Episode #19 - What drives the world's youth?  Why is sustainability built into their DNA? And, ho...

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Welcome to the IBM Keep It Simple Technology Podcast, where each episode we discuss technology but in a simple way. We keep the explanations simple, but what we spend our time on is emphasizing what this technology means to you and how you can best utilize this technology for you and your business.

Welcome to the IBM Keep It Simple Technology Podcast. I'm the host, Thomas Anglero. Another great episode with another great speaker. Am I right? Hidden speaker, are you there?

Yes.

Ladies and gentlemen, the speaker that's going to blow you away today, my guest, our guest on the show today is Danat Tekye. She is the co-founder of Young Sustainable Impact. Hello, Danat.

Hey, thanks for having me.

Danat, you know, please tell everybody, listen, this is going to be a great show. This is going to be a great episode because Danat works with young people, the most innovative young people in the world. And she's going to tell you about the tens of thousands of young people that apply for her program and she only chooses a handful. So, if there's anybody in the world who has a vision of what the young people can bring to your company, where the world's going and the impact to young people, it is Danat. And that's what we're going to focus on, though we can focus on a thousand things. But for right now, Danat, please introduce yourself, your company, and how, my God, you're making such a huge impact. Go for it.

Thanks. Yeah, Danat 25 started with YSI. We started as a response back in 2015, 2016 to the, to the UN SDGs and the the meeting in New York where all the world leaders met to yet again talk. And we felt that there was lack of action and not enough focus on what can we do and what are the solutions. So we took matters into our own hands and started YSI. And so I guess I'm a very engaged person that cares about leaving an impact behind me and that drives me in the things that I do. And so hence hence working with YSI. Yeah.

And, and how many, um, and so YSI, uh, has a program for young people. How many young people apply to your program and what is the program about?

Yeah, so, so the mission of YSI is to empower young people to be able to create solutions that can contribute to solving the SDGs. And one of the ways that we execute on that mission is by the focus of creating and generating sustainable businesses or businesses that focuses on sustainability. And we call it Earthpreneurship. So not entrepreneurship, but Earthpreneurship, which means making sustainability business as usual.

Awesome.

And yeah, my personal belief is that the way, like the way that the most dangerous strategy that you can have today is business as usual. So the way we do that is running an innovation program that goes for 5 months online for youth that starts from scratch. And we've been getting 10,000, over 10,000 applications each year from young people all around the world, over 190 countries. And that's not far from all countries in the world.

So 190, 1-9-0.

Yeah. From the smallest islands to the biggest countries. Yeah. And it's just, it's different types of young people. So everything from students, from doc PhD levels to bachelor levels, to high school students, to people that are working in corporate companies, running their own businesses. And that's not really what you do. It's not really a parameter. It's the most important thing to get into the program is your motivation. If you have the time and the will to be able to commit to the process. And that you're in the right situation.

And how many people do you choose out of these over tens of thousands of people from 190 different countries? Young people?

Yeah. So we choose 25 people, which is crazy.

And wow, the best of the best of the best of the best of the best.

Yeah. And we read all applications. So normally, like, we went from 50 to 100 the first year to our first 10,000, which we were preparing like we were prepared for about 1,000 maybe. And then we got 10,000. So we had to call every single person we knew to just come in and help us read. Yeah. So it's, and it's not really like we have, it's very often when people like, what is the best, the best candidate? It's not often the best or the most impressive impressive resume, because that when you actually meet the person, then you'll be like, oh no, no, no, no, no, not this person. And very difficult. Like, you're at the end of the day, you're choosing people and choosing the right people with the right motivation that are not just like resume hunters that are there, but actually want to do something. And so there's a lot of amazing, great talent, but there's also a difference to We've never had, for example, Norwegian people or in general people from Scandinavia as part of the program, which a lot of people ask, you know, you guys started in Oslo, why, why is Norway not on the map? Which is what basically what people care about as well here. And you see a lot of different like types of the type of engagement that young people have abroad in terms of how they approach opportunities. Looking for opportunities. People have us like on alerts, they have alerts on the opportunity web pages if it comes up something that's relevant for them. And you'll see we had a 16-year-old, that's the youngest participant we've had from the US. He had started 2 companies, sold one of them for over $1 million. The other company he was still running with like Walmart as a customer, and he was on the Yale— no, Harvard, uh, advisory board, youth advisory board at 16.

