Potential before labels
We see a person before a score. Assessment is a starting point for discovery, never a verdict.
Talent is not a label assigned once.
It is potential that becomes visible through experience, reflection and opportunity. YTAA brings young people, educators, universities and employers into one trusted ecosystem so that potential can be understood, developed and recognised — fairly and across borders.
Vision & Mission
Vision
A world where every young person can turn potential into purposeful choices, and where education and work recognise talent beyond credentials alone.
Mission
To make young people’s strengths visible and actionable — connecting self-understanding with learning, real-world experience, higher education and fair early-career opportunity.
- Helping young people recognise and articulate their strengths.
- Translating assessment insights into learning and career pathways.
- Connecting universities with informed, motivated prospective students.
- Helping employers engage early talent through meaningful, skills-based experiences.
- Building trusted standards, research and recommendations that recognise demonstrated potential.
Values
Evidence with empathy
Rigorous methods and transparent criteria, with respect for every young person’s story.
Agency and entrepreneurial courage
Every insight leads to a practical next step: a project, a case, a mentor, a pathway.
Access and belonging
Opportunity should not depend on postcode, income or family networks.
Partnership across systems
Lasting outcomes happen when families, educators, universities and employers share responsibility.
Integrity for long-term impact
We protect data, disclose conflicts of interest and choose long-term trust over easy claims.
History and origin
YTAA grew out of practice. Its foundational assessment tool, the Nova Polis city-building simulation, was developed and tested with school students aged 15–18, producing structured competency profiles and personal career maps. The association was founded to give this practice an institutional home: standards, ethics, research and partnerships — independent from the commercial operation of the game itself.
YTAA is based in The Hague, the Netherlands — an international hub for education and cooperation, home to Nuffic and close to the universities of the Randstad. YTAA is registered as a vereniging (association with full legal capacity) [KvK number after registration].
Governance
YTAA is governed by its board under Dutch association law, with a conflict-of-interest policy, transparent financial rules and an advisory board bringing together university, employer and youth-development expertise. Our policies are public: Standards & Ethics. The commercial game Nova Polis is operated by a separate company; YTAA uses it under a written licence, and interested founders do not vote on related-party decisions.