Country/Region: Ghana, West Africa
Goal: To build a social enterprise focused on bringing investment and creating jobs in the West African agribusiness sector
Status: On-going

Accra, Ghana
August 20th, 2008

This summer, I worked with the Solidity Trade team on a project aimed at developing a product inherent to the African landscape — Ghanaian unrefined shea butter. Unrefined shea butter is a useful product that has several applications in cooking, hair, and skin care. By investing in this product we wanted to address the lack of availability in capital for African farmers and the difficulty to access international markets in a profitable way.

The company’s business model and mission serves a dual purpose:

• Creating jobs in poor areas to alleviate poverty
• Lifting up the economic barriers to give access to international markets

To learn more about our organization, please visit the official website: www.soliditytrade.com

Country/Region: Seoul, Korea
Status: Completed

The Global HR Forum 2007 “Global Talent, Global Properity!”
October 23 to 25, 2007

This premier three-day event was held under the central theme of “HR Solutions for the Next Generation,” an opening venue for the exchange of in-depth information and discussions on future HR strategies and visions. The conference brought together global leaders from the public and private sector who are committed to upgrading the quality of human resources and generating sustainable growth for the global economy.

Of particular highlight, participants were able to gain a deeper understanding of different cultures of the East and West to build a wide-reaching network for the development and utilization of global talents. In a Keynote Address the former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, spoke of his humanitarian work and the William J. Clinton Foundation in its efforts to promote and address international causes, such as treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and global warming.

A few notable sessions included:

• The “Korea, the Middle-East and Africa-International HR Meeting” session held by various ministers hailing from Sudan, Egypt, Dubai, and Tunisia addressed the stereotypes associated with Middle-Eastern and African labor and how to remain competitive in a global context by shifting countries from oil-based economies to knowledge-based economies.
• The “Globalization, Foreign Workers, and the Impact on Homogenous Countries” session discussed how Korea has maintained its identity as a homogenous country for a very long time. However, with the aging population and the reluctant young population to take up jobs in 3D (Dirty, Dangerous, Difficult) sectors, in addition to the immigration pressure created by the wage difference in comparison to Korea’s surrounding developing countries led to Korea’s “foreign workers program” started in 1991. In 2007, Korea is launching the “permanent residence program” for semi-skilled workers to fill the increasing shortage of labour. Meanwhile, international marriages between Koreans and foreigners are the phenomenon of the decade which have shocked Koreans whose founding myth has been primordial and homogeneous. Now the population of foreign origin in Korea is reaching 1 million and there is much talk about discrimination, migrant rights, and the development of a multicultural and multi-racial society.

Country/Region: Tokyo, Japan
Goal: Assess the latest e-learning tools available
Status: Completed

E-Learning World 2007 Expo & Conference
August 1, 2007

E-Learning has become familiar to many people as a byword for a new way of learning. E-learning has a wide range of applications and uses a spectrum of technologies, mainly Internet or computer-based, to reach learners. The conference held at Tokyo Big Sight aims to contribute to the promotion of the concept of e-Learning and the development of a stable market.

Some of the highlighted themes were:

• E-Learning 2.0 (Community Learning, Game-Based Learning)
• New and Emerging E-Learning Technologies
• Collaboration and Virtual Classrooms
• Knowledge Management Systems and Communication Strategies

Let the knowledge be shared…

Country/Region: Taiwan
Status: Completed

2006 Model United Nations – Global Youth Leadership Summit
第一屆全球大學青年領袖高峰會
The goal of the World Leadership Education Foundation and the summit was to bring “Peace from Inner to Global”, with a focus on developing future leaders with the vision and courage to bring us all to a future world of love, freedom, and peace. Through the deep analysis of politics and religious philosophies, participants were aggressively involved with the re-engineering of our future world in this simulated United Nations experience.

The content of the Summit was centered on enhancing leadership skills given challenging conflicts relating ranging from war to racial discrimination, human rights and sovereignty, energy, epidemic prevention & control, etc. Participants aimed to incorporate the following objectives:

• Raise the awareness of the youth toward peace subjects, and establish the aspiration to promote world peace
• Facilitate the interaction and cultural exchange between young people of different cultural and national backgrounds.
• Highlight the importance of spirituality as the foundation of a harmonious global community
• Develop negotiation skills in international affairs through mock UN sessions

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