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As stated in our previous article, the “diaspora galaxy”, diaspora communities have always had an important role in their home countries’ development. In today’s day and age, diasporas are often stuck in the dilemma of wanting to give back, but not knowing how to. In this article, we will go over 3 ways diasporas can effectively, on an individual level, help people back home. The options we will layout are not as simple as giving money to charity; they require a legit commitment to help, but the rewards and impact are infinitely larger.
- Mentoring
While abroad, diasporas often acquire a wide set of skills, whether it be through their studies or their professional careers. In the business and start-up sector, diasporas often have advanced degrees from great universities as well as valuable professional experience under their belt. Those skills, that experience, and the inherent desire to help make mentoring entrepreneurs back home a fantastic option for diasporas around the world.
An example of a country banking on that “diaspora as mentors” set-up is Armenia — their “Armenia 2020” organization seeks to actively involve the Armenian diaspora in the country’s development, especially in its business sector. As a matter of fact, some of the organization’s members even sit on the board of the National Competitiveness Council of Armenia, which assists the prime minister “in setting policies to attract key investment to Armenia”. Many reputable diaspora organizations such as LebNet (Lebanon) and the African Diaspora Network also offer programs through which diasporas can provide mentorship and advice for motivated entrepreneurs back home. The diaspora-mentor combo is so powerful that even the European Union is currently funding an initiative to connect Albanian entrepreneurs to potential Albanian mentors in the diaspora.
The effectiveness and sheer impact that mentoring can have is often understated, due to how hard that impact is to quantify. In one of the rare studies on the impact of mentorship, a comprehensive analysis conducted by Mowgli, a UK based charity program, found that “investors have and are realizing real and significant Return On Mentoring Investment (ROMI) across the MENA region, through the economic return achieved by the sustainable creation and safeguarding of jobs; with an average ROMI of 890%.” The concept is so powerful that organizations such as MicroMentor (although not diaspora focused) have managed to build successful NGO’s by facilitating the connection between entrepreneurs and mentors worldwide. Diaspora Emergency Action and Coordination (DEMAC) also facilitates the creation of mentorship between local change-makers and entrepreneurs.
More than just sole mentoring, these types of relationships also allow for knowledge transfer from one country to another, free of charge. For example, the continuous and solid relationship between the Indian diaspora and India’s IT sector professionals has allowed for the rapid development of the latter. This is what Harvard sociologist Peggy Levitt calls “social remittances”, non-monetary remittances such as knowledge/skill transfer that provide value for the country of origin.
- Collaborating
Not all diasporas have intensive expertise in a specific sector. This is especially the case for younger diasporas, whether they be students or first-generation Americans/Canadians/Australians who also feel an inherent connection to their parents’ homeland and want to give back.
While mentoring might not be on the table for those people, collaboration with entrepreneurs back home is definitely something to consider. Students might not have the most in-depth expertise on a certain topic, but they have three fundamental traits: passion, time, and energy.
As we launch GrowHome, more and more students have come up to us and asked to work with us. We are all learning as we go, which renders the process exciting and incredibly fulfilling. Student diasporas could very well partner with start-ups in their home countries, in order to positively contribute as well as learn along the way. For example, a Palestinian entrepreneur could collaborate with a Palestinian computer science student in Canada to build a website.
Another aspect of potential collaboration would be trade and joint ventures; we recently talked to two Palestinians living in Australia who were thinking about importing Palestinian beer to Australia. These types of initiatives reinforce the cross-border connection between two inherently connected communities but also allow diasporas to facilitate their home country’s economic development from abroad.
- Funding
We’ve already gone over the sheer impact of remittances in our article “The Hidden Power of Remittances”. But how does it relate to diasporas helping their home countries’ entrepreneurs?
In an entrepreneur’s lifetime, there is a period known as the “Valley of Death”, when a friend and family money doesn’t suffice anymore, but the business isn’t ready to raise big investments yet. This is where diasporas, through financial support, can provide assistance to innovative entrepreneurs that just need an extra kick to get their business off the ground.
Research by BBVA, a Spanish bank, estimates that around 5% of all remittances are geared towards funding businesses back home. Not only does that help an entrepreneur who would’ve otherwise had a hard time finding funding, but it also stimulates the local entrepreneurship ecosystem and allows for job creation.
Where GrowHome comes in
You’ve probably guessed it by now: all of the functions enumerated above are accessible through GrowHome. On GrowHome, diasporas can connect with entrepreneurs in their home countries, follow them, and keep up with the entrepreneur’s progress through what they post. Think of it as Instagram, but where you only follow interesting people.
If a diaspora wants to mentor an entrepreneur, they can set-up a call directly through the platform. We got rid of messaging, in order to optimize your time and create only genuine relationships. When setting up a call, the diaspora will write a brief note, introducing themselves and stating why they would like to get in contact. This process also works the other way around, as an entrepreneur can set up a call with a diaspora they believe can help.
GrowHome is the go-to platform for diasporas wanting to get involved in their home country’s development. It is also usable by all; a seasoned business executive might use the platform for mentoring, while a graphic design student might use the platform to collaborate on cool projects back home.
GrowHome allows diasporas to combine their inherent desire to help with the plethora of resources they’ve acquired abroad.
As our motto clearly states, our goal is to turn “brain drain into brain gain”
