Today we continued with our August Webinar Series with a wonderful session on The Role of Social Entrepreneurs to build a Sustainable Future. We discussed about the reality that Social Entrepreneurs in different parts of the world have been facing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was an inspiring and thoughtful discussion that made sure to let us know that despite the great challenges that the world is facing, it is up to us to rethink what we’re doing, think outside of the box, and find opportunities in the midst of such challenging times.
You couldn’t make it to the Webinar but want to watch it?? You can check it out here!
We were joined by 5 of our amazing Yunus & Youth Fellows, get to know a little more about them and their amazing projects!
Laís: Graduated in Business Administration from University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), with a double degree at the Kedge Business School (France), Laís already had experience at Grameen Bank (Bangladesh), was ambassador of the Brazil Conference at Harvard & MIT 2016, Hansen Summer Institute Fellow 2017, Yunus & Youth Fellow 2018 and finalist for the Folha de S. Paulo 2019 Social Entrepreneur Award (Grão Trophy category). In 2015, she founded the Sao Paulo team of Litro de Luz, which brings solar lighting to communities without adequate access to electricity, and in 2016 she assumed the presidency of the organization in Brazil.
Andrea: Mexican economist and social entrepreneur, committed to eradicating gender violence and economic vulnerability that talented women face in Mexico and around the world. She works for this cause from María Josefina, a social company of which she is the founder, promoting the economic empowerment of female entrepreneurs who operate in contexts of poverty, violence and vulnerability. She firmly believes that giving women access to opportunities will contribute to building a better society, since women have an impact multiplier effect. Currently, in addition to María Josefina, she is also an advisor to social impact initiatives developed by students from the University of Monterrey.
Madhav: founder of Green the Gene, as a small environmental club in his school when he was 8 years old. Today, Green the Gene is one of the world’s largest completely youth-led environmental non-profits, with over 7,000 young volunteers and projects in 62 countries. Madhav’s work pioneers low-cost technology and data driven solutions to help local communities in environmental crises across the world. His focus on safe water accessibility has created affordable water purification devices that bring safe, usable water access to over 40,000 people. Madhav is a 2019 Diana Legacy Award Recipient, and was named Straubel Foundation Impact Leader by the Co-Founder & CTO of Tesla. His work has received extensive international recognition, including from the Prime Minister of India, World Bank, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, singer Akon, and Audi.
María del Mar: She is 28 years old, a proud Colombian woman and also a lawyer. She became a mother when she was 18 years old, in a complicated scenario, but that little baby brought with him what her vocation is today. As you can imagine, her biggest fear was presented for the first time when she knew she would be a mother. It was easy to overcome this because she had the support of her husband, her family and friends. It was because of them that she decided to create the Soy Oportunidad Foundation. Her team started making donations for mothers living in poverty in Bogotá, but over time, she understood that I would never solve the real problem through donations. Only work allows a woman to get ahead, so she decided to create a job training and life projection program focused on these women.
Omar: an Entrepreneur and activist with experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. He kicked off his career when he founded PWEMA, a start-up that provides periodic web maintenance services. He then joined Pious Technologies as Executive assistant to CEO and took lead of the external relations and company representation in over 8 countries. In 2012, he co-founded Mobi-Trip, a mobile application development and software solutions and led product and business development as CEO. He held various positions with UNHCR and USAID and focused on projects oriented towards youth and women capacity development.
We want to thank our wonderful fellows for their time and the inspiring insights they gave us on the role of Social Entrepreneurs in today’s context.
Don’t miss out on our next Webinar of our August Series! Register here !
