The structure and admission policy of secondary and postsecondary education in Egypt constitutes a culture of great prestige in general school and university education, as opposed to vocational school and technical education. Youth mainly from rural and underdeveloped urban areas enroll in technical education. Because of poverty, many girls and young women throughout Egypt neglect their education in order to marry early, help in the fields, gain immediate employment, or carry out domestic labor to meet family needs. Females who do enroll in schools, mainly opting for technical education, not only face gender bias in the classroom but also lack a positive attitude to support and inspire them, which limits their economic, political, and social empowerment. This article describes the Academy for Educational Development's Community YouthMapping (CYM), which has been structured to provide a solid foundation for a systemic approach to education reform. The goal of CYM is to effectively and efficiently prepare both adults and economically disadvantaged youth between the ages of thirteen and twenty for entry into unsubsidized employment or attainment of basic education or occupational skills leading to employment. Over 1500 young people (40% of them young girls from rural areas) have used CYM as a tool for training and leadership development for exposure to a variety of professions, and as a means for using creativity to provide meaningful contributions to community development, changing the perceptions of young people along the way. CYM has validated to many potential employers that young women are knowledgeable and possess the necessary skills to serve their communities effectively. (Contains 2 figures.)