Yuniya Khan

As sometimes happens in the course of life, you step into a moment—a way station of sorts—that offers you a choice: keep going in the same direction, or change things up and take the proverbial road less traveled.

Last year I stepped into that way station, and emerged ready to explore uncharted territory.

This year (2015), the exploration begins. I am taking a deep dive into my interests, inklings, and ideas in order to discover where and how I can best serve in this next segment of my life.

And to recalibrate the answers to the questions, “Who are you and what do you do?”

This exploratory journey includes the following activities:

• Completing the Frontier Market Scouts Certificate Program – a social enterprise management and impact investing program.

• Conducting a market research and customer segment analysis for Llikchary Institute, a cultural and international education organization based in the Sani Isla indigenous Kichwa community, in the Amazonian jungles of Ecuador.

• Designing and conducting entrepreneurship workshops for Afro-Brazilian youth in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

• Launching a digital storytelling project to shed light on the lives and accomplishments of Afro-Brazilian social entrepreneurs, using short documentary films, photography, and blogs.

• Creating a website to host this storytelling project, as well as writings (mine and others’) about related social issues.

This list may grow (but not too much!) as the year progresses. I welcome your questions, comments, suggestions, or offers to collaborate!