Techfugees Board of Directors announces Raj Burman as the new Chief Executive Officer, joining the team on Thursday 5th November 2020, to support the global community and ecosystem of technologies, built by refugees, for refugees. Raj succeeds Josephine Goube, who will continue as Executive Director to concentrate on scaling inclusion of refugee programs within the European tech industry.
As a Fellow of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, Raj brings a wealth of commercial cross-sector industry and leadership experience. His career spans three decades working in growth ventures across international markets, with specific knowledge of digital innovation, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. In his current role at Sustain Ventures, Raj leverages venture philanthropy, working with international social impact ventures and corporates supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Raj joins the business at a crucial time, as increasing natural disasters due to climate change are predicted to proliferate displacement over the next decade, if little or no action is taken. Currently 1% of humanity, representing 79.5 million people are displaced, and that figure is rising. The pandemic has also proven the importance of technology to connectivity and resilience, highlighting Techfugees mission statement that no-one should be left behind in a fully inclusive digital society . During the Covid-19 crisis, Techfugees has worked hard to continue this mission:
● A three-year partnership with the L’Oreal Foundation to accelerate the #TF4Women Fellowship Program, a program to empower refugee women to find a job in the tech industry. This program will be rolled out next in Italy and Greece.
● In October, the #TF4Women networking event gathered over 60 recruiters to watch 16 Fellows pitch in France, with four women already successfully placed in jobs.
● Last week in Kenya, an app to improve the diagnosis and treatment of refugee patients inside displacement camps was user-tested for the first-time
“I am thrilled to be joining Techfugees at such an exciting time”, says new CEO, Raj Burman, “and look forward to working with the team, partners and the global community, to curate innovative humanitarian solutions and accelerate scale up of next generation technology to meet human displacement challenges. I sincerely thank Josephine for her leadership in establishing the company and her immense contribution to Techfugees over the last 4 years that has been central to all that has been achieved.”
Mike Butcher, founder and chairman of Techfugees: “Raj is a people-centric individual with a strong history of creating highly-engaged performing teams, which ideally suits him to Techfugees very strong entrepreneurial culture. He brings to Techfugees a demonstrated track record of outstanding business leadership that will be crucial to Techfugees success in scaling to the next level of social enterprise growth development, whilst orchestrating key forums such as Global Summit and other catalyst international events. I am personally very pleased that we have been able to attract someone with his calibre, track record and further potential.”
Josephine Goube, former CEO and new executive director: “Raj’s unique experience working in the social enterprise sector and business skills are a true gift to our young organisation. This will allow us to dedicate more time to the scaling of Techfugees direct programming like #TF4women, while Raj focuses on growing our global community, advocacy and corporate partnerships. At this pivotal moment for Techfugees, which has grown rapidly over the past year along with an increasing number of displaced persons, it is essential Techfugees executive team grows and embodies values of togetherness and collaboration.”
👏 WELCOME ON BOARD RAJ 👏