Holy— yeah, do not, do not— please keep going. I mean, but listen, to everybody listening, the reason why Donat is incredible, reason why she's on, is because you have this incredible view of the world because regarding young people, that demographic They're the future. I mean, they're driving the change. And you found this 16-year-old kid. My God, keep going. I mean, the leaders who listen to this podcast want to understand what's driving these young people. Who are these young people? Why are they not happy in my established 50-year company? I've been happy. Well, how can I make them happy? And then, how do I get a hold of this 16-year-old kid? And if I got a hold of him in my company, Hey, how do I keep them? Yeah, you know what, what, what? Go, go, go, go! This is fantastic.

Well, that's, that's just like one. The other one is people that are— we had last year, uh, a doctor from South Africa that had been working as a medical doctor in very impoverished areas and was sort of sick of all the trouble and not being able to actually help people with enough and proper equipment and the right standards. And so she joined as a 24 28-year-old in the program to solve the challenges that she herself had experienced. And so there's a variety of people. We've had everything from business people to domain expertise people, aerospace engineers, everything you can, you can really think about. And so one of the key things that we see is people want, young people want to contribute. They want to work with something that's meaningful, where they can see and experience that they are actually contributing to something. And young people, I think why we're also, a lot of people apply to us is because we focus on youth. Very often you are not accessible to a lot of the opportunities that are out there. If you have a solution, for example, and want to be part of, let's say, any other accelerator program and entrepreneurship program, it's either you, you need to have 10 to 15+ year work experience, which we won't have because we haven't lived enough, or you need to have this amount of revenue or have come this far, which for many might be difficult. And so we're not very often considered for, and we're, we're sort of left out. And so to focus on some, one of the, there's 1.8 billion young people around the world. It's the biggest part, largest population of youth ever in history.

Wow.

And in many countries it's over almost 50% of the population that's below 30. And so it's a, it's sort of a mismatch in terms of how represented young people are in important, in important circles and important positions, and as like not included as an important voice when they're a significant stakeholder in society. Yeah. So very often as a young person, you're either sort of brought in towards the end of the process where you really cannot have a say because all the decisions have been made, or you're sort of brought in for inspiration and engagement. And then it's just like, okay, very nice. Thank you. We'll move to the next room to talk about the real stuff.

And young people today, that's great that you're saying that, right? Because there's all these wonderful things you're saying. So I'm going to take the position of an old person, which I probably am. You stay on your Your side of the table, I'll stay on mine. So, from my generation, right, who are typically running these companies, you know, we're thinking that you should be, you know, we made the decision. We have all these years of experience or decades of experience and we're bringing you in. You should be happy to be here. That's number one. Number two, you talked on was you want to change the world and all that. And from us as our generation, we're like, you know, that sounds really nice but you have to earn your keep. You have to put in the years of hard work before you can get to that level that you could change the world. How do you, based on what I just said now, give me your feedback. How do young people, the youth, see that and respond to what I just said so that the leaders in the world, the leaders who are listening now, could say, oh, that's what you're thinking? Oh, that's how you connect the dots? Go for it, Danath.

Yeah, I think like first of all, as we also talked about coming into this conversation, which is like acknowledging and understanding that youth is such a big group, which, which means that it's a very diverse group. It's not a homogeneous group. Just because you see me as an engaged person, it might be that the other person you'll meet that's as young as me is totally different and doesn't care and it's only profit-driven and doesn't want to change the world in anything. Right. So we still have a way to go with sort of engaging more people. But I think in terms of the two things, the things that you said, my answers are split in two, which is we need to change how we view young people. We need to view them as an important stakeholder. That's an important resource. You know, you phrased it as, you know, just be happy enough that you're here, happy that you have me here. And there you go.

There you go. Right.

