[Applause]
have you ever had a passion a yearning
to get somewhere but you didn’t have an
opportunity have you ever thought that
serving someone else could give you a
life you dreamed of what I learned by
serving other people
I served myself to build my life let’s
talk about volunteering because that’s
how I did it
why because volunteering has brought me
from an insecure invisible teenager from
Uzbekistan to become an advocate of
change on gender equality workforce
diversity and cross-cultural dialogue
volunteering has become not just nice to
me
but necessary a platform to build my
self crossing cultures industries and
change living abroad as a teenager away
from my family and friends even today
I’m volunteering here for you but this
is not the way I used to be as a young
girl yes that’s me in the middle she’s
great
as a young girl I have faced a lot of
fear I’ve lost trust in people and I had
to defend each life choice that I made I
grew up and in a beautiful country
called Pakistan you know the country
rich in history it’s amazing hospitality
and amazing people but I didn’t feel I
belong there why because I was a girl
and I could feel my opportunities worth
this little because I grew up to be a
kid who could be seen but not heard and
I grew up in this little village where I
felt isolated and lonely so loneliness
has been there throughout my tea
hood and I thought still I want there’s
gotta be something other than that but
not being allowed you know so many
different things as my brothers did you
know like riding a bicycle you know
that’s just not what girls do
I felt okay I have two scenarios in my
life one if I was a boy or two I was a
cool Julia Roberts my nose is too big my
skin is too dark and my hands are too
long so there I was
despite that insecurity that I grew up
with the shaming feeling dark in my own
country and feeling the other I had that
yearning that I should get out there
dream my dreams were to go out and study
abroad to make new friends to fly
airplanes and life I would think is
about opportunities I took one and for
me it was learning English and I got a
scholarship to study in u.s. high school
it was a highly competitive scholarship
which is connecting you know us and
post-communist States and breaking
stereotypes and I must tell you that was
life-changing because my parents let me
go it was rare at the time to let the
girl go abroad because I could make my
own budget it was $100 a month I decided
my own subjects in high school and for
the first time in my life I felt that I
can rely on myself and I can make my own
choices and I don’t need to be allowed
so then I took another opportunity I
went to Denmark to study only again to
find myself in labels as you know
stereotypes feeling again the other I
felt again isolated and lonely even
though I wasn’t Julia Roberts in Denmark
I was too exotic and I had to manage my
multiple identities and this identity
crisis what is it called
am i russian i speak russian as a fluent
language not aspec i would they thought
I’m American
not American I was definitely not a Dane
and so at that time in Denmark just like
today
there’s problems questions of
immigration racism discrimination
employment so I made a choice that I’ll
use my voice and you know I think all of
us in this room have been affected by a
teacher or an adults please raise your
hand yeah and I’m no exception I was
lucky to get mentors throughout my life
and one of them is Nana Balin
she has encouraged me to speak out and
volunteer my time even if I wasn’t
getting paid for it
she gave me love and support which I so
needed and we also need to really start
our life and think that we matter so
what did she tell me to do as I was
international student I volunteered my
time as a lobbyist as a blogger as an
activist and I used to debate in Danish
Parliament diversity and inclusion I
demanded equal access to jobs in the
Danish market from the politicians
chambers of commerce in European
Parliament’s I wrote Europe blocks for
women migrant women into politics to get
them more into politics to promote
mentoring because I was helped I wanted
to make sure that many other women could
get a mentor like I did and I did pro
bono workshops on exports and sales to
immigrants so all these experiences I
took with me to Finland so that I could
also get a hold of the feel of Danish
and Finnish society here I co organised
an NGO with inspiring 3,000 boys and
girls in Finland in Helsinki region with
their courage to dream and their dignity
so volunteering has become a platform
for me to cross the differences because
I came from abroad I live alone
and I had nothing I had to really take
initiative and get out there and get to
know people because you know what it was
hard to make friends
and that was for me a way to voice my
myself as you know standing out there
volunteering for different associations
Danish European and make sure that our
voices and other immigrant voices are
heard and you think people are asking me
kamila why do job for free and I say
ladies and gentlemen that I’ve been so
paid in so many ways
that money cannot meet you know they
didn’t show my passion and they told me
that I should be allowed in European
young leaders Network and I should be
allowed to speak at women Economic Forum
in India and promote volunteering in
Uzbekistan first-ever
Youth Forum and just lastly they gave me
this women of decade and community
leadership I mean sounds crazy but I did
this because I volunteered I engaged and
I took initiative even though I was
scared
so that was for me a way to not just
free labor but the way to build myself I
was empowering others and I empowered
myself through getting that trust that I
could trust myself and trust others
living abroad I could make sure that the
entire world could be my home and that
what volunteering gave me and we don’t
think about it that yes it is popular
these days but how many people volunteer
even if they’re scared and I think we
need to make sure that volunteering
becomes so attractive and popular that
they get the benefits and they get a
hold of the society that I live in
so what is volunteering it is altruistic
act it’s something that we do for
charity in the social service we’re
