Finding Talent & Entrepreneurs Among 21 Million Global Refugees
by Nish Acharya
Originally published on Forbes.com
For the last five years, news and images from the Syrian civil war have jarred our collective consciousness. Whether it’s the heart-wrenching photos of young children killed, drowned or injured by expensive bombs, or the consequences of the civil war and associated rise of the Islamic State, Americans have watched helplessly from afar – unsure about whether to engage, wary of accepting refugees into the United States and frustrated that international efforts have failed.
But over the last few months, culminating with last week’s White House Summit on Refugees, several organizations have launched important efforts to humanize the refugee crisis and use capital and technology to help refugees take more control of their own lives. The most ambitious of these efforts seeks to identify entrepreneurs and those with unique skills within refugee camps and communities and connect them with the resources to re-launch their careers or businesses successfully. With over 2 million displaced Syrians, it is a safe bet that many of them are extremely talented and capable.
