Berlin, Dusseldorf When Gustavo Iwanaga saw the images of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the news on the morning of February 24, he knew immediately that he wanted to help the people on the ground. The IT specialist, who works as a project manager at Google in Munich, uses the first days after the start of the war for research. His observation: Numerous organizations and companies mobilize help for people on site and on the run.
The problem: “Apparently no one has an overview of where what is needed and who organized what help,” says Iwanaga. He wants to change that with a software solution.
Karin Kreutzer, Professor of Social Business at EBS Universität in Wiesbaden, observes that many entrepreneurs are currently founding social start-ups to combat the current crises. The war in Ukraine is the most recent example. “But the corona pandemic or climate change are also causing people to rethink,” explains Kreutzer. “These developments contribute to the fact that social entrepreneurial business models become more attractive and that they are sought-after partners to fight the crises.”
Iwanaga’s idea is also popular around the world. More than a thousand interested users registered on LinkedIn. They come from a wide variety of industries and from over 70 different countries – there are also people from Ukraine.
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Iwanaga has now taken a break from Google and devotes himself to the crisis project around the clock. Together with the team that calls itself “Ukraine Global Taskforce”, he has developed software that collects information from people in Ukraine and makes it available to helpers.
The Google project manager has taken a break and devotes himself to his crisis project around the clock.
(Photo: Ukraine Global Taskforce)
People, some of whom are hiding in cellars and bunkers, use an app to indicate where they are and what they need. The inquiries converge on a central overview map that the team makes available to aid organizations. This enables a quick overview and better coordination of the aid transports. Feedback from the helpers will soon be possible. So if an initiative agrees to accept a request, it disappears from the map.
The app has been online since last Friday. Since then, 3,000 Ukrainians have asked for help, asking for medication, batteries, blankets or food, among other things. Now the developers are dependent on as many people as possible finding out about the app on site and trusting the task force. To prevent sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands, the information is only made available to aid organizations that have registered and verified in advance.
Job platforms for refugees
Data security is also important to Marcus Diekmann. The e-commerce expert is the managing director of a subsidiary of the Peek & Cloppenburg textile chain and sits on the advisory board of the bicycle dealer Rose Bikes. Together with the digital companies Business-on.de, Minubo, Vow to the New and Shopware, he has set up a job portal for Ukrainian refugees at jobaidukraine.com.
He reports that his former au pair, Paulina, who lives in the Ukraine, gave him the idea. He tried several times to convince her to flee to Germany. She repeatedly refused on the grounds that she didn’t have a job locally.
The platform has been online since March 9, and 10,000 jobs are currently being advertised across Europe. This also includes offers for remote work. People who are currently still in Ukraine should be able to work for neighboring European countries. The website registers 30,000 visitors per day. Diekmann estimates that around a thousand jobs have already been brokered. Paulina, who has since arrived safely in Germany, has also found a job through it.
The e-commerce expert is the managing director of a P&C subsidiary and sits on the advisory board of bicycle retailer Rose Bikes.
(Photo: obs)
The IT, care, trade, gastronomy and trade sectors in particular would be happy to welcome new employees. “We don’t distribute alms, the people from the Ukraine are urgently needed here,” says Diekmann with regard to the shortage of skilled workers in Germany.
Job offers from Flixbus, Zalando and Intel
The entrepreneur is not alone with the idea of a job platform. The Ukrainians Ivan Kychatyi and Nikita Overchyk, who have been living in Berlin for several years, also want to find new jobs for refugees in their new homeland as quickly as possible. Supported by Meta and Axel Springer, they launched “UA Talents” within a few days.
The Ukrainian founder wants to find people from his homeland new jobs as quickly as possible.
(Photo: UA Talents)
“Many users appreciate that our platform is made by Ukrainians for Ukrainians,” says Kychatyi. Companies that advertise there know that the applicants need a job quickly and want to help the refugees directly.
The website went online on March 7th. UA Talents is aimed not only at Ukrainians who have fled to other European countries, but also at internally displaced persons. More than 8,000 vacancies from 3,000 companies are listed, including offers from Flixbus, Zalando and Intel. “We started with technology jobs because many Ukrainians have good IT skills and tech companies make quick decisions,” says Overchyk. However, the founders want to expand the offer to other sectors soon.
UA Talents works with a core team of seven members, and the start-up has a total of 30 volunteer supporters. They cannot yet say how many jobs the founders have brokered. Just this much: the platform had 400,000 visitors in the first 15 days, mainly from Germany, Ukraine, Poland and the Netherlands. The founders say: “We hardly have time to reflect on the terrible situation in Ukraine, we work 18 hours a day and want to help.”
With the help of 30 volunteers, Overchyk works at UA Talents.
(Photo: UA Talents)
Jobaidukraine also wants to further expand its range. In addition, the brokerage of apartments and training should be added. In the future, the platform should no longer be limited to Ukrainian refugees. The association wants to take care of “all refugees who want to gain a foothold in Europe”. Initiator Marcus Diekmann expects that the current challenges will arise again in the future – and perhaps even more often in view of the advancing climate crisis.
The founders of Ukraine Global Task Force are also planning for the long term. The initiative recently registered an NGO called “Stronger Global Taskforce”. The fact that Ukraine does not appear in the name is intended to make it clear that their technological solution can also be transferred to the next crisis.
More: How will Ukraine come to peace? “There is a way out of this spiral of aggression”