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From Dropouts to Innovators: How RLabs Invests in Young "Problem Experts" to Beat Crime & Unemployment [analysis](AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) RLabs, founded by Marlon Parker, is an innovation movement that transforms youth in troubled communities, gangsters, dropouts and ex-convicts, into changemakers. Marlon Parker grew up in the Cape Flats township of Cape Town surrounded by increasing rates of unemployment, crime, gang violence and drug abuse. As the eldest in a single-parent household, Marlon was compelled to supplement the family's income and by age 8 he was selling candy and carrying grocery bags to earn extra cash. At 19, while working at the airport, a serendipitous conversation with a coworker motivated him to study information technology (IT) and inspired in him new possibilities. He had never touched a computer before enrolling in university and by the time he completed his computer science degree, he had never owned one. Fast Forward 15 years - Marlon is now the founder of Reconstructed Living Labs (RLabs), a social innovation-driven movement where dropouts, ex-convicts, gangsters, the homeless, former drug addicts and single mothers (a majority of whom are youth) are positioned to drive lasting social change. RLabs, originally founded in Cape Flats, are now present in 21 countries and include physical and virtual hubs offering free IT and entrepreneurial courses, incubators for youth-led enterprises and youth cafés where young people can exchange good deeds for a RLabs-developed virtual currency. Each component of RLabs is designed to inspire hope and catalyze youth-led creativity in order to change entrenched systems of unemployment, crime and violence in disadvantaged and troubled communities. Marlon paved his own path by creating opportunities out of the very challenges that were tearing his community apart. Marlon's journey took him from struggling for survival as a young boy in a community with very little hope to the founding of RLabs, designed to bring innovation and new possibilities to troubled communities. His journey inspires a vision for other young people with few prospects: "We have always encouraged youth to stop thinking about the job because there will never be enough jobs [in South Africa]. Instead we motivate them to focus on the work that needs to be done in our communities. We have an abundance of work to do but limited jobs. So we focus on turning the work into economic opportunities - into a Hope Economy." So far, RLabs and the IT innovations designed in its incubators have created 20,000 jobs (directly and indirectly), by addressing social challenges through 22 IT-powered social enterprises and 185 RLabs-inspired business products. RLabs has also provided free training to more than 27,000 people and university scholarships to 438. RLabs is building momentum for a "Hope Economy" movement globally in countries as far reaching as Somalia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, Nigeria, Namibia, Malaysia, Portugal, Brazil, the UK, and the Philippines (including 17 physical hubs mostly located in Africa). Marlon's work has led to his election as an Ashoka Fellow*, the US President Barack Obama's Young African Leaders Network in 2012 and his selection as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader of 2014. Washington welcomes Young African Leaders. Investing in young "problem experts" to drive systemic solutions for their communities "The most innovative aspect to RLabs is its approach to engaging with people." says Marlon, "It works because RLabs is a movement by people for people. The same people we serve live in the community and have a good understanding of the context making them 'problem experts'." At RLabs these young "problem experts" are given the tools and resources to create innovative, demand-driven enterprises and solutions based on an understanding that their personal experiences with the problems gripping their communities, make them the people best positioned to drive lasting change. RLabs focuses on creating the right spaces for innovation by investing in people to help them feel respected and valued as agents of change. RLabs Academy offers free courses in software design, programming, operating systems, entrepreneurship, social media and leadership. Each course has an underlying focus on problem solving through critical thinking and design thinking. 70 percent of participants are women, 90 percent are black, colored or Indian. Through the incubator, youth-led enterprises gain support, a collaborative space, mentorship, workshops and up to $20,000 in funding. Here, young people design their innovations for maximum social impact, sustainability and scalability incorporating the best community knowledge; turning to veteran entrepreneurs and computer programmers for mentorship and support, and even to ex-gang members for their know-how about marketing and branding Some of the most exciting youth-enterprises have exited the incubator and were well received in the market, secured investments and got acquired by large IT companies. One such enterprise, JamiiX, a cloud-based messaging service has provided counseling to more than 4 million people about drug abuse, HIV/AIDS and depression. It secured $200,000 in investment funds and expanded services across Africa, Asia and Europe to serve 700 organizations. Other examples of RLabs-generated products are "Hoja" which lets individuals and companies with no programing capabilities use a drag-and-drop interface to create easy-to-deploy applications and "Informal Trader," a mobile application, helps informal traders advertise services and connect with opportunities. There are two very simple rules at RLabs: smile and pay-it-forward. The Academy is free and the incubator moves forward due to a self-sustaining design - graduates give back by serving as course facilitators and 60% of RLabs' income is generated from projects within the Lab. "The greatest currency in the world is people," says Marlon. This idea informs the design of RLabs in the most fundamental ways. Building on this principle, Marlon recently partnered with the Western Cape Department of Social Development to launch a series of Youth Cafés where young people go to learn by doing good. These cafés do not accept cash - the only way to buy something is to do good and earn currency. "Innovation to me is the outcome of creativity (or creativity in practice) that leaves a positive socio-economic impact. Innovation has always been in the DNA of Africans as we naturally are wired to survive all kinds of challenges in our societies. This new generation of young people has an opportunity to move from 'survival innovators' to 'purpose innovators'. For instance, instead of just innovating to ensure that you and your home have clean water, create a new way of cleaning water that will transform emerging markets." says Marlon. Marlon practices what he preaches. His own transformation from a young boy struggling to survive into a world-class social innovator happened as he continued to ask and address the toughest questions at the root of his community's problems; "What causes social transformation and ingenuity in environments where hope is scarce?" and "How can we make hope contagious?" These kinds of questions help him, RLabs and the communities they engage stay at the cutting edge. Continuously designing ever-evolving and innovative models for a rapidly changing and globalized world where the demand for problem experts and problem solvers continues to grow. * Marlon Parker is an Ashoka Fellow elected through the Future Forward initiative in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation. The program finds, supports and accelerates innovative approaches for Youth Employment in Africa. Copyright Ashoka. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |