Post originally written by Reeta Roy and published on Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Opinion Blog.
Last week in Kenya, I had a glimpse into the future. It is a space that integrates outsourcing demands, IT skills, entrepreneurship, and the formal economy with employment opportunities for the poor, particularly women and youth.
Welcome to the world of micro-work. I was visiting a Samasource training center in Nairobi. Samasource is a social enterprise with a mission to provide productive and dignified computer-based work to women, youth, and refugees living in poverty.
 Samasource trainee in rural Kenya Its model works like this: Samasource acts as an outsourcing agent that focuses on data services such as image tagging and audio or video transcription. Upon receiving a work order from a client, Samasource breaks down the project into micro tasks and then directs these tasks electronically to partners in countries such as Kenya, Haiti and Pakistan where poverty levels are high. There, trained workers complete these tasks. Samasource provides quality assurance before the final product is delivered to the client.
Samasource screens its partners—local non-profits or small companies—who employ marginalized women and youth. Partners must fulfill social impact criteria such as paying workers a living wage. They also need to reinvest profits in their businesses, demonstrate the capacity to run a computer lab, and ensure quality work. Samasource also trains workers at partner sites to ensure proficiency in key skills.
This model seeks to tap into the global outsourcing market, now estimated to be over $500 billion. Services such as data entry take up approximately $40 billion of this market annually. As the world digitizes content and as the Internet expands daily, millions of bits of information need to be reviewed, checked, and archived to ensure accuracy and quality. Basic tasks such as verifying business listings, video captioning, and translation must be completed.
Micro-work is changing the face of global outsourcing. Work can be distributed anywhere in the world and completed any time. What is needed is a skilled workforce, an internet connection and a low-cost computing device. Technology and web applications have become sophisticated enough to break down work into micro-units and facilitate the outsourcing to a dispersed labor force. Such virtual or digital work could have significant opportunities for job creation for young people as well as for integrating them into the formal economy.
This is especially promising in countries like Kenya and Rwanda that are positioning themselves as regional outsourcing hubs, and where youth unemployment is typically three times that of adult unemployment rates.
We need new ideas and models in digital work that can be scaled to meet global outsourcing demands. And, that can reach the vast pool of talented youth in developing countries who are searching for employment opportunities.
Kenyatta University, Nairobi.
“How did you cope with challenges in your life?” “What are some tips for achieving a successful career?” “What are The MasterCard Foundation’s future plans?” “Will you help us attend university if we graduate from secondary school?” “And, why isn’t the foundation website more informative, like Wikipedia?”
These were some of the questions posed by a smart, inquisitive and enthusiastic group of Kenyan secondary school students — nearly 800 of them to be precise — with whom I met today. Some of them are supported through our foundation’s secondary education partnership with the Equity Group Foundation. This national initiative gives economically marginalized and bright students the opportunity to complete their secondary education.
Over the past two weeks, we convened these young people for a leadership development conference themed “Managing My Future.” They’ve been busy learning and discussing life skills — from effective time management and studying habits to managing pocket money and HIV/AIDS. They spent the week engaging with leaders in business, academia and public life. Most importantly, they have been spending time with their mentors, who are secondary school graduates now completing internships at Equity Bank before attending university.
The students asked me to share my story and leadership journey with them. But, it was their journeys over the past six months that intrigued me.
When I first met them at the beginning of 2010, these adolescents had just been selected for the secondary education program. Most are orphans and come from impoverished families. They were shy, reserved and made no eye contact in our conversations.
The young people I met today exuded confidence, focus and determination. Katherine and David from Migori walked up to me with huge smiles and hugs. In a short time, these young people have journeyed from a state of not knowing whether they would be able eat that day to already planning for university. We talked about school life, making new friends, studying and exams.
I left with a stack of handwritten notes from these students filled with dreams and some requests. And, with questions and ideas for our foundation to consider, as we explore how we can help many, many more young people develop their potential.
Post originally written by Reeta Roy and published on Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Opinion Blog.
Today, the United Nations is launching the International Year of Youth to celebrate the energy, imagination and participation of youth in overcoming global challenges. This celebration is about the vibrant ideas of young people around the world and their enthusiasm for putting these ideas into action.
President Obama’s recent Young African Leaders Forum highlighted several innovators – Ariane Inkesha from Rwanda, who is strengthening the role of women in peace-building; Donald Kalokoh from Sierra Leone, who is creating jobs for women and youth; Jalia Nabukalu from Uganda, who is helping women who sell textiles acquire the financial skills to grow their businesses, to name a few. These young leaders are realistic. They are aware of the challenges that their countries face and they continue to push forward with possible solutions
We know that young people have an uninhibited ability to visualize change. Their ideas are often creative, dynamic, and bold. What would happen if these ideas were actually implemented and scaled-up? Would we see an increase in new jobs, economic growth, and social stability, as well as a more equitable society? It’s hard to predict, but there is an untapped potential in youth that may be a valuable resource for all of us. Their ideas could greatly expand our knowledge about creating jobs, addressing poverty and building strong communities.