doing in sports something that really
speaks to your heart it’s also a
give-and-take process it can be because
you can do it in a red cross or in a
private company or in a pop-up setting
so private company like Nordic business
forum or even TEDx event like this
and I want to do of course highlight
amazing opportunity that volunteers
brought to us today
so thumbs up and volunteering is a start
off is not just going around with
donation box it is necessary but it can
be also way to build yourself and like I
said a giving take process and however
volunteering is not exploitation of free
labor it is not when a person from North
travels in himself to do some quasi help
and it’s best done in my belief when you
have a passion and intention and that’s
where I also suggested it’s also way to
self empowerment so how a we’re doing in
Finland Finland has a lot of volunteers
one of the nation’s connected to a lot
of associations if even in the world if
it evil and Syria was a nation if it was
it was in the top five workforces in the
world and 42% of all Finn’s volunteer 32
percent of them are young people but the
problem is there is a lot of girls
volunteering and only 2% of them are
immigrants so what are we doing with
allow not allowing all the people who
really need it to really get the
benefits to get further in life the
monetary value it’s around two billion
euro in Finland alone and the best part
is every URI invested in volunteering
brings six euro to society so how do we
look at this figures and think around
the world
you know I’m one of the 250 million
volunteer immigrants and there is half
of the world’s population is young
people how do we address employability
they’re reaching their potential and the
amount of human connections we need to
make sure that we have the experiences
to figure out what is our path in our
life because for me volunteering really
meant the network to meet people as
we’re all humans were all different but
that was really meeting on the way
we have a same passion and I believe the
vision here for the future of
volunteering is that it should be
promoted as a way to employment and self
successful integration so successful
integration what does it mean if we get
all the young people the newcomers the
immigrants whoever you are in any age
group it is a way to take the same
skillset you gain from volunteering such
as well as community work critical
thinking and complex problem-solving you
can take them directly to your
professional life so there is a link
because the same skills are predicted by
World Economic Forum is very needed in
the future so how can we make sure that
every one of us around the world can get
to volunteer when it’s organised well
and you can make the difference to make
sure people start their life with
meaning and purpose and I want to
address you here today as your roles as
a parent as teachers as business leaders
and youngsters so for the parents what
if you became the best ambassador
volunteer ambassador for your kids
because the the fact is it’s never too
early to start and it’s the best place
to foster values and desire to
contribute to the society people who
don’t volunteer they say they’ve never
been encouraged just in courage it’s a
first step to help for them teachers
professors educators you know for
millions of people school has become a
lie it doesn’t guarantee employment but
what if we made Valentine’s as a natural
part of our school education starting
from secondary education it would really
bring people on board to both in their
communities and to be feeling that they
all have a voice and a choice to
contribute you know 3/4 of Finnish use
they said they would like to volunteer
if it were
part of their study or they got study
points there you go
and for business leaders I you heard me
talk about Nana Bala and she worked in
IBM what if we engaged with all your
amazing capacity all your stuff to
mentor fund volunteer organizations and
help them with fun help them with
funding and even leadership training to
for the youngsters what if I told you
that the only thing that stops you from
your path is just one step one step
would you go away and cheat on your
dream or your yearning that passion like
a bad selfie or would you just ask for
help as I did in my case through fear
through insecurity that there are
someone there there’s always someone
there that will help you and encourage
you and trust me people want you to
succeed so it’s all about getting the
opportunities creating opportunities and
embracing them but the problem is that
our the young people today they need to
take initiative and it is hard we don’t
know who we are we don’t know what we
want and we don’t know where we can make
a difference so I invite you to be the
door opener for others to make sure that
no one gets goes behind and left behind
to get the benefits of the volunteering
which gives you the skill set and the
perfect start to your future and I told
you today that I had a conviction that
no person knows origin ethnicity or my
gender it should not be an obstacle to
lead a full life I came all the way
through volunteering for ten years
through working and all the skill set
that I gained it was leadership skills
organization skills writing arranging
events arranging debate events that
really helped me in my
my professional life and most of all it
helped me to serve a platform to gain my
voice and now I can inspire other people
to dare to live their lives so
volunteering is not just nice but
necessary in a future workforce it is
giving the possibility that everyone can
get the self belief inside that they
matter and you know you can do it in so
many different ways opportunities makes
one’s life what if we made these
opportunities all together make sure
that volunteering becomes so attractive
so available that everyone can start
their life with doing something
following their little passion following
the little yearning and figure out what
they want to do in their life together
we could build a society without
stereotypes without fear and without any
barriers so life is a one-time project
go out and volunteer if you haven’t
because when you volunteer
everybody wins thank you [Applause]
have you ever had a passion a yearning
