Here are 2 articles by Craig and Marc Kielburger. They're about jobs, charity, and helping people, solving problems, and making money:
Aug. 22, 2017 "Millennials seek more than a check": Today I found this article by Craig and Marc Kielburger in the Edmonton Journal:
As high schoolers return to guidance councillors’ questions about the future, one trend continues to dominate the workforce: the gig economy.
A growing number of young people are cobbling together contract work, side jobs and short-term employment as university degrees no longer guarantee jobs. When young people do find work, more than a quarter are underemployed.
A still-slumping economy has put mounting pressure on the job market. Despite this trend, the pressing search for young people isn’t just for a paycheque, but for meaning.
One study found that more than half of millennials would take a pay cut for a job that aligns with their personal values.
Combine this desire for meaning with the most educated, most connected and yet least financially successful generation, and you get a new cadre of entrepreneur: one who leverages traditional skills to fulfil unique social needs.
When Katherine Laliberte graduated from law school, she achieved what many in her program considered “the be-all and end-all,” she says: articling at a major firm in litigation and corporate law.
After years of expensive tuition and countless hours in the library, the 30-year-old felt external pressures from her peers to seek big returns on her big investment. But she wasn’t fighting for justice or advancing causes she cared about. She quit and started a notary business to help clients navigate the legal system, cornering the market in Toronto’s west end, while looking for a way to give back.
That quickly led to pro bono work helping transgender people change their names and get official documents to reflect their personal identity.
Helping her first trans client “live the way she wants to ... was the most rewarding part,” recalls Laliberte. “I saw how appreciated it was, even though it was a tiny gesture.”
From there, paying and nonpaying clients started streaming in as her business — and her impact — continued to thrive. She has plans to expand through subcontractors to offer pro bono services for other clients in need.
Laliberte is not alone in this growing trend.
A structural engineer from Stouffville, Ont., 39-year-old Luke Anderson left his big firm behind after a mountain biking accident confined the athlete to an assisted mobility device. He uses his engineering skills to help create a barrier-free world with the StopGap Foundation, a non-profit that installs ramps to expand accessibility in the Toronto area.
At 25, Shannon Lee Simmons took a break from the rat race as an investment manager to start the Barter Babes Project, skills sharing her financial expertise with young entrepreneurial women. Since then, she’s launched her own financial planning practice, gearing her services to young people and women.
Law school, an engineering degree and a career in financial services still hold allure for many.
But as Canada produces more professionals than ever — with fewer jobs to go around — entrepreneurs are carving their own path, finding niche jobs that solve social problems.
Just a generation ago, most workers counted down the hours to clock out of a job with little personal satisfaction. Now resourceful young people are putting their skills toward their passion, not just a paycheque.
Aug. 29, 2017 "Converting problems into profit": Today I found this article by Craig and Marc Kielburger in the Edmonton Journal:
At any given moment, across Nigeria, more than 12 million gas-powered generators are running. They churn out megatons of greenhouse gas annually, and sometimes kill entire families with their fumes.
Nigeria’s undersized energy grid barely provides enough electricity for quarter of the nation’s 190 million citizens. Even then, it’s often just a few hours of power a day. Most Nigerians rely on small, gas-powered generators in homes and small businesses. Apart from environmental and health damage, fuel is an unwelcome cost in a country where the average yearly income is just US$3,596.
Ademola Adesina saw his country’s power problem as an opportunity.
Using a pay-as-you-go leasing model, Adesina’s start-up Rensource replaces gas generators with hybrid solar-battery systems. Zero emissions, and the monthly fee is less than the upkeep of a generator.
Since launching this past February, Rensource has already installed 500 solar systems. The company plans to replace 500,000 gas generators with renewable energy over five years.
With African nations undergoing a business renaissance, Adesina represents the continent’s rising entrepreneurial class. He’s among those finding a profitable niche by taking on social and environmental challenges.
“It’s all that I see in Nigeria. The most viable and successful businesses target some sort of (social or environmental) impact,” says Adesina.
These businesses aren’t learning about corporate social responsibility after they launch.
“They’re doing it from the start because it makes the most business sense,” adds Eliot Pence, a Washington-based international investment advisor and founder of the Africa Expert Network, a collective of consultants for global companies wanting to do business in Africa.
Adesina and Pence both point to another prime example of Africa’s entrepreneurship working for social impact — Andela. This three-year-old firm has already built an international reputation for training young Nigerians, Kenyans and Ugandans in software development, then connecting participants with tech companies around the world.
The business is creating job opportunities — especially for those from low-income backgrounds — and raising local wages while stemming the brain drain of skilled professionals fleeing the continent.
Look no further than last year’s winners of the Africa Entrepreneurship Awards to see more.
Mahmud Johnson founded a zero-waste palm fruit processing facility that uses every part of the palm plant to produce consumer goods, from cakes to skin care products.
A valuable resource in his home country, Liberia, the business has increased incomes for small-scale palm farmers by 200 per cent.
Jennifer Shigoli, from Tanzania, won recognition for Elea, a company producing affordable and reusable sanitary pads. One in ten girls in sub-Saharan Africa skip school during their periods because they cannot afford expensive disposable pads.
In Morocco, award winner Abdeladim Moumen invented a “molecular diagnostic kit” that allows rural clinics to quickly and inexpensively spot health issues like breast cancer and Hepatitis C.
His new company Moldiag began producing kits this year, to sell across Africa.
African entrepreneurs have found their niche solving social problems for considerable profit, and to the benefit of their communities and their countries. This is the future of business.
Entrepreneurs around in Canada — and around the world — should take note, or risk being left behind.
http://www.canada.com/global+voices+entrepreneurs+tackle+challenges+africa/14427701/story.html
http://www.canada.com/global+voices+entrepreneurs+tackle+challenges+africa/14427701/story.html
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