All ideas require cultivation and tools to take root. This is why our Foundation collaborates with partners that help young leaders and entrepreneurs realize their potential and transform their ideas into enterprises. The African Leadership Academy models this type of initiative effectively. It provides young people with access to skills, mentors, and networks. It also develops the ingrained entrepreneurial spirit of its students by encouraging them to link their ideas to Africa’s challenges and development priorities. The result? A confident, capable and passionate group of young leaders committed to transforming Africa.
This year’s celebration of youth should be a call to action. Let’s listen. Let’s partner with young people to turn their ideas into tangible actions. And finally, let’s embed these ideas and youth-led initiatives within our communities. Why not let youth lay down the foundation for their future?
I would love to hear from young people on this forum. What are your ideas? How are you putting your ideas into action?
Post originally written by Reeta Roy and published on Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Opinion Blog.
UNESCO’s 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report is sobering, particularly when it comes to statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Almost half of the global, out-of-school population is in this region and more than half of them are girls.
Education plays a pivotal role in building human capital and increasing productivity of the economy. In particular, secondary education is the pathway to higher learning or the workforce.
Yet, the reality is that Africa is failing to meet the demand for secondary education, which is fueled by the region’s rising youth population. Already, governments are allocating a significant portion of their budgets towards education, but it has not translated into results.
According to the World Bank, African countries spend close to 18 percent of their budgets on education. Yet, less than 34 percent of African youth attend secondary school—the lowest level in the world—and less than 5 percent enter higher education. Without change, a growing percentage of the future workforce will be limited, at best, to a primary-level education. This would hold Africa back.
There’s an urgency to find practical solutions to this perplexing challenge. How do we create a productive link between investment in education and economic growth? How do we improve efficiency in mobilizing and utilizing funds to deliver higher levels of secondary education attainment? Are scholarships and bursary programs sufficient to enable as many young people as possible to continue their education?
Perhaps, there is a need for more direct paths between the allocation of money to education and the actual payments to schools. One of our partners in Kenya, Equity Group Foundation, disburses funds directly to schools and into the hands of students. Their model is just one example of how transparent financing ensures targeted solutions for maximum impact.
What other innovations will enable broader access to education? Our Foundation is seeking fresh approaches to ensure African youth are not left behind. I invite you to share your ideas and experiences.
It’s past midnight on my last evening here in Haiti. As my experience here comes to an end, just four days after it began, I wish I had some sense of resolution to reflect upon. However, such resolve or clarity is not what I am leaving this country with, nor did I really expect that I would.
Yesterday was when I truly experienced Haiti. My day began at 9:00am, when I joined colleagues and my local and international NGO hosts, IDEJEN and YouthBuild International, to embark upon a packed itinerary of field visits. We were off to see sites where IDEJEN and YouthBuild International had partnered to provide out-of-school youth with basic education, life skills and training in construction – all skills that youth applied to build tangible community assets. Since the quake, these community construction projects have aligned directly with the need to build homes and schools.
 IDEJEN youth converting quake-proof containers into school classrooms. Our first stop was Leogane. Here we saw IDEJEN youth converting quake-proof containers into school classrooms. It was inspiring to see young women and men working with such professionalism and purpose. There was a clear sense of pride displayed by these youth as they showed us their metalwork techniques, flawless paint jobs, and completed projects. I was excited about this great interim solution to the loss of so many schools (over 80% in quake-affected areas). But at the same time, I was delicately reminded that a more long-term solution was needed.
 Leogane was the epicenter of the earthquake and it is not uncommon to see only one home left standing on a street. Leogane was the epicenter of the earthquake, something that became very apparent on our way out of the town. The car drew silent as we all tried our best to wrap our heads around what we were seeing outside our windows. In this region, it is not uncommon to see only one home left standing on a street – entire landscapes covered by tents; and, children whose physical scars would never allow them to forget what happened here. After visiting such a promising demonstration of rebuilding, it was sobering to see how great the need really was.
A couple of hours ago, I was interviewed by a young Haitian, living in Toronto but in Haiti doing a documentary about post-quake life. I quizzed him more than he did, trying my best to get a textured understanding of local realities, which has been hard given the language barrier. He told me of entire lives and livelihoods transformed in a matter of minutes, and the psychological trauma of losing the people and places that once oriented your entire life. But he also spoke of the countless stories of survival and resilience in the face of unimaginable destruction. He too believes that the present and future of this country relied upon its young people.
I have seen a story of hope and rebuilding, and this is still what I will hold on to. But rebuilding Haiti is not as simple as building houses. Concrete does not make a community and so reconstruction in Haiti will need to integrate social, political and economic components in order to bring about sustainable change. There is a need for leadership, commitment and a coordinated response – with local organizations and young people behind the steering wheel of this response. I will leave Haiti remembering a number of remarkable people here who believe this and are putting these principles to action – even if it is one small project at a time.
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