About Konexio

Our Story

Konexio began in 2016 as a series of community workshops serving Paris’ immigrant-dense neighborhoods, where the digital divide puts society’s most vulnerable people at high risk of unemployment. ​

Founder and Executive Director Jean Guo, then a migrant health researcher, realized that with the growing labor market demand for digital skills, bridging the digital divide was key in solving unemployment. Together with a dedicated team of educators, IT professionals, and community volunteers, Jean set out to create a streamlined path to employment through digital skills training for disadvantaged people, especially refugees and migrants. Fueled by community demand, these digital skills workshops grew into what is today Konexio, which facilitates the social and professional integration of refugees, migrants, and disadvantaged people through digital skills training. Konexio is now expanding to empower refugee communities globally, and has launched pilots in high-needs locations elsewhere in France, as well as internationally in Malawi.


Jean’s passion for advancing opportunity for marginalized groups stems from her own story immigrating to the United States at a young age, where she experienced firsthand the struggles faced by migrant families. Most recently a Rubenstein Scholar at the Harvard Center for Public Leadership, Jean holds degrees in economics and biology from Stanford University, was a Fulbright research fellow at the Paris School of Economics, and has worked as a consultant in Silicon Valley.

Awards and Prizes

Semi finalist, 2018 
​Social Innovation Competition

Finalist, 2018 Social Innovation Tournament

Finalist, 2019
​ Google Impact Challenge

Finalist, 2019
​ Fondation la France s'engage

Innovation Award 2019
Capgemini Challenge at Vivatech

Winner, 2020 
​Future Skills Innovation Challenge

The Team

​Team Konexio embodies the fighting spirit of diverse members from all walks of life and nearly every corner of the globe. We are refugees, migrants, expatriates, locals, men, women, old, and young, who are committed to using digital learning to highlight the potential of excluded and disadvantaged public to be at the forefront of digital and socio-economic inclusion.

Jean ​Guo

Co-Founder, CEO

Jean-Christophe Vidal 

Deputy CEO

François Dabin ​

Director of Operations

Annelise Ouvrard-Pascaud

Communications Manager

​Elsa Feder

Partnerships and Development Manager

Paul Adam 

Project Manager ​
​

Diane Belkebir

Project Manager

Guillaume Blanquet 

Product Owner

Jénaïc Cambre

Lead Instructor and Curriculum Development, DigiTous

Louise Gabet

Executive Assistant

Axel Guibert

Partnerships Manager, Bordeaux Region

Allegra Harrison

International Programs Officer​

Diane Huet

Project Manager

Agathe Konieczynski

Project Manager

Audrey Nieson

Project Manager - G.O.A.L Project

Gaëlle Petit

Project Manager

Denis Robert ​

Lead Instructor and Curriculum Development, Malawi ​

  Agathe Roujou

       Project Manager ​

THE MALAWI TEAM

---

Bienheureux Matete

Local Coordinator

---

Serge
​Kisisi

Local Instructor

---

Céline Munyerenkana

Local Instructor

---

Stany
​Dibwé

Local Instructor

---

Josué
​Amani

Local Instructor

---

Christelle
​Tulinabo

​Local Instructor

Our Board

Konexio’s advisory board guides and supports the organization’s growth. Our board members each began their journey with Konexio as mentors and advocates. Their formal appointment to the advisory board is a natural extension of their dedication to empowerment and inclusion through digital learning. The board is comprised of individuals with a variety of professional backgrounds from both France and the USA, reflecting Konexio’s diverse and international mindset. Among other duties, board members advise on growth and expansion strategies, while also serving as ambassadors for Konexio.

Julie Battilana,
Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School & Professor of Social Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School

Julie Battilana is also the founder and faculty chair of the Social Innovation and Change Initiative. 
Professor Battilana's research examines the processes by which organizations and individuals initiate and implement changes that diverge from the taken-for-granted norms in a field of activity.
Professor Battilana's research focuses on a specific instance of hybrid organizing—social enterprises. Her work aims to understand how these hybrids can sustainably combine aspects of corporations and not-for-profits at their core and how they can achieve high levels of both social and commercial performance. 
In addition to her publications in several top tier journals, Professor Battilana is the author of two books: The Working Manifesto: Democratize, Decommodify, Remediate, co-authored by Isabelle Ferreras and Dominique Méda (2020. Paris: Le Seuil), and her forthcoming book titled Power for All: Harnessing The Force That Shapes Our Lives (2021. New York. Simon & Schuster).

