Mar 06, 2024
Posted by: Anushree Nande
Nick: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! Rise looks to provide early career support to young people across the world. The program is keen to support those that show a desire to forge positive change in their communities, and helps them by providing opportunity to education, skills development, innovation funding, and an exciting global community.
JJ: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! Starting a restaurant is hard work. Did you know that fail rates exceed sixty percent in the first year and only one out of every five restaurants makes it past their fifth anniversary? It can be even harder for at-risk and underrepresented populations. My company, Let’s Chow, assists culinary entrepreneurs who are veterans, military spouses, and military-connected refugees, in developing their product-market fit, sourcing, and menu testing through our food truck training program
Janina: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! Our story starts with Malish James, a refugee in Uganda’s Bidibidi Refugee Settlement. In my day job, I work for the UN, through which I connected with Malish. He shared many stories about his life, and one particular challenge stuck with me—while refugees in the community receive food aid from international organizations, they struggle to afford other commodities, such as new clothes for their children. So in many cases, instead of eating the food, they sell it to supply other basic needs. Together with Malish, we created a solution: Many refugees have ideas for starting their own businesses. However, most of them don’t have access to funding. This is where Bridging Gaps comes in. We transform donations from the Global North to community microloans in the Global South, so refugees in Bidibidi can start their own businesses.
