NaTakallam

Today, 70+ million people are forcibly displaced, with estimates that another 140 will become climate refugees by 2050.

Only 1% of refugees get resettled to Europe, North America or other countries, where they are formally accepted, given a work permit & chance to restart their lives. Even when resettled, they face linguistic & cultural barriers to employment.

NaTakallam leverages technology to solve the challenge of millions of highly educated displaced persons with no access to an income. Refugees work as tutors, teachers, cultural exchange instructors & translators, offering clients high-quality language services that in turn are a lifeline to those delivering them.

Our market-based solution, which through technology can scale significantly, generates impact through: 

1/ Financial income to displaced persons delivering online language services

2/Providing purpose, dignity and human connection to those lacking basic needs/freedoms & who’ve lost their social network back home

3/Fostering hope & building bridges at a time where it’s never been so needed

The Syrian conflict has triggered the worst refugee crisis since WWII.  A global population the size of the UK has been forced to flee from their homes due to conflict and natural disaster. The majority of these displaced people remain stuck “in limbo,”  in host countries neighboring conflict zones where they are not given a right to work, in underserved camps, at border crossings effectively moving from one context of vulnerability to another. Often during their migrant journey, refugees are barred from the local economy, and are thus socially excluded, unable to successfully integrate into their host communities.

Even when resettled to countries with a right to work, they face significant linguistic & cultural barriers to employment resulting in the challenge of millions of highly educated, forcibly displaced persons, finding themselves with no access to an income.

At the same time, our global leaders and media are painting a bleak image of refugees, especially those from the Global South, which feeds into negative stereotypes, and leads to countries closing their borders and turning their backs on the displaced. The political rhetoric today strongly uses refugees/migrants as scapegoats rather than fostering global dialogue and peaceful understanding.

NaTakallam’s work serves refugees and displaced people with access to the internet (individually or through NGOs), who benefit by earning an income; a meaningful step toward regaining a sense of purpose, dignity and hope for the future. The displaced persons we support are coming from a range of backgrounds—lawyers, architects, dentists, artists, engineers, teachers, and more. In countries like Lebanon, Greece, Turkey, Colombia, Argentina. Most of them do not have access to services from NGOs that are traditionally operating in camps. The majority of the world’s refugees are in fact urban refugees trying to make ends meet on their own. Through partnerships on the ground, we are also able to access refugees in more remote areas and camps, notably in countries like Greece and Iraq

As a project born in Lebanon, to support Syrian refugees, by founders who have a particular expertise in the Middle East/North Africa region, our current pool of displaced persons is mostly Syrians/Arab-speaking refugees, though following our success focusing on Arabic, given the naturally scalable and replicable nature of our work, we’ve expanded our offerings and are excited to be working with refugees from the following countries of origin: Venezuela, Afghanistan, Iran, DRC, Liberia, and Burundi.

NaTakallam offers high-quality curated language services, namely tutoring, teaching, translation and cultural exchange services, delivered by refugees/displaced persons through the gig economy.

As a former journalist in Beirut, focused on socio-economic issues & human rights, our co-founder, Aline, had witnessed up close the plights of millions of Syrians, fleeing one of the most gruesome wars. As a Lebanese, Francophone, she had also spent most of her life grappling with learning Arabic, her homeland’s tongue. She had a profound understanding of learning the languages’ challenge.

From there, the idea was born to use the freelance economy to support refugees by connecting them to students worldwide for affordable flexible, language learning services that directly contributes to the livelihood of their refugee tutor.

The idea has since grown beyond belief and we’re happy to have inspired other similar initiatives. Granted, there are a couple other programs hiring refugees for language learning, NaTakallam is the first organization to have come up with and implemented the idea with a team that authentically believes in its approach from a practical and urgent perspective.

(see Aline Sara’s article on the what the startup mindset can contribute to the refugee crisis here: https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2018/03/13/what-a-startup-mind-set-can-contribute-to-humanitarian-response)

Unlike other organizations who focus mostly on resettled refugees in Europe, NaTakallam was born with the humanitarian mindset, and most of the displaced persons we work with are in countries that are neighboring the violent zones they’ve fled, including Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Colombia, Argentina, or stuck in limbo along the migrant route, in places like Greece or Southern Italy. We have a significant network of NGO partners on the ground.

Moreover, our approach to adding language/regional focus is strategic and incremental, with in depth understanding of both supply and demand. NaTakallam now offers 4 languages (French, Arabic, Spanish, Persian), each of which was added with clear reasoning and team knowledge of that language /region when not included within our core team.

Finally, unlike other language learning organizations, NaTakallam provides translation/interpretation in addition to language learning, which lets us provide more income opportunities for our workers. 

To date, we’ve disbursed over 600,000USD to refugees, and we consider partnerships with on the ground organizations as a core reason for this. We also provide a sense of community and non-tangible support to refugees, who say they value the social network NaTakallam provides / human connection of their work as more important than the monetary component.

While many may have had the idea, NaTakallam is among the first enterprises to use the gig economy to support refugees with income access.

