In the close-knit culture of Sweden, corporate hiring operates on networking, personal relationships, and references. To a large degree, immigrant communities do not have access to these resources. Sofia Appelgren has launched a program that matches the most dynamic and entrepreneurial young women with Swedish entrepreneurs and corporate leaders.

Sofia is tapping the most driven of immigrant girls in Sweden to launch them into the labor market. She seeks out those immigrant girls with “true will” and ambition and enrolls them in a for-profit program called Mitt Liv (My Life). Mitt Liv partners with traditional companies to build mentor relationships between these girls and company employees. Overturning the structure of traditional mentorship models,

Mitt Liv is structured as a mutually beneficial mentorship model where girls are not “victims” to be helped, but rather contributing partners on an equal footing, providing insight and education to company employees as experts.

Problem

In the close-knit culture of Sweden, corporate hiring operates on networking, personal relationships, and references. To a large degree, immigrant communities do not have access to these resources.