JAMES MWAKICHAKO, SCHOLARSHIP STUDENT AT ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATORS OF CHANGE FORUM MODERATOR

The following is the speech James Mwakichako gave at our Innovators of Change forum on October 22nd, 2012, at the University of Miami, before moderating a panel that included the Vice-President of the United Nations Foundation and various other social innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs on the local and global scales:

"On 27^th January 1993, two kids were born in Narok, a remote town in Kenya, Africa, James and Rebecca as the last born children in a family of four. Growing up as a child, I did not have everything a kid would wish for. But looking back at my life now, I can only be grateful for all the experiences as they have formed my greatest life lessons.

My parents inculcated in us that even though we should chase our dreams and look towards living a comfortable life, we should have dreams bigger than ourselves. Dreams that will transcend our wildest imaginations. Dreams that will uplift people not only our friends and family, but people who don’t know us and may even never come to know us.

I went to an elementary school without windows, running water or electricity. That did not deter me since I had a dream in my heart. A dream for Africa. A dream that will lighten up the life of that kid in Zambia who does not know whether he can pay for college fees. A dream that would assure the young lady in Namibia of good healthcare. Despite the ups and downs, I put my best foot forward and got entry to the best high school in Kenya and one of the best in Africa.

It was while there that I had the opportunity, through the Casimiro Global Foundation and their partner organization, the Magic Wand Foundation, to briefly attend the Ultimate Life Entrepreneurship Camp and then continue to the Ultimate Life Summit at Disney World in Orlando,  in July 2010. A village boy at last had a chance to get on to a plane for the first time at the age of 17!! Being among the only 3 Africans to get selected to attend the Summit, it was very clear that a lot was expected from me. My experiences during this trip have been arguably the greatest turning point in my life. All along I had a dream to change Africa but I never had the conviction that my effort would make any plausible impact. In Florida, I met Juan Casimiro, Scott Shickler and Jeff Waller, who turned out to be my biggest beacons of inspiration. With them I learned the seven mindsets of ultra-successful people and they have remained my guiding light in all my relationships and actions.

On going back home, my mind was set and my steps became firm. In line with the mindsets “Time is now” and “Live to Give”, I started a football club in my home town called Trail Blazers, to mentor young boys and discourage them from indulging in drugs and dropping out of school. Despite the skeptics, the project has been a huge success. After graduating high school with honors I found a part time job with a research organization, something that rarely happens in Africa due to the high rate of unemployment. With this in mind, I decided to do something special with the money I earned. I used $300 I earned to start a scholarship fund to help a student in Kenya pay his high school fees. I look forward to growing the scholarship fund to the level it can eventually send students abroad to further their studies. I am currently studying at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and I owe that to the people of the Casimiro Global Foundation and the Magic Wand Foundation. The Magic Wand Foundation awarded me the Ultimate Life Scholarship, and Casimiro Global Foundation founder Mr. Juan Casimiro and board member Dr Mike Lenaghan helped me get a scholarship to the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Casimiro Global Foundation continues to change the futures of young people through entrepreneurship, internship, leadership and mentorship programs.

This forum, Innovators of Change, is something very special to me, and I feel honored to be part of it. On a personal level, it brings me into closer contact with social innovators and concepts of social innovation that will help me develop my career. I hope to go back home and start an insurance firm that would invest primarily in the education of children in Africa. For the community here in Miami, and for the communities around the world with which each of us comes into contact and to which the information shared here today spreads, this forum is a huge stepping stone towards a greater and a more inclusive future. A few years down the line, I am convinced that we shall look back and be grateful that we came together here and listened, shared and networked.

In conclusion, I would like to say that none of us are ever too young to lead, too old to make a difference  or too weak to move the world. The world is a beautiful place and we should strive to be part of that beauty in all we do. Let’s make things happen!"

CASIMIRO FOUNDATION SCHOLAR & YOUTH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SENIOR BOARD ADVISOR

Steeve Simbert A Casimiro Foundation Scholar

Steeve Simbert, a Casimiro Foundation Scholar and a sophomore at St. Thomas University double majoring in Political Science, Global Leadership & Philosophy, is a young Haitian man whom recently moved to the United States after his native land, Haiti, has been struck by the January 12, 2010 earthquake. Steeve received a full-scholarship at St. Thomas University to advance his educational studies. Steeve has been very active on campus by founded the first Chapter of the International Ultimate Life Club in his freshman year, a program whose purpose is to establish a network of students around the world committed to putting into actions the seven mindsets to live their Ultimate Life. Steeve has also been serving as a Student Senator & Student Ambassador on campus.

This spring semester, Steeve has been selected for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Emerging Leaders Internship Program in Washington. D.C. This internship is sponsored by Walmart to create a corps of trained, young leaders with the skills, outlook and contacts necessary to generate and sustain positive change in Washington, D.C., and their local communities. This program is a semester-long paid internship in which Steeve works four days in the U.S. Congress, and on Friday afternoons, he attends educational seminars that focus on domestic and international issues. Also, this program has partnered with George Washington University’s Semester in Washington Program offering graduate courses.

