In episode 38 we speak with Dr. Jens Unger, the President of Impact Week, an organization that uses design thinking to build entrepreneurship opportunities within developing countries. 

Impact Week started in partnership between a Church in Germany and universities in Kenya. The professors in Kenya were looking for an opportunity for their students to gain employment after graduation even though there were not many opportunities readily available. Impact Week is run as a 7 day long design sprint, focused on solving local issues. The Universities provide areas of focus, then the students use the sprint to develop a working prototype of their solution to pitch by the end of the 7 day sprint.

Resources:

Impact Week

Ted Talk: Kids Can Teach Themselves

Free Book Chapter: Lessons learned from a virtual Design Thinking challenge in Nepal