The 2013 Talent Unleashed Award winner, Duncan Ward, sat down with us to talk about his journey since winning the inaugural award, the doors that have opened up to him and his foundation; as well as provide some short advice for the 2014 entrants.
1. What have you been up to since winning the award?
Classroom of Hope has been working tirelessly to develop our new digital business model which focuses on demonstrating the impact of our work and building an epic brand. We are also implementing our new fundraising campaign which is a fully mobile optimised Facebook app called Coffees of Hope. It allows Facebook users to buy their friends virtual coffees, with all funds raised going towards educating children in the developing world.
2. What would be your biggest highlight since winning the award?
My biggest highlight since winning the award was flying to Cambodia with Richard Earl Managing Director of Talent International to inaugurate seven schools to start work and witness our dreams coming true. Our vision is to significantly impact poverty through education and this was an extremely important step for us.
3. What opportunities have the awards opened?
Winning the award has created media opportunities for our voice to be heard and our brand to be seen. I was invited to write a blog for Virgin Unite on our journey to date. I also have had the pleasure to present to a number of corporates about our story and the impact it has had, which in turn, has led to further funds and schools being sponsored.
4. What does the future hold for COH?
Our vision is to significantly impact poverty in the developing world through education. Our purpose is to fundraise for our local NGO project partners by mobilising a global audience through innovative digital programs. More funds mean more schools will be redeveloped to become child-friendly. We are fighting the education crises where 57 million children globally still don’t have access to primary education and we will continue to launch programs in countries with a very high need for support.
5. Where does technology and innovation fit in to the master plan for COH?
Classroom of Hope is a digital start-up and the majority of our campaigns will be online where we intend to inspire our movement through high-quality imagery and videography. We need to clearly show the impact of our work with GPS mapping of schools and links to google maps and google earth.
Building a beautiful user experience for our donors is critical to our success by inspiring them and providing them with a platform to fundraise, showing them the direct impact of their actions.
6. Any advice for people entering this year?
Be yourself, back yourself and follow your heart. Make sure that your submission is remarkable and inspires the judging panel.