In the first-ever edition of our new series: ‘Opportunity Desk Young Person of the Month’, we are delighted to announce that Bruce Dube from South Africa is our pick this month. Enjoy reading all about him below. Find out what makes him special. He will be granting us an interview which will be available this weekend.
BRUCE DUBE – SOUTH AFRICA
Bruce Dube is a 24 year old budding Entrepreneur and British Council Global Changemaker from South Africa. He is a Media and Youth ICT enthusiast, currently the Managing Director of iConcept Media, which is a web and audiovisual production company. Through his media company Bruce runs and owns one of the biggest youth platforms in South Africa called Youth Village. His company also owns a number of start ups like Youth Social Media Biz and Youth Jobs.
How he started his career
Bruce has always had passion for media and youth development. After working as a Media Project Coordinator for a Youth Development initiative, he felt the need to start his own businesses and platforms so he could contribute further beyond his work capacity.
What Inspired Bruce
The young entrepreneur was inspired by the struggles and triumphs of people he came in contact with on a daily basis particularly from disadvantaged communities. These people had little or nothing to get by but still lived their lives past their struggles. Bruce thought to himself, ‘if I could use the little resources I have, I could stimulate growth in my life and the lives of people around me.’
Bruce lost both parents while growing up but this did not stop him. He tells Opportunity Desk that he was greatly inspired by his mother who was an entrepreneur and actively involved in
community development.
His company, iConcept Media is fast growing in South Africa and their latest project is an initiative called MyGovernment, which aims at improving service delivery in Africa. Bruce has won several notable awards for his commitment to service and entrepreneurial spirit. He has been shortlisted locally and internationally and some of his works include speaking and moderating at prestigious summits in Africa and Europe e.g. “Capitalizing on Africa’s Demographic Dividend” at the Friends of Europe Summit and recently shared prosperity at the Brussels Forum.
Bruce was named one of World Bank’s top 5 most prominent young people from Latin America and Africa 2013. An achievement everyone is proud of, which afforded him the opportunity to moderate a session at the World Bank & German Marshal Fund Young Professional Summit 2013 in Belgium. He is also one of UNAIDS Youth “Movers and Shakers” to be part of the 2013 Youth Leadership Consultation| 2013.
The uprising entrepreneur was a ‘top 10 finalist in the Tech4Africa in 2012’, finalist in the Enterprise Elevator 2012 and winner of the 5th SA Innovation Summit Innovation Lab Online Voting competition in same year.
More information about Bruce and his works can be found here; iConcept Media, his popular blog, Youth Village and Social Media Biz.
Who will be the Next Young Person of the Month?
You can be the next Opportunity Desk Young Person of the Month! All you have to do is get a friend to recommend your work or fill out our nomination form here. We want to use the platform to recognize and celebrate the efforts of amazing young people around the world. O! Did I forget to add – that you must be an active Opportunity Desk member, either as a fan, reader or subscriber? Yes!
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