Steeve says: “The Casimiro Foundation has opened its doors for me and has given me the tools necessary to thrive in every environment.” When Steeve first arrived in the United States, he participated in the Ultimate Life Entrepreneurship Camp, a program of the Casimiro Foundation. This young man has surprised everyone by winning First Place at the Competition. As a result, he was given a full-scholarship to attend the Ultimate Life Summit at the Walt Disney World, another program which the Casimiro Foundation sponsors in partnership with the Magic Wand Foundation. Through the support of the Casimiro Foundation, Steeve has quickly developed strong relationships with CEO’s, politicians, and leaders of Doral to advance his professional endeavors. Steeve credited the Casimiro Foundation as such “the mentors that I’ve gained through the Casimiro Foundation have shaped my thinking and aspiration to not only seeks for excellence but to serve the under-served and under-represented people around the world.”

“My mentors at the Casimiro Foundation have helped me in everything I do,” Steeve said.  “Mr. Casimiro has taught me business skills and financial literacy. He has taught me the importance of being socially responsible and to dedicate my life in the service of my community and of mankind as a whole,” Steeve expressed. “Mr. Casimiro is the most incredible person I’ve ever seen. He is not only my model, but he is friend, a mentor, and a dad whom has always been there for me at anytime I need his assistance.”

Steeve and student leaders with Civil Right Leader & Rep. John Lewis at the Capitol Hill in D.C.

Despite Steeve’s intense workload, he still manages to make time to serve others. He co-founded the Re-Envision Your Future, a movement with the goal of producing positive change throughout the world while inspiring and empowering fellow young people to do the same. Since coming together, they have accomplished significant achievements in their first year amassing more than $80,000 in academic and achievement scholarship; traveling 15,000+ miles; founding 18 initiatives across five continents while logging more than 1,000 hours in volunteer service. They have also provided clean water to more than 100 families in Haiti; mentoring to 150 high school girls in Kenya; teaching English to more than 300 children in China and Mongolia; and training 175 foster youth. These past two months, Steeve and Representatives from the Re-Envision Your Future team have been invited to the White House, the United Nation, and have met in Washington D.C. with icons like Congressman John Lewis and Congressman Alcee Hastings.

Recently, Steeve was selected and participated in the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) meeting which took place this year at George Washington University March 30 – April 1. President Clinton launched CGIU in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world. CGIU focuses on five pressing global issues – education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health. Steeve, not a stranger to CGIU, also participated at last year’s 2011 CGIU. This year, Steeve has partnered with his best from Harvard University, Orlando Mendoza by co-founding the Enlightenment Youth Foundation, an organization that aims to empower young global leaders around the world and to connect them with potential mentors.

Steeve with local leaders across the country at the White House

Among his various activities and achievements, Steeve is very passionate and has been very active with the Youth Haitian Ambassadors Council, a youth organization that he founded. This council is a national Haitian movement for a better Haiti—a Haiti where every Haitian who joins together to work for the common welfare and the development of Haiti can have access to the Haitian Dream; a Haiti that welcomes the voice and the interest of the Haitian youth both in Haiti and abroad to provide the national government with unique insights and recommendations from young people regarding the policy that impact our nation’s millions of young Haitians who are indeed the future of our ‘Darling Haiti’. The council engages the Haitian people, the Haitian Diaspora, and the International community to form a unique coalition that will ensure a brighter sustainable future for the Haitian people with the collaboration of the Haitian youth. This Council also aims to empower and reassure Haiti that the young people are ready to play their role to out-revolutionize a national and international youth social movement, out-re-modernize, and out-rebuild Haiti to overcome any challenges of this globalized era in the 21^st Century.

“Young leaders in every country represent their country with the utmost passion and pride. More than ever, in this globalized era, we need Young Haitian Ambassadors to promote the Haitian Dream—a dream that brings opportunity, economic sustainability, and prosperity in Haiti through our Union,” Steeve said.

Steeve is determined to help his native country overcome its crisis. He is doing his part to make sure that the Haitian youth has a brighter sustainable future ahead of them.

“We want to see a Haiti where every young person has the opportunity to have access to his Haitian Dream and be able to stay in Haiti to contribute to a greater prosperity of the country,” Steeve said.

Steeve like thousands of students around the world is the kind of student leaders with a social responsibility conscience that the Casimiro Foundation educates and forms.

The Casimiro Foundation's mission is to proactively foster education and social entrepreneurship globally. It accomplishes that mission as part of an effective sustainability strategy. The Casimiro Foundation partners with the Magic Wand Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that empowers and prepares students to be global leaders. The Casimiro Foundation incorporates a dynamic altruistic practice which promotes social responsibility, philanthropy and most importantly, sustainability in developing countries.