Using entrepreneurial skills to change society

Inspired by a passionate interest in global societal issues and a desire to find what he describes as his 'true purpose in life', Nottingham University Business School alumnus Adam De Villiers (BA Hons Management, 2012) quit his job in a financial processing software company to undertake a 3 month charity programme in Ghana.

Challenges Worldwide is a global charity that aims to tackle poverty in less privileged areas by encouraging the growth of small businesses. Adam enthusiastically describes the work of the charity: "There is a lot of corruption in Africa which means that public tax money and foreign aid seldom reaches the public. By giving people the business knowledge they need they can provide for themselves, create jobs for their local community and increase demand for other products in the economy. This therefore bypasses the corruption and directly helps the people to help themselves."

Adam recently spent 3 months in Ghana as a Team Leader looking after 30 volunteers who formed into teams of 2 with each team working with a specific business. His role was to facilitate the programme, look after the welfare of the volunteers and their host family's and ensure the businesses they worked with were happy with the progress of the programme.

Before embarking on the trip to Ghana, Adam had to fundraise in the UK in order to demonstrate his commitment to the programme. He completed the Coast to Coast challenge, a 192 mile trek from the West to East coast of England that crosses three national parks and several mountains. The challenge normally takes 14 days but due time restrictions he was forced to undertake the challenge in just 8 days, despite tackling heat, rain, heavy wind, and thick fog all while carrying over 15kg on his back. "This really tested me as a person and was an amazing personal accomplishment." affirmed Adam.

In Ghana Adam used the experience and knowledge gained from his time as a student at Nottingham to support entrepreneurship and strengthen skills and abilities, empowering local communities and enabling them to become self sufficient. It was also a learning experience for Adam as he discovered more about the tragic history of the country during visits to former slave sites for example.

So, what's next for Adam? In February he will embark on a solo trip around the world and plans to become a Personal Development Coach on his return. He also wants to help inspire other students to follow in his footsteps and will be coming back to the Business School as part of the University's alumni volunteering initiative. Adam explained: "Challenges Worldwide encourage you to promote active citizenship in young people as part of the programme. I would absolutely love to speak to some of the current students to share my experiences, show how it helped Ghana and how it helped me grow as a person."

Visit the Challenges Worldwide website
Find out more about alumni volunteering