Young People Are Breaking Ground: From Slumdog Social Entrepreneurs to Change Makers

A year ago, Sonal Kapoor, 26, went against her family’s advice and quit her well-paying communications job. She started a school for vulnerable children in a Delhi slum, and became a social entrepreneur.

Despite with what many may think, “this is the best time to become an entrepreneur,” says Sonal, “If you are a social entrepreneur it’s even better, because you would surprise yourself on the number and quality of lives you can impact!”

Sonal has decided to take an unusual route, one that more and more people are opting for, in these times when youth unemployment is high. Even though South Asia has created about 800,000 jobs a month in the last decade, a job creation challenge is looming according to the report More and better jobs. South Asia will need to create between 1 and 1.2 million additional jobs per month in the next 20 years, to be able to tackle the transition of youth to the workforce.  

Their product? A better world! There is some impression that in the last year, due to increasing unemployment, social entrepreneurship has become a growing trend among young people.  

Subhash Ghimire of Sarswati Peace School and Sonal Kapoor of Protsahan India Foundation, who are the founders of the respective organizations, are such examples of young social entrepreneurs.

Subhash is currently working on building a peace school in Arupokhari, Gorkha Nepal. He is optimistic about the possibility of changing the face and fate of his country; he created the first peace school in a remote village in western Nepal, for students that were direct victims of the civil war. Sonal Kapoor wants to change the collective mindset about the vulnerable, disadvantaged children in Indian communities. She encourages children from red-light districts, slums and construction sites -- the children of rag-pickers and rickshaw pullers -- to empower themselves through education, and welcomes them to her school by employing innovative education methods, art and creativity.

Young social entrepreneurs like Sonal and Subha see their work as more than a job. They’re using their capacity for innovation, empathy, and change-making to create jobs, empower people, and solve social problems.

Youth social entrepreneurship provides an opportunity for young people to expand and develop qualities, which provide them with valuable life skills that will ease their transition into adulthood and benefit them throughout their adult lives.

What are the traits of a social entrepreneur? 

According to a UNICEF report, a young person who ventures into social entrepreneurship has a set unique traits and skills.  Young social entrepreneurs need to have a vision, to promote their cause, mobilize people, and create alliances. They also need to show leadership, dedication and commitment towards a social cause. In addition, it is extremely important for a social entrepreneur to be resourceful by finding ways to make the organizations sustainable, and make remarkable achievements, against any odds. Furthermore, they need to have flexibility to adapt to processes, bureaucracy, and the needs of the community. 

Young people on Facebook and Twitter tell Youthink! that work and social good can mix. While young people often have the necessary passion, determination, and desire for change, to become social entrepreneurs, they often face financing problems and other hurdles.

“The biggest challenge is that it’s really hard for us, the youth, to make people understand that we are up to something important and serious!” says Subhash Ghimire, whose Sarswati Peace School in remote Nepal educates children who have lived through conflict, “Oh, my God…”. the cynicism and negative vibes are so strong around here. Everyone wants to leave!”

Being seen as “credible” was the biggest challenge for Young People We Care (www.ypwc.org) in Ghana, says Michael Boampong. “…when start-up money was available, it came with high interest rates.”

Other problems include “unhelpful governments and lack of institutions that support young entrepreneurs,” says Jairiño De Souza Martinez from Brazil. Berthold from Tanzania adds “lack of appropriate education” and “lack of self-confidence to take the risk and seize the opportunities -- as well as the ability to endure long processes of obtaining legal recognition.”

Mohammad Aman Farahi, from Afghanistan, says social entrepreneurs must live from one grant to the next and constantly chase resources and opportunities. At the same time, developing countries do not provide support or guidance to young people who want to become entrepreneurs. Whoever takes that route “is looking at a long and lonely road.”

Adds Van-Trang Nguyen from Vietnam: “Becoming a social entrepreneur means that you will have to sacrifice some parts of your profit to social causes. We live in a money-oriented society; most of our peers chase profit (the more the better).  You may feel pretty lonely sometimes.”

Help and advice

 A leading global organization, Ashoka, provides a range of support to young social entrepreneurs – technical assistance, networking, marketing, events, and research. Before venturing into the world of entrepreneurship, young people need to develop management, fundraising, networking and planning skills. They also need an inspiring and innovative vision that will lead to getting the needed resources to make their organization sustainable. 

As a young successful entrepreneur, Sonal says her main challenge was to deal with fundraising and legal issues. She found herself in situations where her microbiology background was not enough to help her handle legal cases of sexual abuse, and child violence. The key to her success was to establish a network of people who would help her in different areas (e.g. education, legal issues).

“Also, money is always an issue, but I couldn’t let that come in the way of my dreams. We organized innovative fundraisers: comedy shows, beer meetups. I wanted to connect to youth 'their way' yet support a social cause. Moreover, I wanted things to be exciting. I organized cartoon and photography workshops, and got the youth to volunteer. Problems came and problems went.  Standing strong is the only thing that mattered. Storms will pass, they don’t remain forever, no?”

Subhash Ghimire, another thriving young entrepreneur from Nepal, shared how he overcame the challenges. “We did not want shortcuts. We were forceful and we gathered all the details, and had all the knowledge before visiting any government office. With regards to the people misunderstanding us -- we brought them in, and made them part of the project; we listened to their ideas and vigorously debated and discussed. We remain dedicated to our idea and dreams and put great effort on a daily basis. Hope is everything here!”

To see more examples of successful young social entrepreneurs, visit their video profiles: TEDx

How can a young social entrepreneur move forward?

Sonal says her ideals keep her strong: “For me, it was only a matter of making things better for my country. I went against my family; quit my corporate communications job to do this. Also, when I go back to my school and see kids’ faces; seeing kids who could have been sold in an auction at the trafficking market, now learning the A, B, Cs. No amount of money can give me that power and happiness. It’s important to know that it’s not only people like Bill Gates who can afford to become philanthropists. It’s all about youngsters like you and me too. The only thing that matters is the intent.”

Adds Ghimire: “In the end, it’s all about connecting the dots. A school for slum children in New Delhi might be able to collaborate with a peace school in Nepal. An entrepreneur from Sri Lanka can learn from a business in Bhutan and that is exactly what we need to do. Embrace differences, celebrate similarities and above all, respect each other, and maybe, just maybe, a South Asia free of poverty might not seem a dream anymore.

Photo: Anidra Hom Chaudhuri and Protsahan India Foundation