2013 Buckminster Fuller Challenge

The 2013 Buckminster Fuller Challenge is providing grants of up to $100,000 to find a solution that has significant potential to solve one of humanity’s most pressing problems.

This prize program is a call to the world’s artists, scientists, designers, architects, engineers, students, and entrepreneurs committed to playing a transformative role in addressing the biggest issues we face today.

Named “socially-responsible design’s highest award” by Metropolis Magazine, The Buckminster Fuller Challenge program has attracted and awarded bold, visionary, and tangible solutions to the world’s most complex problems. Answering Buckminster Fuller’s call for a design science revolution to make the world work for all, Challenge winners exemplify the kind of breakthrough approach urgently needed to solve humanity’s most vexing challenges.

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Youth Unemployment and the emergence of the discouraged job seeker

Young people remain particularly stricken by the global financial crisis. Currently, some 73.8 million young people are unemployed globally and the slowdown in economic activity is likely to push another half million into unemployment by 2014.

The youth unemployment rate – which had already increased to 12.6% in 2012 – is expected to increase to 12.9% by 2017. The crisis has dramatically diminished the labour market prospects for young people, and many experience long-term unemployment right from the start of their labour market entry, a situation that was never observed during previous cyclical downturns.

Currently, some 35% of all young unemployed have been out of a job for six months or longer in advanced economies. As a consequence, an increasing number of young people have become discouraged and have left the labour market. Long spells of unemployment and discouragement early on in a person’s career also damages their long-term prospects, as professional and social skills erode and valuable on-the-job experience is not built up.

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Round up of what’s new on Yipe!

Business Startup

How to Go about Setting up Your Small Business
For someone starting out in business, success is the ultimate goal. Many people have the desire to work for themselves or run a small business but often it’s knowing where to start that means people fall at the first hurdle.

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Events

Kenya’s National Youth Summit set to kick off a new era in youth development
Kenya’s National Youth Summit 2013 set to kick off from January 31st to February 1st 2013 will bring together 2,000 young leaders from across the country’s 47 counties to inspire pride, patriotism and social cohesion among the young people.

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Awards:

Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship 2014
The Skoll Foundation provides Skoll Awards every year to select few social entrepreneurs whose proven innovations have demonstrated impact on some of the world’s most pressing problems. The Skoll Award recognizes organizations with the potential to not only be individually successful, but also to catalyze large-scale, system-level change.

Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship 2014

The Skoll Foundation provides Skoll Awards every year to a select few social entrepreneurs whose proven innovations have demonstrated impact on some of the world’s most pressing problems. The Skoll Award recognizes organizations with the potential to not only be individually successful, but also to catalyze large-scale, system-level change.

Read more on the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship

Do you know that January 2013 is a good time to …

Happy New Year … Do you know that January 2013 is a good time to …

Brush up your skills …

Distance Learning Program on Islamic Microfinance
Islamic Microfinance is an emerging market in the Microfinance sector, and there is an immediate need to educate, train and capacity build on this subject. The AlHuda Centre of Excellence in Islamic Microfinance is offering a distance learning certificate program on Islamic Microfinance.

Clean up your act  …

Keeping records for your business
There’s a saying that goes: what doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done. Running a successful business means keeping accurate and timely financial information. A good record keeping system also gives you the information you need to make better decisions.

Update your market research …

How to find out if your product fits the market
The concept of product-market fit is emerging as an important criteria for entrepreneurs when assessing the viability of starting a business. Not all ideas make for profitable business and its vital to ask before you start just how critical your product or service will be to prospective customers.

Hire someone new …

Employment contract template
An employment contract is an agreement that spells out the roles and responsibilities of the Employer and Employee.

And get inspired! …

Dhamira Moja Youth Group
The Dhamo idea is an African-born global grassroots movement connecting the privileged young (and young at heart) to issues of poverty in Africa and providing them with a framework for action.

Keeping records for your business

There’s a saying that goes: what doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done. Running a successful business entails keeping accurate and timely financial information in order to assess growth. A good record keeping system also provides you with the information you need to evaluate the consequences of your financial decisions.

A business owner engages in various activities whereby money flows through their business. Essentially, there is money coming into the business (income) and money going out of the business (expenses). These money flows are called transactions.

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How to find out if your product fits the market

The concept of product-market fit is emerging as an important criteria for entrepreneurs when assessing the viability of starting a business. Not all ideas make for profitable business and its vital to ask before you start just how critical your product or service will be to your prospective consumers daily lives. Essentially once consumers start using your product, how painful will it be for them in the event that for some reason it is no longer available?

At this stage it’s also wise to assess the competitive landscape and ask the same questions about usage for current market substitutes.

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Employment contract template

Today’s business tool is an template for an employment contract

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Dhamira Moja Youth Group social enterprise profile

Dhamira Moja Youth Group (DHAMO) is a community based organization founded on the principal of empowering young adults who lack skills and have little or no formal education in Kenya’s Busia County.

The Dhamo idea is an African-born global grassroots movement connecting the privileged young (and young at heart) to issues of poverty in Africa and providing them with a framework for action. Anyika Khaimba, the Executive Director was kind enough to answer a few of our questions regarding Dhamira Moja.

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“Stimulating Change From Below” Strategy: Social Justice | Call for Proposals

“Stimulating Change From Below” Strategy: Social Justice | Call for Proposals | Yipe!.