So they're looking at it from two ends, which is really what we believe in YSI, which is bringing together young people. That is a driving force. With the experience that has experience from whatever it is, politics, academia, business, and working together because you need experiences, but you also need the drive and sort of the unframed creativity that young people bring into the table. And so bringing them, both of them, and having both of them represented at the table, that's when I believe the magic can happen. So first we have to change the view and how we talk about young people, how we include and how we look at them.

And let me just hold on a second, one second. We just want to emphasize, right, uh, and keep it really simple, right, and emphasize this one important point. Never in the history before— and I'm talking to all the leaders out there— when all you guys, mostly men, some women, when you were 16 years old, a long time ago, that was impossible for you to have sold already your first company. And now have your second company with a deal with Walmart. It was— that wasn't even, you know, forget it, right?

Yeah.

That is who you're sitting across the table with when you meet young people today. That's a big difference. And that's— I want to make sure that the, the audience— and emphasize that point that you just said. That's profound.

It's very— it's— we had, um, on the pitch day where he pitched the solution that he was working on, he was told by one of the jury members that— and that exact jury remember, had— has listened to thousands of pitches. And he said, this is top 5 of what I've heard ever in my life so far. And this guy started college. He started Stanford at 17. And I had to ask, you know, do you start college at 17 in the US? Is it normal? And everyone's like, no. Um, so it's an incredible talent and there's so many young people. And I think what, what drives this will and desire to change the world, I think everyone started at that point, everyone that's not 16 anymore. But then you get comfortable in the way. But we are really the last, the first generation and the last generation that can solve a lot of the challenges we have. And we are the ones that are going to live with it. And so for many people, the change is driven by, I don't want to live in the future that you guys are creating for me currently.

And to continue that, and we can solve it on our own. Thank you. We don't need to work for you for 20 years in a basement or something, something, something. Yeah, right.

You need— you still need that, like, the collab— like, either you, you still need the collaboration and you still need the people that are in charge today because they run society, but it's about— and a lot of— in my work, at least, I try to create an understanding that we need to work together, that you need to include, um, young people into the work and what they can contribute to, which is a lot of value.

Yeah. And the— but the point is, don't— the definition of the word include is tying together what you said before was don't just put them in a project and have them saying, like, sit there in the corner and just be happy in the project. When you say the word include, you mean like, treat this person as a person who has the potential to have sold two companies by the age of 16, that level of inclusion, correct?

Correct. Like, as an equal participant and player at the table.

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, there was a— you had a second answer to my, uh, two questions I asked you. Do you remember that, or did I cut you off?

What was the point of just like the— in terms of the change and how we're— why we're driven purposeful is because a lot of people are living in a lot of the consequences related to the sustainable development challenges we have. And so you— they come from a desire where they just want to have clean water. They don't want to live in a place that might go under because of their sea rising. It's really, it's real for a lot of people, even though we might not experience that much in Norway while we're starting to do it. So they come from this purpose where they want to change the situation for themselves, for their parents, for their families and their community. And that's, I think that's what's different about the young generation today is that they want to work somewhere that they, where they can contribute to something where they're appreciated and acknowledged. And before, you'd come into maybe an interview process when you're hiring something, someone new, and you'd be like, you know, what can you do for us? And it's just like a one-way thing. But I think now it's a two-way thing. I'll come into the interview and be like, what can you offer me here? What can I do? What kind of responsibility will I get? What kind of playfield will I get in responsibility? So I think that's powerful.

That is what you're saying. You're dropping bombs, right? So, so let me— some— let me put that all together because there's two big things that I see. Um, the first thing what you said, uh, was that the youth today is just like— again, to all the leaders that are out there, when they were 20 years old, they looked and said, okay, for the next 20 years, this is the way the world's going, right? So, um, those people were 50 plus. For the last 20 years, you've had running water. Yeah, clean running water. Yeah, you've known only that the faucet has you beautiful water. You could— you fill a glass and you drink it. Yeah, the youth today are looking at the next 20 years and going, that ain't gonna happen, or that has the potential to not happen. I don't think anybody 50-plus has that perspective at all, that we forgot that perspective when we were young. We didn't have— there was never potential of not having clean running water. Yeah, so that's what you're saying, that was Bomb number 1, that's why the youth are wired different. And then number 2, the second bomb I picked off, and there's probably many more, but that was that the youth today literally sit there across from you in an interview and going, "No, it's not what I could do for— what I could do for you is what you could do for me." Yeah. And when they say that, that's not an ego, it's not arrogance, is not an experience, is actually— they're empowered by saying, you know, we're 17, 20% of the planet, and never before in the history of demographics, you know, of this world have we been such a mass. And never before have we had technology behind us, and never before have we all wanted to change things at the same time. Do you understand who you're sitting across from?

