By Simon Sällström, CEO and co-founder
I was brought up in a stable and loving family in Sweden. But when I was 15, I had the opportunity to study abroad in China for a year. Questions arose. “What if I was born in China? How can tens of thousands die every day from starvation while tens of thousands die from obesity on this planet? What are the root causes and solutions to all of this?
This became the beginning of a long journey that culminated in me graduating with a master’s in economics from the University of Oxford. By now I had a better sense of the vast landscape of suffering, injustice and cheating enabled by an opaque and unfair system. I could also more clearly see the potential of what could be if things were done differently. So I rejected both the PhD and the corporate 9-5 route.
I decided to launch a charity, a sector riddled with issues and hence many opportunities to have an impact. Though most charities are started with the best of intentions, many aren’t and those who are may often fall short in many respects: transparency, cost-efficiency and creating sustainable impact through self-sufficiency. DirectEd Development Foundation to innovate in all of these aspects.
However, we soon realised that charitable funders do not have the risk appetite and willingness to support young charity entrepreneurs like ourselves. This is why we, in early 2024, decided to continue as an social enterprise.
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We partner with leading online course providers, high schools, and tech companies to identify high-potential Kenyan and Ethiopian students and design a cost-effective, scalable and evidence-based programme focused on equipping students with the most sought-after digital skills on the market.
By specifying scholarships in smart contracts and disbursing stipends only upon sufficient proof of milestone completion, we give donors the ability to independently verify that their donations have gone to the intended person and is used for its intended purpose. We call this radical transparency.