Refugees are forced "digital nomads," and we use the global digital economy to hire refugees and displaced persons worldwide as independent contractors and consultants in various areas of work, mostly related to language and culture.

This solution relies on the fact that many refugees have access to technology and communication applications, and that working through the global gig economy allows them to legitimately earn an income despite being barred from the local economy for various linguistic, cultural, or legal reasons.

Where NGOs are more geared towards delivering aid, NaTakallam upends the status quo by employing refugees through the digital gig economy and giving them access to cash-which is much more empowering. Rather than being passive recipients to aid, refugees generate their own income, which in turn is spent in host county economies.

Connecting refugees to learners globally, NaTakallam’s uniqueness lies in its multi-dimensional impact—income generating but also psycho-socially benefiting, all while giving users affordable, tailored language practice. NaTakallam is innovative due to its global accessibility; anyone with a stable internet connection can access the platform and engage with our language services. NaTakallam is also the first organization to enter the education space, universities and classrooms with the use of online technology such as Skype so that young students learn and meet refugees virtually.

In the era of the “connected refugee,” smartphones are lifelines. Transient populations need access to an income, and NaTakallam came to life using very basic technology, such as Skype, noting that impact could still come from using low-tech.

At present, once hired, refugee tutors and conversation partners interact with users and NaTakallam staff via email, Skype and/or WhatsApp to connect and hold conversation sessions. Using a variety of tools, like Facebook, Zoom and more, we bring them onto our system and provide them with a virtual community.

For clients, we ensure that users are matched with someone based on their specific schedule, level, and interests. The soon to be launched digital platform includes functions that enable users to indicate preferences and availability, view profiles, book sessions, make payments, and provide feedback. 

From a language learning perspective, rather than re-inventing the wheel, we are actively looking to partner with existing companies who hold expertise in gamification and blended learning modules for language learning.

NaTakallam's Theory of Change

Input: 

1. NaTakallam provides gig economy income opportunities, the opportunity of belonging to community through training and mentorship to displaced persons/refugees.

2. We establish partnerships with academic institutions, NGOs, and corporations

Output:

1. Translation and tutoring service that is offered to external clients

2. Refugees make friendships, earn income, and gain social capital

3. Clients learn languages in an engaging format at an affordable price

Outcome:

1. Refugees are able to survive, thrive, integrate, make connections, and restore self-dignity

2. Paying clients get a much-needed service with high-quality at a low cost

Impact:

1. Narrative about refugees and integration shift and become positive

2. Refugees are able to restart their lives

3. Users gain unique insight into the refugee crisis and feel they can make a direct impact on refugee livelihoods

Evidence so far:

600,000 disbursed to refugees

160 displaced persons impacted

200+ schools+ universities participating 

80+ translation clients

Through its solution, NaTakallam is currently serving on a yearly basis 100+ refugees as well as 2500 language learners (individuals and school / university students combined). We are yet to launch our technology, which we consider will be a game changer in our impact/scalability, therfore our conservative estimates for 5 years down the line are that NaTakallam can serve on a yearly basis 1.5k refugees and 20k clients--including individuals and organizations.

In 2019, with the deployment of the platform, which will relieve a lot of manual labor and enable a much larger number of signups/larger clients, we will then be much more proactive with marketing, and get a sense then of the real potential, based on marketing and significantly enhanced user experience.  As of now, more conservative estimates we are making is that in one year, will be serving on a yearly basis 200-300 refugees and around 3000 learners. In five years, NaTakallam plans to be serving on a yearly basis 1.5k refugees and 20k learners/customers--including individuals and organizations (universities, schools, corporates, NGOs).

NaTakallam came to life, mostly organically, with the goal to support refugees who’ve been displaced by conflict but who are, as refugees, cut of from local economies. Our organization is humanitarian at its core- but we realized along the way that running it as a for-profit, with flawless modern day tech, is what will make our impact biggest. We are at a critical time in our growth and would have never imagined we’d get to where we are today--but this is minimal compared to the need--and the solution to make that scale is tech We have a product with a customer base and proven success, and we are looking to scale with the launch of our automated user interface and website--which currently remains very basic. While tech is the enabler, it is now, at our stage of growth the barrier that will help us move to the next stage.

We now plan to focus much more on the tech that will help us scale, and the move on to more proactive marketing/comms/sales.

NaTakallam is not part of a larger organization.

Our team is made up of 6 full time staff, 4 part time staff and and a dozen contractors we reach out to on an ad hoc basis for work in graphic design, communications, tech and more.

Co-founders Aline Sara and Reza Rahnema have backgrounds in human rights, journalism, economic and political development with expertise in refugee issues. The organization was established NaTakallam in the Fall of 2015 as a response to two simultaneously occurring events: the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, highly visible in the media and also close to home for Aline, whose family comes from Lebanon; and the realization that there were no viable options for Aline and thousands of others like her, to practice and learn colloquial Arabic in an affordable and flexible manner. Additionally, thousands of people would just watch from afar the conflict take place in Syria, feeling helpless.  Aline and Reza founded NaTakallam as a program and platform for displaced Syrians in Lebanon to teach Arabic to students worldwide enabling on the one end, a refugee to access income, a restored sense of dignity and purpose as well as marketable soft skills while on the other end students received affordable and impactive Arabic language practice. 

