Kimmie Weeks founded Youth Action International, Inc. (YAI) in 2005 while in exile in the United States. The organization works in African countries to empower young people by providing them technical, vocational skills and microloans to start up their businesses.

Kimmie established the organization while he was a freshman student at Amherst College.   Since its establishment, YAI has executed projects in  Burundi, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.   These projects have benefited more than 200,000 people.