Usman Iftikhar an Australian engineer of Pakistani decent won the prestigious Commonwealth Young Person of the Year award at a ceremony held at the London’s Queen Elizabeth II Center last month.
27-year-old Usman was awarded the Commonwealth’s highest honor for young achievers by its newly appointed youth ambassador, Prince Harry of England in recognition of his efforts to promote and advance entrepreneurship.
Usman an engineer of the Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology went onto pursue his Masters in engineering management from Australia. After the completion of his degree with Distinction from the University of Wollongong he faced major roadblocks in pursuing a career in his new home country.
He then went on to cofound Catalysr a first of its kind startup incubator for refugees and migrant workers in Australia that enables and empowers migrants to start their own businesses using the skills and talent they already possess. It is a social enterprise that seeks to cultivate the mindset and skillset necessary for becoming a future business leader.
“A lot of migrants and refugees who come to Australia can’t get into employment for various reasons, cultural barriers, language barriers, helping them say there’s an alternative solution to employment which is entrepreneurship,” he said. He added “We don’t tell people what to do. We find a problem they’re trying to fix through their business, then help them with mentoring and capital to help it become a reality.”
Dozens have budding entrepreneurs and innovators have gone through the program so far ranging from an Egyptian food truck, to people trying to print 3D diamonds. His venture extends support to a diverse community of migrants with entrepreneurial ideas. His enterprise operates with the goal “to provide an alternate pathway to people and unleash their untapped potential to help change the landscape not just for them but also their communities.”
The Accelertaor program is also complimented with a podcast that features Migrapreneur Stories of different startups in the industry to help other adopt best practices.
References:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/usmaniftikhar/
https://www.dawn.com/news/1402339
