Facebook’s COO on how to pursue a meaningful and successful career

jourWhen planning your career, have a long-run dream and a short-run plan. But be prepared to alter your plan.

Dream Long, Plan Short

Don’t try to map out your entire career from the get-go, advises Sandberg. If she had done so, she would have missed the opportunities at Google and Facebook altogether. After all, when she graduated from Harvard, the internet didn’t exist.

“If you try to plan out your career, it’s going to be boring. You’re going to miss all the good stuff, because all the good stuff hasn’t been invented yet,” says Sandberg. “You want to have a really long-run dream and you want to have a short-run plan. And that short-run plan, it’s not about what you accomplish, especially in the early days. It’s about what you help other people accomplish and about what you learn. You invest in yourself. You invest in the success of your teams.” Continue reading

The 25 Best Workplaces in New York

IMG_2378New York companies have a reputation for dog-eat-dog work environments, long hours, and sharp elbows—and in a lot of cases, that’s probably accurate. But there are some companies in the Empire State where employees not only like their colleagues, they enjoy coming into the office. To find the standouts, Fortune partner Great Place to Work surveyed more than 137,000 employees in New York state and the surrounding metropolitan area. The following 25 companies got the highest marks for trust, friendliness, and being all-around great places to work. Continue reading

100&Change Semi-Finalists: Eight Bold Solutions

L’administration Trump reporte l’application du “Startup visa” d’Obama

YALI 2016Les entrepreneurs étrangers devront s’accrocher à leur H-1B ou E-2. Le Département de la Sécurité Intérieure (DHS) a indiqué dans un memo publié en ligne lundi 10 juillet que l’entrée en vigueur d’une règle adoptée sous Barack Obama permettant aux entrepreneurs dirigeant des startups prometteuses de venir ou de rester aux Etats-Unis serait reportée au 14 mars 2018. Et peut-être abandonnée à l’issue d’une période de commentaires publics. La mesure devait entrer en vigueur le 17 juillet. Continue reading

2017 Yale Africa-China Conference

Yale University and Peking University are inviting submissions for the 2017 Yale Africa-China Conference. Our objective is to facilitate exchange and innovation among African, Chinese and international thought leaders on Africa-China relations. The conference will take place in conjunction with the 2017 Beijing Forum, hosted by Peking University. The conference papers will be eligible for consideration in a planned journal special issue on Sino-African Development Cooperation, edited by the program chairs. Need-based travel support will be available, along with logistical and visa application support.

Accepted conference participants will be invited to attend the 2017 Beijing Forum, November 3rd, 2017 through November 5th, 2017 and a follow-on workshop on “New Frontiers in Africa-China Relations” at the Yale Beijing Center on November 6, 2017. Both parts of the conference will bring together experts and practitioners from government, business, civil society and academia. Continue reading

Frances Messano: Following Her Heart From Wall Street To NewSchools Venture Fund

Frances-MessanoAlumna: Harvard Business School (MBA, ‘08) and
Harvard College (BA, Economics, ‘02)

A native of Brooklyn, Frances Messano benefited from having parents determined to ensure her success in life and a non-profit that opened the door to an exceptional education. After graduating from Harvard College, Frances started her career in finance but soon realized her work needed to align more closely with her values. She obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) and, after strategic roles in consulting and at Teach for America (TFA), she landed at NewSchools Venture Fund (NSVF), a mission-driven venture philanthropy that invests in social entrepreneurs who are reimagining K-12 education. It’s a role that seems tailor-made for Frances, who brings her entire self to work…what she calls being “Fully Frances.” Continue reading

3rd Annual Young African ConneXions Summit and Mandela Day of Service

unnamedWASHINGTON DC – The third annual Young African ConneXions Summit (YAX) in partnership with Howard University will take place on Friday, July 14, 2017. Themed Strengthening Diaspora Partnerships, the summit will take place at the Howard University School of Business Auditorium located at 2600 6th Street, NW, from 5:00pm to 7:30pm.

Following the annual Young African ConneXions Summit, MOAA (Mayor’s Office on African Affairs) will host its third annual Mandela Day of Service on Saturday, July 15, 2017. Please join MOAA’s staff and volunteers at the Anacostia Park skating rink on 1800 Anacostia Drive SE, from 10:00am to 12:00pm, for 67 minutes of community service to commemorate the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela.

Both events are free and open to the public.

RSVP here for MOAA’s Third Annual Young African ConneXions Summit (YAX).

RSVP here for  3rd Annual Mandela Day of Service.

Click here for a recap of last year’s MOAA’S 2nd Annual Young African ConneXions Summit.

France – L’Education et les années Hollande : nivellement par le bas?

DroitAuRetour1200x600_424367.89Nous sommes le 27 avril 2017, une circulaire s’efforce de sécuriser juridiquement la pratique du recours au tirage au sort afin de départager les futurs bacheliers désireux de s’inscrire dans des filières universitaires en tension : psychologie, droit, santé, sport. Comment peut-on préconiser l’accès à l’université par tirage au sort ? Continue reading

6 Start-Up Tips from the Harvard Africa Business Conference – The Art of the Side Hustle

For those old enough to recall the film ‘Trading Places’ (one of my favourites), you’ll indulge me as I reflect on how a quest for speaking at Harvard started in the 80’s after watching Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) exchange lives in an involuntary social experiment, with Winthorpe at one stage cursing “he was wearing my Harvard tie, as if he went to Harvard”.

The idea of ‘Trading Places’ was apt as we launched into our panel on ‘The Art of the Side Hustle’ at Harvard Business School’s Africa Business Conference 2016, with panellists who trade places every night between being Corporate superstars to Hustlerpreneurs. Accompanied by five of these ‘Nocturnal Superheroes’ (Nmachi Jidenma (CP Africa), Nadia Shash (Made in), Okechukwu Ofili (ofilispeaks.com/Okadabooks), Kwame Andah (Coders4Africa) and ‘say Chale, and you’ll miss a verse’ Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie), we hustled our way through a packed agenda of topics to the energetic reception of a sell-out crowd. MORE

10th Africa Business Forum at Stanford

The Africa Business Forum at Stanford is the premier event in the Bay Area for those curious and excited about business in Africa. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about various business opportunities you might want to explore. Come listen to distinguished speakers who are shaping the future of some of the world’s fastest growing countries.

As we enter the second decade of the forum, we will explore the theme of Shifting Tides: Diversifying Economies and Creating Quality Growth. We will hear from leaders in agriculture, e-commerce, education, energy, finance, healthcare, manufacturing and technology. All are welcome to attend. Whether you speak one of the 2000+ languages of Africa or cannot tell the difference between Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, we invite you to come and engage in discussion with thought leaders and entrepreneurs. The theme Shifting Tides: Diversifying Economies and Creating Quality Growth captures the rise of a new type of growth in Africa and one that is not driven by resource extraction and that can be sustained for the long run. The forum will showcase how enterprising individuals and organizations across Africa are delivering the services that Africans are demanding. MORE