Why Konexio?

"My interest in Konexio stems from my own commitment to social innovation. As the founder and faculty chair of the Social Innovation and Change Initiative (SICI) at the Harvard Kennedy School, I work closely with my team to identify promising changemakers and connect with them to help them initiate and implement social change. Jean Guo and her team identified a crucial opportunity gap experienced by underprivileged populations. By recognizing this inequality and creating effective programs to address it, Konexio has been able to democratize paths to employment for populations that may otherwise have been excluded. In doing so, Konexio has helped redistribute power in important and impactful ways."

Ravi Srinivasan,
Senior strategic technology professional, advisor and entrepreneur, CivAmi

Ravi has over 25 years of professional experience in enterprise technology, business process services and consulting. He is presently a consultant and advisor in enterprise cloud procurement, migration, digital transformation and governance application. Additionally, he is the co-founder and current treasurer of Stanford Startups New York, an alumni club focused on building the Stanford-alum startup and entrepreneur community in New York. Outside of the professional space, he is a patron and trustee of the Carnatic Music Association of North America, a longstanding Indian classical music organization in New Jersey. He is also a performing classical violinist. Ravi was a co-founder of OfficeTiger (sold to RR Donnelley in 2007 for 250mm) and Pride BPO - one of the earliest business process outsourcing organizations with large offshore operations. He also managed a multi-year business transformation effort at Bridgewater Associates. He holds a MS from Stanford and BSE from Princeton.

Why Konexio?

"Konexio's focus is on transforming lives through education and training. Having built and grown teams all over the world, and personally identifying with the challenges of delivering targeted, relevant education for businesses - I found Konexio's vision refreshing and accomplishments inspiring."

Maria Luisa Ferreira,
Economic Advisor, EIB Institute

Luisa Ferreira is the Head of the Institute’s Social Programme where she notably created and developed the Social Innovation Tournament, a reference in the European Innovation eco-system. She started at the Institute when it was founded in 2012 and was responsible for the development and management of the Knowledge and Social Programmes.
Luisa Ferreira joined the European Investment Bank in 1999 as a senior education economist, then an economic advisor in the Projects Directorate where she was responsible for the economic appraisal of projects and research work in the education (with special emphasis on the financing aspects of higher education) and social sectors. She was also Head of the EIB-Universities Research Action Programme.
Between 2003 and 2004 she was a senior education analyst in the Education Directorate of the OECD, where she was responsible for a project on the role of education and training policy in promoting equity and social cohesion.
Prior to joining the EIB she worked as a senior human resources economist at the World Bank (1992-1999). Luisa is the President of the Board of the Jos and Mimieke Foundation, and is regularly invited as member of the jury in competitions in the area of social entrepreneurship and philanthropy.

Why Konexio?

"I am passionate about impact, and to support an initiative like Konexio that is striving to empower refugees with investments in their human capital."

Tracy Young,
Manager, Data Research, Yodlee

Tracy is Manager, Data Research within the Data Products Group at Yodlee where she is working on new product development since 2017. Prior to her current role, Tracy worked with the finance team at Uphold, a cloud-based digital money platform to transact currencies, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.  Tracy has over 15 years of experience in corporate finance and equity research. She also serves as an adviser to startups in the Yodlee Incubator and the ERA. She graduated from Stanford University with a double major in International Relations and History and pursued an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia Business School. She was co-Chair of the Stanford Community Service in New York, recently becoming the President of the Stanford Association in New York, and was presented with the Governor's Award in 2017.  Outside of her activities with the Community Service Group, Tracy serves as a volunteer at Ronald McDonald House in New York and was a volunteer for the NY Philharmonic for many years.

Why Konexio?

"I appreciate the skill building that Konexio offers to motivated individuals. I appreciate the fact that it is a global initiative."