide equal opportunities to our children from a very young age.

The kids who come to StreetPro, the majority of them are dealing with issues. Social issues, legal and justice issues, many different challenges. What we do is give them the tools to fix it. Because once they have those tools and they do the work themselves, it becomes theirs. It’s not someone else doing it for them. We educate. That’s what we do.

ALLIÉ: And I love how you say that. We give them the tools to fix it. Because I think there are so many young people, and people in general, who feel so broken that they stop. They give up. They say, “Forget it.” But when people realize there are tools, that there is a way to fix things, they understand they don’t have to stay broken.

IVOLAINE: You see, over the years our society has become a consumption society. Status has become very important. How you look, what you wear, that defines your status. A lot of young people today believe they need to make fast money, but they don’t want to do much for it. They’ve been influenced by social media and what it shows them. Status is what they believe makes them count.

But that’s not true. We were brought up differently. Now it’s about what you have, what you spend, what car you drive, what clothes you wear. That’s what defines you. And that’s a problem.

​Our society also demands so much from parents. Many of the kids who come to us have parents working two or three jobs just to get by. Because of that, the attention given at home is less. Everything is getting more expensive. There’s constant pressure. And all of that takes away time and attention from family and children.

So what happens is that the streets, or social media, become the secondary educator. And that’s something we all need to take seriously.

ALLIÉ: We were talking a moment ago about systems. And the systems that serve us today don’t serve us the way they used to. Because, to your point, we have changed. So much has changed. As you were just saying, over the past decade we have changed, our kids have changed, but the system has not.

So Street Pro, it seems, really challenges these systems that are no longer designed with this generation in mind. That leads me to my next question. What have you learned from young people today that the systems of yesterday still struggle to understand? Is there one lesson where you think, “Ah… systems, you really got this one wrong”?

IVOLAINE: The educational system is one of them. A lot of the time, it no longer fits. We still have these traditional ideas of “you need to learn this, you need to learn that,” but when you look at the AI world that is coming, our studies and our world are changing so fast. The news, everything, all the trends, they come at us faster and faster.

As parents, this is very difficult, because our kids are challenging us. They have so much more knowledge coming to them more quickly than it comes to us as parents. We are simply not as educated in social media or the internet as they are. What happens is that this creates a gap between parent and child.

Can you imagine a child telling their parent, “Yes, but you’re wrong”? The parent thinks, “Who is educating you? How do you know this? You need to listen to me.” And yet, the child is challenging us because they are learning in other ways, through other possibilities. ​So we, as parents, also need to allow them to educate us. That is a very important point. It keeps communication open. And if we keep those lines of communication open, we can keep them with us. We don’t lose them to other influences.

​ALLIÉ: I think that's a great point because there are so many influences. There used to be a few different references of influences in a young person's life. But now there's a whole flood of all these different sources of influence.

Right. And so as you just suggested, how important it is for us to keep the communication open for us instead of, well, no, I'm right, that's wrong. Well, tell me about that. I'd like to know about that. You know, in that way, we can understand where they're coming from. So we can meet them where they're at. And to your point, we need that bond. We need to stay connected somehow. 

IVOLAINE: Connected we stay close to our kids. If we don't, we lose those connections, and we don't know where they end up. Listen, the streets out there are a threat here in the Netherlands but I believe everywhere in the world you know if you look at the crime rates that the ages are getting younger and younger. We as elders need to make sure that our kids get a perspective… a future perspective.

ALLIÉ: The work that you do, Ivolaine, means carrying many stories that are not your own, but have shaped you nonetheless. So the question now is, what story from the youth that you serve has stayed with you in a way that has changed you? 

IVOLAINE: This work changed me in the sense that I no longer judge. So often, we don’t really know people. We see something happen and immediately make assumptions, that it’s a bad mother, or this or that, without knowing the full story.

I work with many young kids, and I sometimes call them “Robin Hoods.” One story that really stayed with me was a boy who was just 15 years old. His mother had four other children, all girls. He was the only boy, and his father was not in the picture. He was caught stealing shoes, and because of that, he entered the system. And once you’re in the system, that’s a dangerous place to be.

At the time, I didn’t understand it. This was early on, when I had just started doing this work. I remember thinking, Why would he do this?

But then I learned his story. As the only boy, he watched his mother work two jobs. She left in the morning, came home around five, stayed for two hours, and then left again for the night shift. His shoes were broken, but he didn’t want to burden her. So he went out and stole new shoes. That was his only reason. He was trying to protect his mother.

I went to their house. There were two chairs, mattresses on the floor, and five people sleeping there. The social worker was with me. His mother was asleep when we arrived, exhausted. And the social worker said, almost judgmentally, “She’s asleep. She should be taking care of her kids.”

I looked at her and said, “I think she’s depressed.” She’s depressed because she’s working herself to the bone just to put food on the table. Her house has nothing in it. She’s worried about her children. I would be depressed too.

From that moment on, I started looking at people differently. Because everybody has a story. Everybody. And not judging is one of the most important things we can do. We need to hear the stories. Over the years, we’ve worked with more than a thousand, nearly two thousand young people. And what we see again and again is that the system has failed them. Children come into this world needing guidance into adulthood. And when that guidance isn’t there, when we fail them, how can we expect them to guide themselves? Those are the things that have stayed with me.

​ALLIÉ: What is the most important work StreetPro is doing right now that urgently needs support? And what could that support make possible for the young people you serve?

IVOLAINE: What we’re doing right now is very critical. At this moment, I have around 75 young people at StreetPro who would otherwise drop out of school. And if they don’t come to us, they end up on the streets.

They come to us through a program called the School Academy. They stay with us for eight weeks or longer. During that time, we give them what I like to call an “ego trip.” It’s about helping them discover who they are, what they love, what their passion is. From there, we walk with them and guide them back into an education or school path that truly fits them. This work matters not just for these young people, but for society as a whole. Of course, there are challenges. We’ve seen budget cuts everywhere, all over the world. Because of that, we are very dependent on support from people who truly understand what we’re doing and why it matters. The children we support today are the future of tomorrow. If we can have a positive influence on them now, we are actively creating a positive future.

ALLIÉ: I love how you described that. You help them first take this “ego trip,” to find themselves before they’re asked to find their way. How can we expect young people to know where they’re going if they don’t yet know who they are?

What you’re doing is different from the systems that exist today. And so I want to ask you one final question. If you could speak directly to the next generation, to young people who feel unseen, underestimated, or mislabeled by the world, what would you want them to know about their power and their place in shaping what comes next?

IVOLAINE: There are a few things I want them to know. First, if you’re facing challenges or problems, start by changing yourself. When you change, the problem begins to change too. Second, don’t stress if you don’t yet have a clear goal or if your future feels uncertain. Clarity comes with time. Trust the process. With every year, with more life experience, your direction becomes clearer.

Don’t expect that what you learn today will last a lifetime. Learning is lifelong. We see you. You will meet people in your life who see you too, people who will help guide you to the next step. But it’s important that you’re also able to take those steps yourself.

ALLIÉ: I think that’s a powerful message, not just for our youth, but for all of us.

IVOLAINE: It is. ∎

Learn more about StreetPro:
​www.streetpro.nl