Yeah, and because we've grown up in different times, right? It's, um, It's, I think everyone would have acted the way we are acting if they were in the same situation.

Exactly.

And when you come into, let's say, a new job, you see now that in terms of, you touched a bit about it when it comes to loyalty to companies, you see before you would, you know, you would work in one company for your whole career. You would be in one place for 40 years. Well, now after 5 years, most people are bored and want to move on. And so that's because we're also used to being stimulated all the time and seeing different things happen. So very many people quit after 5 years and want something new. And that's also, it, it, in these days, it requires a whole nother set of like leadership and way of working for corporates to keep the young people in terms of being on, staying ahead of sort of the game and situation and always making sure that, you know, are you getting the challenges you need? Are you happy with the work? And more people, more young people are challenging sort of the flexibility of how work is set up. You know, can I do several things at the same time? I don't want to have to choose maybe between my great job and helping an NGO that I do in the evening. Can I balance my work as long as I get it? Or can I be somewhere else and still get my work job? Can I work, you know, from the US and still work for a Norwegian company? And so all of those things, because we live in the time we live with technology, while the companies and the culture and the way of working is from pre-that time, we come with a different set of requirements. And for those that are not prepared, it's normally probably a no, and you'll lose out on talent.

That's a big statement because I'm wondering, a bunch of people out there, to everybody listening, how many of you are listening to Danat and going, well, no, I'll just not hire that person? What's the future of that company if a person, a leader, is thinking that way when they listen to you, Danat?

Hmm. It's Kodak. Done. It's as simple as that. And I think that's why a lot of, let's say in the US, a lot of technology companies that are driven by young leaders attract so many people. It's because, you know, let's say the Google way, 80/20, you spend 80% of your time doing your job and then 20 on a free project. All of those like different new models that we need to adhere to. I want to, I have so many different engagements and that's the person I am. I like to contribute and I would like to do that without having to give up one thing or another or having to be like, okay, I have to live in Norway the next 5 years if I'm going to work for this company. Of course, some jobs require that, but very many. And I think because of Corona, for example, more people have become open to remote work, actually understanding that you can be productive and can get things done, which is super good and will help us in this acceleration, like accelerate the shift that we need to have.

So something good that came out of this COVID. Denat, um, before we wrap this whole thing up, and I really look forward to everybody listening out there, their feedback, if you have feedback please send it to me. Um, Danat, what is the advice you have? And you can go anywhere you want, your top 3, top 5 advice you have for leaders out there who are listening to you and going, yeah, I get it, but can you give me just some concrete advice, some steps that I can do right now that would help me? Yeah. Can you frame it in that way, please?

I can frame those things into homework, actually.

So giving me homework.

Yes. So my advice to you is 5 things.

Here we go. Drum roll. Boom.

First is I assume everyone has a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday meeting with their company. And based on that, I want you to assess what is the proportion of young people between 20 and 30 that you have in your company that you meet on a daily basis in your respective department, meaning on top C-level, all the levels down? What's the proportion of youth? How are you working? Question number 2: How are you working to transfer the relay baton to the next generation? How do you include youth in your daily work, core business, and decision-making processes? And then the 2 ones are sort of encouragement, which is involve youth as a real equal partner throughout the process and make sustainability your core business and think X and not percent.

