Sunday, November 14, 2010

Do you have what it takes to be part of the 2011 Sauder Africa Initiative team?

It is that time of year again, when UBC’s top students compete for a place on a project that changes the lives of African youth. Do you think you have what it takes to make the Sauder Africa Initiative team? It will change your life too.

In the Sauder Africa Initiative we believe that business is a driving force for economic growth, locally and globally. We see logic in sound business plans, ambitious marketing strategies and positive cash-flow projections over aid. We want to be successful and measure that success by how many companies we help establish, how fast our companies grow and how much economic benefit they create. In the Sauder Africa Initiative, we are social entrepreneurs... and I emphasize the word entrepreneurs. We are passionate individuals who want to help others escape poverty. Knowledge is our strategic competitive advantage and we ‘walk the talk’ by passing it on to the youth of East Africa’s largest slum, Kibera, located in Nairobi, Kenya.

Each year we select a passionate, creative, and dedicated group of students to learn about social entrepreneurship, business planning and Kenya; to spearhead our fundraising efforts; and to have the opportunity to spend the summer teaching the Kenya youth. Our work directly helps combat the extreme poverty that strikes at Kibera’s 1.2 million inhabitants, where unemployment exceeds 80%.

We set out to empower, not give out handouts. We teach financial independence and how to use your strengths and skills to your advantage. We challenge our students to be successful entrepreneurs and change agents in their own community and country. We learn about each other, about our culture, and about the challenges our Kenyan friends face. We learn about ourselves.

If you want to be one of us, be a change agent, create friendships that will last a lifetime and above all, make a difference in the life of others, we would love to meet you at our info session on November 16th at 1 pm in SCARFE 201.


Wednesday, November 10, 2010

2011 SE101 Team Recruitment - Info Session

YES YOU!!

Are you a student interested in social entrepreneurship and important issues such as fighting poverty and international development?

The Sauder Africa Initiative is entering its 6th successful year of operation and is starting to recruit its 2011 team. Applications for Sauder Africa Initiative - Kenya 2011 are now being accepted until November 25 (before midnight).

You can find the application by going to the Sauder Africa Initiative website at: http://www.africa.sauder.ubc.ca and looking at the home page under "Latest News."
SE101 is recruiting for two dedicated groups of students who want to change the lives of youth in the poorest parts of Nairobi, Kenya:

a) a Vancouver-based team who will help support the ground team through fundraising, curriculum development, mentoring, communications, and other tasks as needed;

b)a traveling team who will deliver a three-week program based in Nairobi, to help Kenyan youth develop business plans. We are opening SE101 to those of you who aren’t able to travel to Kenya because many of you have expressed a desire to contribute in some way to SE101. We encourage you to consider this opportunity to join the team. For the travelling team, the 2011 project will be held in Kenya July 28-August 19, 2011 and will be conducted in partnership with Kenyan youth organizations and Strathmore University. You can read more about the project requirements by going to http://africa.sauder.ubc.ca/SE101_Kenya_2011.html.

The Info session for SE101 will be held on Tuesday, November 16th, 1-2:30, in SCARF 201. The information session will provide an opportunity for you to learn more about this exciting project and meet some of the participants from previous years. If you have any questions about the program or the application procedure, please contact Professor Nancy Langton (nancy.langton@sauder.ubc.ca).