Partnering for Vocation and Engagement

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Partnering for Vocation and Engagement

United States
Organization type: 
hybrid
Project Stage:
Idea
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

My idea is to start an online vocational training/civic engagement match program with multinational corporations (MNCs), universities, and university students as partners. MNCs benefit from fresh and cost-effective knowledge, universities offer unique opportunities to their students, and students win most through building practical skill-sets by hands-on experience on projects with social impact.

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

I'm trying to solve the problem of inadequate educational training in emerging markets due to a lack of private sector engagement.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

My idea is to start a vocational training/civic engagement program with multinational corporations (MNCs), universities, and university students as partners. My idea involves providing a portal for MNCs to be connected with university students in emerging markets (such as Mexico) to have the students engage in project-based learning. The students would engage in projects that could range from product development to country-specific consulting projects (e.g. market research) in order to provide professional development opportunities, in addition to offering the students academic credit through their univeristies. Eligible projects that MNCs could propose would be ones designed with a social impact in mind. These projects would be the catalyst for students to employed at local subsidiaries of the MNCs, or serve to strengthen the employability of the students in general.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

Primary activities would be connecting universities and students through an online portal where both interested students and interested MNCS could post their desire to work on projects. One of the benefits of using an online solution is that MNCs can receive country-specific knowledge of the same project is worked on in two countries, say Mexico and Tanzania. The online platform would also provide a space through which students share updates on their progress with the company (it would look like an online project-management tool). Furthermore, the online solution would include a blog or Twitter that the companies could use for their CSR activities.
Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

Many MNCs and their CSR departments have taken it upon themselves to identify international opportunities such as this one. Many American universities might be partnering with MNCs to offer something like this in the States, though there is no search or matching platform for companies to offer such vocational training in developing countries.
About You
Organization:
Ashoka
About You
First Name

Manny

Last Name

Peralta

About Your Organization
Organization Name

Ashoka

Country where this project is creating social impact