to get somewhere but you didn’t have an
opportunity have you ever thought that
serving someone else could give you a
life you dreamed of what I learned by
serving other people
I served myself to build my life let’s
talk about volunteering because that’s
how I did it
why because volunteering has brought me
from an insecure invisible teenager from
Uzbekistan to become an advocate of
change on gender equality workforce
diversity and cross-cultural dialogue
volunteering has become not just nice to
me
but necessary a platform to build my
self crossing cultures industries and
change living abroad as a teenager away
from my family and friends even today
I’m volunteering here for you but this
is not the way I used to be as a young
girl yes that’s me in the middle she’s
great
as a young girl I have faced a lot of
fear I’ve lost trust in people and I had
to defend each life choice that I made I
grew up and in a beautiful country
called Pakistan you know the country
rich in history it’s amazing hospitality
and amazing people but I didn’t feel I
belong there why because I was a girl
and I could feel my opportunities worth
this little because I grew up to be a
kid who could be seen but not heard and
I grew up in this little village where I
felt isolated and lonely so loneliness
has been there throughout my tea
hood and I thought still I want there’s
gotta be something other than that but
not being allowed you know so many
different things as my brothers did you
know like riding a bicycle you know
that’s just not what girls do
I felt okay I have two scenarios in my
life one if I was a boy or two I was a
cool Julia Roberts my nose is too big my
skin is too dark and my hands are too
long so there I was
despite that insecurity that I grew up
with the shaming feeling dark in my own
country and feeling the other I had that
yearning that I should get out there
dream my dreams were to go out and study
abroad to make new friends to fly
airplanes and life I would think is
about opportunities I took one and for
me it was learning English and I got a
scholarship to study in u.s. high school
it was a highly competitive scholarship
which is connecting you know us and
post-communist States and breaking
stereotypes and I must tell you that was
life-changing because my parents let me
go it was rare at the time to let the
girl go abroad because I could make my
own budget it was $100 a month I decided
my own subjects in high school and for
the first time in my life I felt that I
can rely on myself and I can make my own
choices and I don’t need to be allowed
so then I took another opportunity I
went to Denmark to study only again to
find myself in labels as you know
stereotypes feeling again the other I
felt again isolated and lonely even
though I wasn’t Julia Roberts in Denmark
I was too exotic and I had to manage my
multiple identities and this identity
crisis what is it called
am i russian i speak russian as a fluent
language not aspec i would they thought
I’m American
not American I was definitely not a Dane
and so at that time in Denmark just like
today
there’s problems questions of
immigration racism discrimination
employment so I made a choice that I’ll
use my voice and you know I think all of
us in this room have been affected by a
teacher or an adults please raise your
hand yeah and I’m no exception I was
lucky to get mentors throughout my life
and one of them is Nana Balin
she has encouraged me to speak out and
volunteer my time even if I wasn’t
getting paid for it
she gave me love and support which I so
needed and we also need to really start
our life and think that we matter so
what did she tell me to do as I was
international student I volunteered my
time as a lobbyist as a blogger as an
activist and I used to debate in Danish
Parliament diversity and inclusion I
demanded equal access to jobs in the
Danish market from the politicians
chambers of commerce in European
Parliament’s I wrote Europe blocks for
women migrant women into politics to get
them more into politics to promote
mentoring because I was helped I wanted
to make sure that many other women could
get a mentor like I did and I did pro
bono workshops on exports and sales to
immigrants so all these experiences I
took with me to Finland so that I could
also get a hold of the feel of Danish
and Finnish society here I co organised
an NGO with inspiring 3,000 boys and
girls in Finland in Helsinki region with
their courage to dream and their dignity
so volunteering has become a platform
for me to cross the differences because
I came from abroad I live alone
and I had nothing I had to really take
initiative and get out there and get to
know people because you know what it was
hard to make friends
and that was for me a way to voice my
myself as you know standing out there
volunteering for different associations
Danish European and make sure that our
voices and other immigrant voices are
heard and you think people are asking me
kamila why do job for free and I say
ladies and gentlemen that I’ve been so
paid in so many ways
that money cannot meet you know they
didn’t show my passion and they told me
that I should be allowed in European
young leaders Network and I should be
allowed to speak at women Economic Forum
in India and promote volunteering in
Uzbekistan first-ever
Youth Forum and just lastly they gave me
this women of decade and community
leadership I mean sounds crazy but I did
this because I volunteered I engaged and
I took initiative even though I was
scared
so that was for me a way to not just
free labor but the way to build myself I
was empowering others and I empowered
myself through getting that trust that I
could trust myself and trust others
living abroad I could make sure that the
entire world could be my home and that
what volunteering gave me and we don’t
think about it that yes it is popular
these days but how many people volunteer
even if they’re scared and I think we
need to make sure that volunteering
becomes so attractive and popular that
they get the benefits and they get a
hold of the society that I live in
so what is volunteering it is altruistic
act it’s something that we do for
charity in the social service we’re
doing in sports something that really
