Aston MBA’s New App Helps Refugees Find Jobs

Onaseye Onabolu wouldn’t have started his new social enterprise APP to help refugees without the Aston MBA.

According to the UN, there are 65 million people in the world now officially registered as refugees, living in temporary camps waiting resettlement. 4.9 are from Syria. Most are isolated and jobless.

Onaseye Onabolu, an MBA student here at Aston Business School in the UK, has just launched a new app which will allow the world’s refuges to develop professional networks and connect with local employers.

Like a LinkedIn for displaced persons, Sona Circle lets users build professional profiles, share their skills and professional backgrounds, network with organisations and apply for jobs.

The free-to-download Android and Apple iOS app is designed to tackle issues around labour force participation and social integration.

“Aston Business School has been particularly good at encouraging MBA candidates to take part in various startup competitions such as Aston Uni Hack, Aston Enterprise, and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 small business initiative,” says Onaseye.

“Suffice to say, we are not short of advisors, mentors and partners. Even a couple of venture capital firms have shown a keen interest in supporting the project,” he continues.

“Without the support from Aston’s entrepreneurship, marketing, and finance departments, as well as from members of the MBA cohort itself, none of this would have been possible.”

Read more about this topic, written by Marco De Novellis for BusinessBecause here.