Konexio

Elevate prize provides the right resources to further my goal of breaking structural barriers of digital exclusion and reversing cyclical vulnerability for excluded people. I founded NGO Konexio in 2016 to upskill vulnerable people, particularly refugees and unemployed youth. My Fulbright research showed that the digital divide was accelerating, leaving behind society’s most vulnerable, who suffer up to 3x unemployment compared to average, a magnitude that will grow as the professional world continues to digitize. Elevate’s funding will replicate a pilot digital livelihoods training program from Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi to Kakuma Camp in Kenya, home to 197K refugees and where two thirds are unemployed, closing the digital employment gap and unlocking new labor pools for booming job types. The initial investment will catalyze systems change for years to come. Elevate’s amplification benefits are also significant, and would help Konexio increase visibility of digital divide issues, which have traditionally focused on access to hardware. Skills training must be implemented alongside hardware solutions in order for them to work. Amplification, along with Elevate’s connections, will build a network of partners invested in digital skills training, with whom Konexio can collaborate, an integral part of Konexio’s lean scaling model. 

I immigrated from China to the US at age five. My single mother struggled to build a new life for us, but her resilience taught me scrappiness in pursuing goals. I had the opportunity through teachers and my mother to succeed, and I have a deep personal conviction that all people deserve a fighting chance. That’s why I founded Konexio: though talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not. Konexio provides pathways to opportunity for those who otherwise wouldn’t have it. As a Fulbright scholar, I researched health outcomes in "priority neighborhoods" in France, which have dense refugee populations and youth unemployment as high as 30%. I wanted to take immediate steps to break the structural inequalities that limit opportunities for those I worked with. Responding to the unmet employer need for digitally skilled talent, I organized workshops to teach employable digital skills, and Konexio was born. Since then we've trained 1400+ students, involved 300+ partners, and developed initiatives to reach the most vulnerable in the developing world. By 2023, we aim to train 10,000 students, increase access to opportunity by doubling our program locations in areas of highest need, and expand our partner network, especially to facilitate impact sourcing.

The problem Konexio addresses is systemic exclusion of vulnerable people, especially refugees and unemployed youth, from stable, high-growth jobs due to lack of digital skills, preventing them from establishing themselves and contributing to society. Globally, just 20% of 40M+ adult refugees are employed, and 180M youth ages 15-24 (15% of the total) are not in education, training, or employment (NEET). 

Konexio currently works in France and Malawi, with plans to scale to Kenya this year. France has 6M+ immigrants and refugees, and 17% youth unemployment. Dzaleka, Malawi hosts 41,000 refugees, and Kakuma, Kenya, hosts 190,000 refugees and 100,000 local youth, both with 50%+ unemployment.

Konexio gives vulnerable people opportunities to align their skills with the job market. McKinsey projects that all jobs globally will require digital skills by 2025, yet less than half of adults now are digitally literate. This presents a business case for upskilling the most vulnerable. 

Konexio trains vulnerable people from their very first engagement with digital technology and takes them all the way to a job. Course offerings range from basic digital literacy to online freelancing to web development bootcamps. Konexio teaches soft skills to set learners up for workplace integration. Finally, Konexio facilitates job placement.

Konexio’s program is unique in that it (1)starts with no prerequisites and is accessible to the most vulnerable refugees, those with no digital skills, who cannot access other opportunities. Konexio creates multiple pathways for these individuals: whether their goal is to land a job quickly or invest more time into a high-tech career, Konexio gives them the tools to start and facilitates their first professional experiences. The proprietary curriculum is adapted to address the specific vulnerabilities of displaced people, with modules emphasizing soft skills, professional language, entrepreneurship. (2)Konexio facilitates access to jobs through  its 300+ non-exclusive partnerships with corporate, non-profit, governmental, and institutional organizations, offering privileged access to job listings, work placement, and networking. This multi-sectoral approach increases Konexio’s impact potential. In contrast to current impact sourcing models, Konexio puts students in contact with a wide range of employers, increasing their prospects and giving them more opportunity to pursue the path of their choice. This also facilitates a higher degree of self-reliance, as students learn to independently navigate the professional world. (3)Finally, Konexio’s model is unique in leveraging a “train-the-trainer” approach. Konexio’s train-the-trainer model is fast, cost-efficient, and effective, and can support the most vulnerable at scale. 

Konexio achieves impact through adapted training programs and aggressive scaling. Konexio’s training programs are effective because they provide pathways to jobs through a broad partner network and because they are adapted for the specific needs of vulnerable populations, with soft skills, language development, and job-seeker workshops to smooth the path to long-term professional integration. Konexio’s training programs are also effective because we measure impact by livelihoods gained, not just by students taught. This approach shapes the curriculum, which uses real-life case studies, and the program’s built-in professional exposure and job placements. Of the 1400+ students Konexio has trained so far, 72% have gotten a job, enrolled in education, or started entrepreneurial projects. 90% gained skills that they use daily, and 95% feel more integrated. In Malawi, the 60-person pilot yielded average incomes of $500/ month from a baseline of $0, and 100% of students experienced employment. Konexio seeks to grow this impact by scaling quickly through partnerships. This is an effective approach because multi-sectoral partnerships are efficient and increase sustainability, setting up long-term impact. Across all programs, Konexio’s 5-year impact goal, which we are on track to achieve, stands at 30,000 direct beneficiaries and 150,000 indirect beneficiaries.