Dec. 19, 2024

era92: Emmanuel Trinity - Creating Lasting Change by Untapping the Brilliance in Every Person

“[She] asked me, ‘What's one thing we can give you so you never go back on the streets?’ And I told them, ‘If you give me a computer, I would never go back on the streets. And they did. And that gadget captured me from what the streets were offering and I teleported into a new world of possibilities.’” - Emmanuel Trinity

How do you create generational prosperity when the prevailing model of charity is focused on temporary poverty alleviation?

For Emmanuel Trinity (who goes by Trinity), creating prosperity is about untapping the latent potential in communities—instead of using funds to combat the surface-level symptoms of poverty.

Trinity grew up in the slums of Uganda, facing a dangerous and seemingly hopeless future. But everything changed when he was given a computer. With access to the internet, Trinity found work and transformed the trajectory of his life.

That computer wasn’t his doorway to success—it was simply the key that unlocked the potential he had inside him all along. Now, Trinity is giving others the keys they need to do the same.  

As the founder of era92, a nonprofit employment agency, Trinity empowers young adults facing poverty in Uganda with the opportunities they need to become active participants in rewriting their futures.

In this episode, you’ll hear how education and employment can empower people to escape challenging situations, why it’s crucial to ask the people you’re serving what resources would truly make the biggest impact in their lives, the power of using your personal experience to inform your problem-solving approach, and more.

If you’ve been unsure whether your efforts are serving the people you help to the fullest, this episode is the push you need to start asking the right questions.

Links

Key Takeaways

  1. Set big goals. Trinity’s goal is to create 100,000 jobs through era92. That’s huge! Don’t be afraid to set those big goals in your own organization—the ones that push you to lead boldly and inspire your team to take courageous risks. The ones that scare you a little bit. The ones that, if accomplished, would make a lasting difference.

  2. See the people you serve as vessels already filled untapped brilliance. This perspective directly impacts the solutions Trinity is working toward. In many ways, he sees himself in each person he supports. They’re people who, just like him, need the chance to shine the brilliance that’s already inside of them.

  3. Don’t be afraid to do things differently. Growth requires change, and sometimes it’s necessary to shift your efforts away from what your organization has traditionally done in order to effectively address the problem you’re on a mission to solve.

Meet Our Guest

Emmanuel Trinity is the Founder and CEO of era92 Creative, the leading creative subscription service company that trains and connects top African creative talent to global opportunities. Growing up in the slums of Uganda, Trinity witnessed firsthand how well-intentioned charity efforts often failed to get impoverished people off the streets. With his belief that money in people’s pockets is a key to eradicating poverty, he’s built a social enterprise that has created over 2,500 skilled jobs for young people in Africa. His company provides on-demand creative services tailored to the needs of nonprofit organizations, enterprise businesses, and emerging industry leaders.

 

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