MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

BinYaprak

One-line solution summary:

A trusted, social and digital network for young women to learn from peers and experts to take their next career or learning step

Pitch your solution.

Problem: According to WEF, women's access to education and employment may be achieved in 2095. Women lack informal learning networks and role models the most.

Opportunity: As new jobs are invented, our learning experience is also changing to a connected, social and distributed model as outlined by George Simmon's "Connectivism" theory.

We offer a trusted, social and digital network for young women (16-30) to learn from peers and experts to take their next learning or career step:

Young women watch role model videos, access how to tips, join women circles and digital network willing to share experiences
Experts share their know-how (blog/video/forums) and are empowered to connect to many. We leverage our Diaspora networks deeply.
Ecosystem stakeholders contribute digitally in one digital network with content and networks.

Our solution is digital and includes content and community recipes that can be rolled out country by country. Our pilot is in Turkey.

What specific problem are you solving?

According to WEF, women's access to education and employment may be achieved in 2095 worldwide.

The root causes of this problem have different flavors in each country but involve all these systems: Culture, education, childcare, job market, media, university career development, mobility, parent education and formal and informal career orientation system.

As the education system is in transformation and 65% of the jobs today's primary school children will hold are not yet invented, we decided to focus on the informal career orientation system. If new jobs are unknown, there is no gender bias and the most prepared and networked person can fill the position. Here is a chance to build a gender equal work force. If today's youth is going to change jobs 12 times in her life time, she will need to decide on her learning and job 12 times. Women lack informal learning networks and role models the most.

In Turkey, women's employment participation rate is around 30% compared to the OECD average of 62%. If Turkish women participate at the workforce at OECD levels, the GDP will increase by 20%.

Unemployment rate of university educated women is 35% vs 23% of males-not equal for the most educated.

What is your solution?

BinYaprak is trusted, social and digital network for young women to learn from peers and experts to take their next career or learning step.

We offer a digital social platform- a web service- with:

Recipes to publish role model videos and blog posts
A social network for members to connect to each other
Groups for members to interact
Sisterhood circles where members meet for 1 hour for 12 weeks in "Working Out Loud" circles for peer and goal sharing and support
Forums for free form Q&As

We cover about 100 hard -soft-life skill topics for our community to share know-how & networks. We focus deeply on Future Jobs, Digital Skills and Life Tips like how to find a partner who supports your work goals.

As of June 2020, we held over 150 online events, published 600+ videos, 400+ articles, 30 partners and have over 12K members.

We have 50 experts sharing know-how. Our goal is to activate our Diaspora community deeper for growing online knowledge remittances- a 40% Diaspora expert target as we grow.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Our target population is university educated young woman (16-30). Her economic background is irrelevant- her aspirations feed her drive. She is seeking role models, like minded women and a support network. She needs support and guidance when changing jobs or changing life stages for her important questions. She has the need to belong to a tribe of people with similar values as she feels alone in her journey for self realization.

We have been running a youth academy, CampusWIN, since 2012. We are building and shaping our solution actively with a group of 100 university students- our co-creators. This ideas was their "collective action" and "give back" idea to start with.

Our CampusWIN alumni network is continuing with their input and contributions after graduation.

Furthermore, we partnered with Xsights Research firm to understand her needs. We have been publishing Xsights reports since 2017. We regularly run focus groups with our target group.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Increase the number of girls and young women participating in formal and informal learning and training

Explain how the problem, your solution, and your solution’s target population relate to the Challenge and your selected dimension.

We believe that everyone can be change-maker with micro-actions. We also believe that every girl and woman can progress in her learning journey if she can quickly decide her next step in a positive and motivating digital space.

Our success criteria are:

Mood change-does she feel more confident?

Skills: Did her self efficacy rating change?

Growth of future orientation: Did she set goals? Did she achieve her goals?

Social Map: Did she make new connections or learn from others?

In Turkey, in our end-game, we will mobilize: 1MM users, 10K experts-sharers, 500 companies, 100 partners and 100 knowledge topics.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

İstanbul, Turkey

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Growth: An organization with an established product, service, or business model rolled out in one or, ideally, several communities, which is poised for further growth

Who is the primary delegate for your solution?

Melek Pulatkonak, Founder of TurkishWIN