DOT | Digital Opportunity Trust

For Global Entrepreneurship Week 2017, three #DOTYouth hosted Facebook Live video chats about their experiences as entrepreneurs, social innovators, and changemakers. They shared their entrepreneurship journey, what inspires them, and advice for other young social innovators and entrepreneurs.

If you missed the Facebook Live events, you can check out the videos below!

Shadrack Kamenya, Tanzania

“I’m part of something bigger than myself. This is what keeps me going.

Shadrack Kamenya is a social entrepreneur and founder of Jamvi, a financial technology company that seeks to bridge the gap between farmers and financing. Jamvi provides a platform that matches farmers to micro-investors through mobile. Jamvi also helps farmers generate alternative credit portfolios and connects them with insurance and financial service providers. Prior to founding Jamvi, Shadrack co-founded Youth Alive Africa, an initiative that provides youth with entrepreneurial and leadership skills.

Ruth Kaveke, Kenya

“I always brand myself as a social entrepreneur on social media because I want to present myself as someone who empowers women.

Ruth Kaveke is the co-founder of Pwani Teknowgalz, a community-based organization driven by the passion to inspire the next generation of girls to venture into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Ruth’s initiative is based in Mombasa, Kenya and is focused on inspiring girls in primary and secondary school through workshops and training sessions where they learn about web and mobile applications and coding. Ruth also trains young women in IT skills that will help them to gain employment. Pwani Teknowgalz has co-hosted Africa Code Week and the Mozilla Global Sprint. This year, Ruth participated in a 5-week mentorship fellowship in California hosted by TechWomen, as well as the eSkills4Girls program in Rwanda.

Charbel Trad, Lebanon

“Failure has helped me more than I could ever imagine.

Charbel Trad developed an affinity for entrepreneurship at an early age. Coming from a background in software development, he had a knack for spotting problems in his environment and creating socially-oriented solutions for each of them. Today Charbel is working on a project called Building Opportunities Today (BOT), developed with the support of DOT Lebanon, UNICEF Lebanon, and the Embassy of the Netherlands Lebanon. BOT is a socially responsible outsourcing platform, offering digital opportunities to Syrian and Palestinian refugees as well economically marginalized Lebanese women and youth in Lebanon.