Emergence Fellows’ Profiles

Salah Uddin Ahmad
XayanIT
Dhaka, Bangladesh

XayanIT works with skilled but underprivileged youth interested in careers in the information and communications technologies (ICT) field. It coordinates Human Resource Development (HRD) which uses relevant ICT training, certifications, internships, R&D projects, and field work to develop students into skilled and employable individuals. XayanIT is built upon providing employment to skilled youth as entry level employees for providing its web/software products and services. In its initial phases, XayanIT is focused on creating localized educational turnkey solutions for the education sector and web design and development for domestic and international clients.

Brinda Ayer
School and Community Horticulture Enterprise
Bangalore, India

The School and Community Horticulture Enterprise aims to supplement the national mid-day meal scheme with an appropriate level of vegetable nutrition to improve overall school enrolment and child health in India. The national mid-day meal scheme which was initiated to improve school enrolment and child health has only been partially successful. Brinda’s program to provide nutritional supplements would be generated via horticulture in poly-houses (green-house) and kitchen gardens placed in selected schools. A poly-house is a naturally ventilated and low cost green house made of polyethylene sheets with roof top rainwater harvesting and drip irrigation system where crops can be grown in a controlled, pest free and scientifically monitored environment.

Audrey Codera
Youth Entrepreneurship Multi-purpose Cooperative (YEMC)
Pasig City, Philippines

YEMC is a micro-finance institution that incubates grassroots youth in setting up and maintaining their business to develop economically independent and socially aware youth entrepreneurs through microfinance leveraging on ICT for a virtual catalogue for marketing of grassroots youth and creating and sharing of research and entrepreneur guidebook. YEMC sustains itself through the minimum interest rates and processing fees charged to grassroots youth entrepreneurs.  It has a system whereby monitoring and mentorship are done frequently to ensure grassroots youth maximize their financial potential and develop community-consciousness.  It provides uncollateralized loans to sustainable business plans relying mostly on youth volunteers.

Md. Faisal Islam
Padma
Khulna, Bangladesh

Padma is social development organization in the south west region of Bangladesh that aims to provide marginalized farming communities with access to an agricultural knowledge management system to improve their livelihoods. The system would provide innovative knowledge and global best-practices to the local farmers in an understandable local language. The system would also enable the farming communities to establish better resource management, access relevant information, and market their produce. As a result, farmers at the grassroots would be able to form links with national and global expertise while emphasizing local development needs.

Chandima Jayasri
Ezybizz
Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

Ezybizz aims to provide a mobile-based solution to form an integrative supply chain management system for farmers, traders and logistical providers in Sri Lanka. Due to the lack of proper information management and dissemination, geographical dispersion, and cultural barriers, most producers in rural areas are not aware of contemporary market prices of their products. This places them at the mercy of being exploited by middlemen. By providing accurate and timely information through mobile devices in forms such as SMS, the Ezybizz system replaces the intermediaries to help generate higher margins for rural producers.

GV Krishnagopal
Network of Dynamic Labour Mart Associations (NDLMA)
Secunderabad, India

Network of Dynamic Labour Mart Associations aims to provide integrated services to ensure migrant labour in India ultimately derive secure livelihoods. It plans to organize migrant labour into associations (collectives/producer companies) which will provide services like organized contracting/sourcing of wok, build skills, smoothen the demand and supply situation, provide access to common pool of utility tools, institutionalize the remittance, savings and credit transactions for the migrant labour and provide access to basic needs, social needs and security. This will be achieved through collaborations with a range of institutions (academic, corporate, and government) using the multi-stakeholder collaborative framework and institutional arrangement.

Saurav Kumar
Community Friendly Movement
New Delhi, India

By leveraging on technology and the power of retail, CFM seeks to create wealth for its primary stakeholders-artisan communities at the bottom of the supply chain, by creating a market for quality handmade products at competitive prices. In the current retail model, products where the cost is $1 are sold to consumers at prices that range from $5 to $7. CFM will price its products for its customers at $2.5-3.5 and encourage them to use some portion of the money they save to improve artisan lives. Starting with 10 artisan communities in India and sales of USD 60,000, in 5 years time CFM strives to improve the lives of 5000 communities globally by selling up to USD 500 million of merchandise.

Marielle Punzalan Nadal
Idea!s
Muntilupa City, Philippines

Idea!s is a communications consultancy that empowers non-profits by utilizing information and communication technologies (ICT) as the most effective tool for advocacy and fundraising activities. Based in the Philippines, it organizes workshops for communicators, putting them in touch with new, cost-effective and efficient communications tools and methods, and training them on specific communications skills, particularly those related to digital campaigns. It also supports these partner communicators and their respective institutions with appropriate and cost-efficient ICT-enabled communications solutions through the aid of technical and creative expertise.

Raj Ridvan Singh
SOLS 24/7
Dili, Timor Leste

Founded in 2000 in Cambodia, SOLS 24/7 offers a comprehensive two year training and boarding program on life-skills education for youth from disadvantaged families. The curriculum is comprised of delivering academic skills (English, business & entrepreneurship), leadership & character building skills and lessons on social consciousness. The program consists of a 4 stage (6 month each) process based on a proven model in Cambodia (Formerly known as LCDI, largest non formal providers in Cambodia 22 province centers).  SOLS currently plans to scale-up its program into East Timor.