Getting Involved
Social entrepreneurship is one of my greatest passions. I believe in the importance of taking action and finding creative ways to solve a problem, rather than waiting for someone else to come up with a solution. Sometimes initiatives and projects may not turn out the way we envisioned, but learning from mistakes, revising, and trying again is essential. Even if you have a full time job and have only a few hours to spare a week, you can put that limited time to good use by contributing to a impactful cause in your community. If you are interested in learning more about YouthBank or Givology, please contact me at joycemeng @ joycemeng.com (no spaces). I look forward to your feedback, comments, ideas, and suggestions!
Click on the links below to view a summary:
Givology: Give to Learn, Learn to Give
YouthBank: Microbusiness Incubator for Street Youth
Givology
I am the CEO and Co-Founder of Givology, an online giving marketplace for education. Givology leverages small dollar donations to support grassroots education projects and student scholarships around the world. We emphasize transparency, information sharing, and cross cultural communication. At Givology, we believe in democratizing philanthropy and making the act of giving an active and participatory act, not just simply cutting a check. You can make an impact today by simply registering and becoming part of the community!
Impact to date: As of September 28, 2009, exactly one year since the launch of our website, we have raised $41,638 in online donations and fundraisers, partnered with 20 grassroots organizations in 9 countries, started 12 chapters worldwide, registered 539 donors, and have over 3,000 supporters in our networks on Facebook, Linked-in, and Twitter. In total, through student scholarships and projects, we estimate that Givology has benefited 1,259 students worldwide. To date, we have been featured in Knowledge@Wharton, Nicholas Kristof's blog in the NYT and his most recent book Half the Sky, Philly Inquirer, Penn Gazette, Seattle Times, among other news and media sources. Notably, we were selected as one of the "Top 100 Student Run Enterprises" in the US by the Kairos Society. Most recently, we have released our Annual Report, which you can download on our site.
Creating and nurturing Givology has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. Our philosophy of leveraging small donations and volunteer hours around the world has made a difference in the lives of so many students in the world. To read more about our philosophy of Internet microphilanthropy and the power of aggregating small dollar donations, please read this critical analysis paper that I wrote and presented at the 2009 Education Without Borders Conference in Dubai. We're always looking for new chapter leaders and supporters, so please click here and get involved!
YouthBank
For the past few years, I've been working on launching YouthBank, a microbusiness incubator for street youth. As the Co-Founder and CFO of the YouthBank International team, I work on revising the business model, raising finances, and tracking the performance of our microcredit and core business portfolios. Unlike job training programs that prepare youth for employment, YouthBank prepares its Fellows for entrepreneurship. Unlike traditional microcredit programs, YouthBank targets urban youth, a demographic that is largely excluded from the microfinance revolution due to high credit risk
At the heart of YouthBank is a unique business model that delivers impact in two phases: (1) A fellowship phase in which YouthBank Fellows (former street youth) learn business skills on the job as employees in a community business, and (2) An entrepreneurship phase in which high-performing Fellows pitch their own business ideas and receive asset-equivalent microfinance loans and mentorship
Ultimately, once their loans are repaid, YouthBank Fellows become independent business owners -- and local employers.