MICHAEL FURDYK
Michael Furdyk is the Co-founder and Director of Technology for TakingITGlobal.org.
Michael Furdyk could have lounged around after striking it rich as a teenager in the dot-com era.
But he’s not that kind of guy.
A decade after selling his Internet startup for “a few million” dollars, 27-year-old Mr. Furdyk is using his technology expertise to engage millions of youth and educators around the world in social issues ranging from the environment to globalization.
Toronto-based Mr. Furdyk’s introduction to technology came at age 2, when his parents bought a Commodore 64 computer. He was soon hooked. By Grade 8, in the mid-1990s, he was doing a school project on the World Wide Web. He teamed with five friends from around the world to create his own website, and won advertising from companies including a Liechtenstein casino.
In 1997, he met digital guru Don Tapscott, and they soon became mentors to one another. Still in high school, he co-founded MyDesktop.com, which grew to more than a million monthly readers, then among the world’s most popular online technology portals. It sold to Internet.com in 1999 for a seven-figure sum. An Oprah appearance followed. And Teen People named him one of “20 teens that will change the world.”
“After having some time to reflect on that, I thought, do I really need to invest more time in the for-profit world? Or is it more valuable to spend time developing an organization to support other young people as a charity?”
Because of the attention, he got thousands of e-mails from young people, asking for guidance on how to develop their own ideas. So in 1999, he co-founded TakingITGlobal.org, a virtual global community for young people, and one of the first online social networks in the world.
At the time, the idea was revolutionary. “We thought the Internet would be an ideal place to create a non-commercial community to support young peoples’ ideas, to help them be more culturally aware, and understand the challenges facing our world.”
TakingITGlobal’s 4.5 million global users (up a million from last year) discuss and take action on everything from climate change to gay rights, food security, living with HIV/AIDS and child labour. Members circulate petitions, start projects, take e-courses and share their stories in 12 languages, including Chinese and Arabic. Headquartered in Toronto, the site now has 18 staff, a dozen interns and over 400 “virtual volunteers.”
Licensing technology to other non-profits and training teachers in countries such as Australia and Singapore help fund the charity. “Even though we’re a charity, I’m still using my entrepreneurial background to create a sustainable revenue stream for our programs.”
Tavia Grant
FIROZ RASUL
Firoz Rasul, former chief executive of Ballard Power and now president of Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.
Firoz Rasul was flying with the Aga Khan on his private plane to Vancouver in 2005, when the spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims made a pitch to him about a new job in Pakistan.
Mr. Rasul, who had retired two years earlier as chief executive officer of fuel-cell developer Ballard Power Systems Inc. and was heading the Canadian association for the Muslim sect, was stunned by his offer to become president of Aga Khan University.
“I was shocked, flattered … and terrified,” recalls the 57-year-old, who agreed to take on the job. “It’s a massive role. You are talking about a university in the developing world – in countries that are highly volatile and fragile. We are in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya and Syria [among others].”
But these countries need universities to develop leaders capable of improving education and health care, battling corruption and increasing social cohesion, he said.
While he was thrilled to accept the challenge of running a multicampus university and its myriad programs, he was asked to do so as a volunteer. “My wife and I have done reasonably well in life, and we feel it’s time to give back,” Mr. Rasul said during a visit to Toronto.