One other question: how deep— this is about sustainability— how deep is sustainability into the DNA of the young? Because Everybody who's 50+, 40+, we come from the consumer economy, right? If my vacuum, my flat-screen TV, after 2 years, I have to throw it away and get a new one. Here comes 8K, right? But then the young people, are you guys wired that way? And is sustainability really something that's part of your DNA? Or is that just another marketing hype and something else will be announced in another 2 years? Is this real?

Yeah, I think, I think actually the answer is a combination of the two things you said, because sustainability is not new. It's not the first time. It's not 2015 that the word was coined. It was new. It was talked about already in the '70s, in the '80s. And it's really, if you break it down, it's demystifying the word. I think it's, it's gotten like this big word that no one really understands at the end, which is just about ensuring that we have development that ensures the future generation the same kind of society that the previous generation have. So not using up resources now on the cost of the next generation's ability to have the same. And really, I think it's really incorporated in our DNA because we're seeing a lot of the results of sustainable development not being sustainable, if I can say it that way, because we're seeing you know, all the results of all the plastic that we're using that are ending up in the landfills, in maybe the land— we call it landfills, maybe it's actually the playgrounds of young, of kids in the South, right? And so it's, it's really, I think, in without calling it sustainability, it's about like seeing, and it's really broad, right? Sustainability, everything from mental health to poverty, to climate, to peace and justice. And it's really, if we want development and society to move in the right way, it needs to adhere to social aspects, environmental aspects, and financial aspects, and needs to consider all of those three aspects in order to be sustainable. And we're not delivering on any of them so far. And all the high ambitions and, you know, in last year, world leaders met to to check the— to see if we're on track, which we're not. And if Norway, as a small, small country that can do a lot, we're not, for example, even given speech time at the UN Assembly because we had no action plan. And so Norway's plan for sustainability is being developed as we speak. Wow. And I'm asking, like, where were you 5 years ago?

Yeah, exactly. Wow. Wow.

So yeah.

Oh, Denat, um, I think thousands of people are going to want to get a hold of you now. Um, thanks to you, has absolutely nothing to do with me. How can people get a hold of you? Please take your time and explain out so everybody has a chance to write it down, or they can rewind this podcast. Explain how could everybody get a hold of you and the Young Sustainable Impact.

You'll find Young Sustainable Impact on Facebook and LinkedIn and on our webpage, www.ysiglobal.com. On LinkedIn, Young Sustainable Impact, the same on Facebook, or on Facebook, it's actually YSI Global. And my information, you'll find my name here, I guess, Donat Eke on LinkedIn or on my email that's also on our webpage, donat@ysiglobal.com.

This has been— I swear to you, we should probably do a 4-hour show on this because there's so many areas that we need to go to. So I like to always leave the last word for you. And of course, thank you so much, Donat. It's been wonderful. The first time we met was quite a while ago, a couple of years ago, and I truly hope, um, your inbox explodes from all this. But with that said, what is your last parting words to everyone out there that's really enjoyed listening to you and I think has learned so much about that secret society called the youth? What, what would you like to just leave us with?

I just want to first of all say thank you for having me and for this great, great discussion and conversation. And I I think it's, I want to just say, once the, I would just want to maybe encourage everyone to grab a coffee with maybe a person that's different from yourself and to have those uncomfortable conversations or the conversations and talk about, you know, what's your view on this? What are the challenges and obstacles that you see? And just have, we need to have those conversations to be able to move on. We need to sort of kill those misconceptions and perspectives that are out there. And that starts with dialogue. So grab a coffee with a young person or a person that's different from yourself and be open, I guess. And yeah, see youth as a resource. That's my last word.

Beautiful. Ladies and gentlemen, Donat Techier. From Young Sustainable Impact. Please get a hold of her. Let us know what you thought about this episode, and I know you loved it. Danat, I want to give you a huge hug.

Virtual hug back to you.

Virtual hug. All right, listen, that's the end of another great episode. Danat, from bottom of my heart and my DNA, thank you so, so much. Subscribe to the podcast, ladies and gentlemen. We are on Spotify, iTunes, everywhere, um, but not the same place as The Last Company. They're just so much better. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your time. Danat, you are insane. Thank you so much, everybody. Take care, be safe, be healthy. Bye-bye, everybody.