speaks to your heart it’s also a
give-and-take process it can be because
you can do it in a red cross or in a
private company or in a pop-up setting
so private company like Nordic business
forum or even TEDx event like this
and I want to do of course highlight
amazing opportunity that volunteers
brought to us today
so thumbs up and volunteering is a start
off is not just going around with
donation box it is necessary but it can
be also way to build yourself and like I
said a giving take process and however
volunteering is not exploitation of free
labor it is not when a person from North
travels in himself to do some quasi help
and it’s best done in my belief when you
have a passion and intention and that’s
where I also suggested it’s also way to
self empowerment so how a we’re doing in
Finland Finland has a lot of volunteers
one of the nation’s connected to a lot
of associations if even in the world if
it evil and Syria was a nation if it was
it was in the top five workforces in the
world and 42% of all Finn’s volunteer 32
percent of them are young people but the
problem is there is a lot of girls
volunteering and only 2% of them are
immigrants so what are we doing with
allow not allowing all the people who
really need it to really get the
benefits to get further in life the
monetary value it’s around two billion
euro in Finland alone and the best part
is every URI invested in volunteering
brings six euro to society so how do we
look at this figures and think around
the world
you know I’m one of the 250 million
volunteer immigrants and there is half
of the world’s population is young
people how do we address employability
they’re reaching their potential and the
amount of human connections we need to
make sure that we have the experiences
to figure out what is our path in our
life because for me volunteering really
meant the network to meet people as
we’re all humans were all different but
that was really meeting on the way
we have a same passion and I believe the
vision here for the future of
volunteering is that it should be
promoted as a way to employment and self
successful integration so successful
integration what does it mean if we get
all the young people the newcomers the
immigrants whoever you are in any age
group it is a way to take the same
skillset you gain from volunteering such
as well as community work critical
thinking and complex problem-solving you
can take them directly to your
professional life so there is a link
because the same skills are predicted by
World Economic Forum is very needed in
the future so how can we make sure that
every one of us around the world can get
to volunteer when it’s organised well
and you can make the difference to make
sure people start their life with
meaning and purpose and I want to
address you here today as your roles as
a parent as teachers as business leaders
and youngsters so for the parents what
if you became the best ambassador
volunteer ambassador for your kids
because the the fact is it’s never too
early to start and it’s the best place
to foster values and desire to
contribute to the society people who
don’t volunteer they say they’ve never
been encouraged just in courage it’s a
first step to help for them teachers
professors educators you know for
millions of people school has become a
lie it doesn’t guarantee employment but
what if we made Valentine’s as a natural
part of our school education starting
from secondary education it would really
bring people on board to both in their
communities and to be feeling that they
all have a voice and a choice to
contribute you know 3/4 of Finnish use
they said they would like to volunteer
if it were
part of their study or they got study
points there you go
and for business leaders I you heard me
talk about Nana Bala and she worked in
IBM what if we engaged with all your
amazing capacity all your stuff to
mentor fund volunteer organizations and
help them with fun help them with
funding and even leadership training to
for the youngsters what if I told you
that the only thing that stops you from
your path is just one step one step
would you go away and cheat on your
dream or your yearning that passion like
a bad selfie or would you just ask for
help as I did in my case through fear
through insecurity that there are
someone there there’s always someone
there that will help you and encourage
you and trust me people want you to
succeed so it’s all about getting the
opportunities creating opportunities and
embracing them but the problem is that
our the young people today they need to
take initiative and it is hard we don’t
know who we are we don’t know what we
want and we don’t know where we can make
a difference so I invite you to be the
door opener for others to make sure that
no one gets goes behind and left behind
to get the benefits of the volunteering
which gives you the skill set and the
perfect start to your future and I told
you today that I had a conviction that
no person knows origin ethnicity or my
gender it should not be an obstacle to
lead a full life I came all the way
through volunteering for ten years
through working and all the skill set
that I gained it was leadership skills
organization skills writing arranging
events arranging debate events that
really helped me in my
my professional life and most of all it
helped me to serve a platform to gain my
voice and now I can inspire other people
to dare to live their lives so
volunteering is not just nice but
necessary in a future workforce it is
giving the possibility that everyone can
get the self belief inside that they
matter and you know you can do it in so
many different ways opportunities makes
one’s life what if we made these
opportunities all together make sure
that volunteering becomes so attractive
so available that everyone can start
their life with doing something
following their little passion following
the little yearning and figure out what
they want to do in their life together
we could build a society without
stereotypes without fear and without any
barriers so life is a one-time project
go out and volunteer if you haven’t
because when you volunteer
everybody wins thank you [Applause]
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