Jeremy Hockenstein
In October 2000, Jeremy Hockenstein took a weekend trip to Angkor Wat. The temples were beautiful, but he was struck by the people—young Cambodians trying to find their way in a country whose capital had just two paved roads. He'd grown up middle class in Montreal to a teacher and a social worker, and he'd never been in such a poor country. He met people with disabilities learning to type who told him there were no job opportunities in Cambodia. He met volunteers teaching computer skills who asked if he could get them work. "I felt like I had to do something," he says. Back in Boston, he and his friends started brainstorming about how to help. One friend went to India and cold-called data-entry firms to get advice on starting an impact-focused outsourcing venture in Cambodia. They opened Digital Divide Data in July 2001 with 20 young people. Eventually they expanded to Laos and Kenya. Through trial and error, DDD arrived at a model that makes impact sustainable: over 90% of DDD's income has been earned revenue from clients, not fundraising.
Jeremy’s mother was born in a Nazi concentration camp three weeks before liberation and made it to Canada. "It always brought up the question of, if you have this life that you probably shouldn't have had, what do you do with it?" he says. He wasn't expecting that so many alumni in Cambodia, Laos, and Kenya would focus on giving back once they achieved success, but it's been inspiring to watch graduates ask what they can do to help their countries. Now, as managing director of Livelihood Impact Fund, he's taking the lessons learned—especially that income gives agency—and applying them to other livelihood-focused interventions, like near-vision glasses for the 800 million people worldwide who need them.
