In January 2007, at our annual company Kick-Off held in Monaco that year, Meltwater CEO, Jorn Lyssegen, unveiled to 225 employees (we’re now 700+ employees globally) his idea for establishing a non-profit program, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) in Africa.
Upon hearing this idea, I remember thinking:
1. He is crazy AND 2. IF Meltwater is really going to do this, it probably won’t happen for at least five years (it was just too far-fetched for me)…
Whether or not serial entrepreneurs like Jorn are indeed “crazy” is up for debate. However, I was shocked and amazed to be packing my bags for Ghana exactly one year later.
The MEST Building
I think the idea behind MEST is really interesting and something you don’t find in every corporation, so I want to share my experience on this blog.
MEST is the non-profit arm of Meltwater where we work to recruit some of the highest potential, bright young minds in Ghana, who have entrepreneurial drive and spirit, but may be lacking the infrastructure to turn their dreams into a reality. Through the program we give them the support, tools, training and mentoring necessary to help them launch their own Ghana-based software companies that will actually do business in international markets, thus generating jobs and wealth locally.
Do we have to do this? No. The company is very passionate about this program because it is something that we can and want to do to contribute to the greater good.
Here are the logistics: After completing an intense, fully sponsored, two-year training program, MEST trainees then pitch to get into the Meltwater Foundation-funded Incubator, where they receive seed funding from our Foundation. The seed funding makes up a minority equity stake in their start-up company. If the start-up is successful, the seed funding recycles back into the Foundation, keeping MEST and the incubator programs going. One measure of success will be that MEST and the Foundation eventually become self-sustaining within about ten years time. That will mean that there are successful Ghanaian entrepreneurs selling their software applications in the international markets.
I find both the idea and logistics behind MEST truly groundbreaking. I’ve seen first hand that Meltwater’s non-profit efforts are changing the corporate philanthropy paradigm. We are not simply donating computers to a village, nor are we giving away school supplies to the “less fortunate.” We are committed to empowering the people who have the greatest potential for success and providing a springboard into the international technology markets. When our MEST trainees are successful, they will be the preeminent African technology trailblazers, showing generations of Africans that it IS possible, and that the greatest resource in Africa is not necessarily oil, coal nor any other raw materials, but the immense and vast potential of its people.
So how did I get involved? In January 2008, I took a red-eye flight to Accra, Ghana, to help the project team get MEST started. I was among some of the first in the company to head to Ghana because I had recruited Teaching Fellows and our Senior Faculty from the US. None of our faculty nor our fellows had actually met before, and none of us actually knew what to expect, but they were all committed to living in Ghana for at least one year.
Within the first couple weeks the team took care of administrative issues including furnishing the building, installing white boards, getting maintenance on leaky air conditioners and installing huge generators. Meanwhile, our Faculty and Fellows worked for one month on finalizing the curriculum. We also planned the official MEST Opening Ceremony (I learned that ceremonies are an important part of the culture in Ghana). We hand-delivered roughly 500 Opening Ceremony invitations to government ministries, local NGOs, our future trainees and their families. I also put together a press kit and we managed to get coverage on national radio and television.
On February 11, 2008, MEST officially opened its doors. The Opening Ceremony was emotional for all the faculty and staff. When Jorn stood at the podium and asked the trainees (known in MEST as Entrepreneurs-in-Training or EITs) to stand up, he gave them a mission: to learn all they could during the next two years, to commit themselves to personal and professional development and to eventually make their fellow countrymen proud. Many of the 250-person audience were in tears.
The outpouring of support from the government of Ghana and the community was astounding. The Minister of Manpower, Youth & Employment spoke at our Opening Ceremony, as did the Minister of Communications. The CEO of Ghana Telecom (now Vodafone) came to show his support, Ghana’s preeminent software entrepreneur, Herman Chinery-Hesse, founder of theSOFTtribe was also in attendance. Deans and professors of the big universities were present, the Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in ICT was there, and a delegation all the way from the University of Pennsylvania was in attendance.
Segment of a mini-documentary about MEST aired on GTV from Kimling Lam on Vimeo.
Our first class of MEST Trainees/EITs will be finishing their two-year training at the end of 2009. I’ve kept in touch with many on Facebook and have been updated on their investor and incubator program and pitches.
Meanwhile, a new class of roughly 20 Trainees/EITs will begin the program each August after undergoing a rigorous recruitment process (MEST receives over 600 applications each year). I’m looking forward to seeing the future start-ups and ideas that come out of the program.
NOTE: It is important to disclose that Meltwater Group does not financially benefit from MEST, nor the Meltwater Foundation, in any way. MEST’s financial profitability belongs to the Trainees/EITs.
Some of my favorite photos:
One of the road signs leading to MEST
Lunch with Faculty & Fellows Day #1
Curriculum Planning Day #2
Faculty & Staff excited to get started
Opening Ceremony, February 11, 2008
EITs are asked to stand during Opening Ceremony, audience applauds
Ribbon cutting at Opening Ceremony
EITs get to work - in Lab
EITs in Discussion
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I am very inspired by this background information. Kimling thanks for all the work you put into this. Great job! Hope that you will visit us soon.
[...] to those who “know”? Meltwater’s way of answering these questions is through MEST. In a previous post on this blog, the idea behind MEST was explained. I had the chance to experience first-hand the [...]