Education start-up opens doors to student training and employment

An empathetic entrepreneur is opening doors to training and employment for young people.

IScope’s Christina Chun, centre, with Elisa Lillicrap, left, and Tanzeem Syeda. Picture: Renee Nowytarger.

When Christina Chun was growing up in western Sydney, she knew it was a struggle for kids to get a break with training, gain valuable work experience or even undertake further study.

Chun, 26, thinks herself lucky to be granted a University of NSW equity scholarship to study psychology, putting her on a route to employment, helping young people in need, and entrepreneurship.

Her difficult upbringing, along with an education pathway and other opportunities, led her to establish 1Scope, a website for students aged 12 to 25 with access to training courses, work experience, scholarship information and internships at major companies.

“The passion comes from my personal background,” Chun says. “I came from a financially disadvantaged background. I’ve seen domestic violence and I credit a lot of my success from being raised by a single mum.”

Chun’s path included work experience at a psychology clinic specialising in children with disabilities. After further study she wanted to do something more to help disadvantaged youths.

“I have a high empathy level and working with kids with disabilities, it was very draining, but I wanted to keep working with them,” she says. “I moved into a masters of commerce so I could educate people with a business background.”

Chun then spent time developing leadership programs with high school students, including a stint in Romania. She also created the Make a Mark Project, which involved delivering, with corporate sponsors, leadership programs to young women in high schools, and creating pathways to job and training opportunities.

If a company specialised in information technology and coding, for example, she would arrange for it to run free training programs in schools where students had shown an interest in IT.

“If I could prove that these students are learning, the companies would be willing to run the programs again,” she says.

“We’d tailor survey questions for the students on what they wanted to get out of it. They would go through the program and we’d ask what they learned, they would give a satisfaction rate, and whether they’d recommend it to their friends.”

Through her work with corporate social responsibility staff within large corporations and institutions, including Westpac, Microsoft, the University of Newcastle, the University of NSW and Macquarie University, Chun built partnerships to create positive influences in students’ lives.

She then took those partnerships a step further to create 1Scope late last year, matching students with their interests and the companies and universities that might have suitable offerings.

With $1 million in corporate support from Aquiline Capital to establish the site, allowing Chun to employ nine data scientists, her team has developed a series of algorithms to match students to work experience and training.

More than 3500 students have used the site this year, with plans to connect 34,000 students with the training or work experience they would like by year’s end.

“We’re working with schools and principals and talking to the students about what they want.”

She also discusses with companies what they can offer students and how they can benefit.

“We want as many students to use the site as possible and we want as many companies who are running programs to be involved.”

Publicis. Sapient managing director Simon Pelletier hosted Chun and 1Scope at his incubator offices for four months and has provided staff to help with data strategies and consulting.

Pelletier describes Chun as “maniacally focused” and an “asteroid-like energy source”.

“She’s kind of got a bloody-mindedness about doing good as part of her business,” he says. “They’re laser-focused on the good that they’re doing by helping schools concentrate on improvements and life opportunities.”

Through data collection and finding the skills that students want and need to win jobs in a changing environment, Pelletier says Chun is helping educators adapt and employers get the appropriately trained young workers they need.

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GOOGLE SAID NO, BUT THEN TANZEEM SAID ‘STOP ME’

Tanzeem Syeda refused to take no for an answer when Google said she was too young for work experience in Year 10.

“I was questioning why I was declined because of my age,” says the Strathfield Girls High School student, aged 16.

“I started building a portfolio and finding out what Google sponsored and started going and talking to Google people. I never let anything slip by.”

Six months later Tanzeem wore Google down, and began chasing her career in engineering and information technology.

Tanzeem has been using the 1Scope platform, taking IT and business entrepreneur workshops, to ensure she is more employable.

“Everyone has an ATAR when they leave school, but employers look for what you’ve done when you were at school as well,” she says.

With help from 1Scope, Syeda plans to start her own business in web design while studying at university, and will apply for a second Google internship.

School friend Elisa Lillicrap, 17, also has taken advantage of the 1Scope training opportunities and will use her new skills to set up a business development company aimed at helping young people.

“I want to create a network of young high school students who are like-minded, to allow them to start their own campaigns or businesses,” Elisa says.

“Many students are smart and they have plenty of ideas, but when you’re stuck in a school environment you follow the syllabus and it doesn’t encourage entrepreneurship.”

Her parents want her to study when she finishes school this year, but she would like to start a small business and create her own path at the same time.

“Parents may not necessarily understand the best thing they can do is allow you to pursue your passion and what makes you happy,” she says. “When you pursue your passion and you’re happy, the income and every opportunity will follow through from that.”