DECODE In NYC

My colleague Jennifer and I recently had the good fortune to deliver a report to the Talloires Network’s Advisory Board in New York City. It was probably the most fun workday I’ve ever had, and the eight hours or so flew by in what felt like ten minutes. So much energy and enthusiasm shared by all on hand—what’s better than passionate clients who are committed to funding noble ventures in the developing world?

The project was fun from start to finish, and was executed in a ten week whirlwind. We recruited young people who are currently studying at or recently graduated from universities in Latin America, Africa, Central Asia and India to conduct interviews among their peers and business/community leaders on the topic of how university education succeeds and comes up short in terms of preparing young people for the workforce. We then conducted an online dialogue with our interviewers as well as Talloires’ Youth Advisory Board members, probing further on issues that were raised in the interview stage.

With all of the fieldwork wrapped up, we then reviewed all of the content in order to untangle some key narrative threads and then drafted a report from which our presentation to the Advisory Board was created. It offered a snapshot of how schools can tweak their curricula, internship/co-op programs and extra-curricular activities to better prepare young people to find good jobs and create entrepreneurial opportunities for themselves. We were also very happy to report that the initiatives that are already underway at universities in the Talloires Network fit perfectly with what our interviewers would like to see implemented at their respective schools.

Hard to believe that from start to finish, this fascinating project took all of 10 short weeks. Hats off to Jennifer at Talloires for tying this all together, and kudos to our team here at DECODE for delivering some seriously cool work.

 

(Matt Michels)