As we’ve grown, we’ve built our team with individuals who come from complementary backgrounds, with understanding of the services that NaTakallam is providing - translation services, language learning, virtual exchange, Our advisors come from the more traditional business, marketing and tech backgrounds. By utilizing an in depth knowledge of the demand and supply of NaTakallam's model, our team is able to fully understand the needs of all those involved in our enterprise while leveraging our already existing network in the various sectors.

We are working with a range of local and international NGOs, which refer to us refugees and IDPs and in some cases act as financial partners allowing us to disburse payments through their cash for work programs. These include Arc en Ciel in Lebanon, JRS in Jordan, IOM in Egypt, Re:Coded in Iraq, and the UNHCR in central America. We are also working with the IRC in the US and SInga in France. 

We also partner with universities such as Tufts, Yale, Columbia and Georgetown, among many to provide NaTakallam as a complement to their language learning courses. 

Our business model is based on freelance livelihood opportunities to refugees and IDPs on working on our platform as language tutors ( which we call conversation partners ) and as translators. NaTakallam has a commission based business model, with a fee of about 30%. NaTakallam's fee covers its own internal operations, marketing and outreach activities, tech development, as well as the recruitment and the training of conversation partners.

All of our services lines operate on a commission-based model, split between NaTakallam and the displaced persons we serve. 
Refugees and displaced persons working as teachers, tutors and conversation partners earn anything from $10 to $70/hour and NaTakallam actively monitors what each makes on a monthly basis to bring them as close as possible to the minimum monthly wage in their country of location. 

For language learning and cultural exchange seeking clients --including individuals, schools & universities, as well as organizations/corporations--, sessions are purchased in various bundle options, 5 and 10 hour packages, at a rate that ranges from $13-$225 per hour,of which NaTakallam retains 30-40% on average. 
For Arabic, we offer a full-on curriculum option in partnership with the head of the Arabic department at Cornell University, sold in bundle of 25 hours at $750 ($30/hour.) Translation services are charged on a competitive per-word rate,of which roughly 30% goes to NaTakallam. To date, we’ve earned over $1 million+ in revenue in sales, with $600,000 directly into the hands of refugees.

Since its launch in 2015, NaTakallam has generated over $1,000,000 in sales. Our current cost recovery is more than 66%, relying only for one third of our expenses on external resources, which come from grants, and an investment from a philanthropic venture fund. Our traction is already evident, with 6000+ unique users worldwide, presence in 200+ schools/universities, and 80+ translation clients. We've accomplished this at a comfortable growth pace, enabling us to learn & understand the needs of every one of our business lines, namely (1) language learning, (2) academic programming & (3) translation services. Impressively, what we’ve done has been through mostly manual work. This summer, our platform's first version will come out, with an option to serve universities --offering a dashboard for teachers + students as well as e-learning tools, going toward a blended approach that combines both human interaction and gamification of certain components of the language learning experience to drive retention and performance. We're also exploring the technologization of our translation department, which has grown mostly with NGO clients, but just last spring, signed its first major private sector client. As we continue recruitment more and more refugees, we're also exploring ways of using AI to accelerate the process.As we ramp up technology, quality, and capacity, we will go from mostly organic sales through press and word of mouth, to a full on strategic plan for marketing and sales, including both B2B and B2C.

Solve’s network of experts and its overall visibility and excellence would be crucial in helping NaTakallam both overcome certain current obstacles to fully grow and scale our solution. 

We are uniquely positioned through our genuine years of experience in the international development sphere/on refugee issues, and could use support in areas like tech and business.

We’ve accomplished an incredible amount of traction and impact using minimal/basic tech. Now that our product is clearly successful and in demand, the scaling and enhancing will happen through tech, and with MIT--the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s support, we could really take off.

Additionally, through the network of NGOs and international organizations which are part of Solve's network, NaTakallam would be able to find new partners that can refer potential candidates and be our partners in areas like fin tech/gamification. This would allow NaTakallam to have a greater impact over a larger number of locations and communities. 

Through mentors, and supporting organizations such as the Altassian foundation, Solve can support and assist NaTakallam on its technological development. It could also introduce us to potential mentors who could join our advisory board. In addition, mentors coming from the educational sector, could support NaTakallam and provide advice and support to create a long term plan to better assess and improve NaTakallam's pedagogical goals. 

We would like to partner with NGOs and International organizations. Those organizations could refer refugee candidates to our program. 

NaTakallam would utilize the Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion to mainly further develop our platform/tech. We would focus on facilitating the payment aspect for the refugees by integrating new payment APIs (such as paypal, transferwise and prepaid card), thus allowing refugees to independently access their payment with a seamless process and by being dependent to current cumbersome administrative procedures. Through such an investment, our solutions would be greatly advanced by providing greater financial inclusion and Independence to refugees we work with.