University of Kentucky MBA students, in coordination with their Entrepreneurship and Business Start-Ups course offered in both the One Year MBA and Professional MBA program at the Gatton College of Business and Economics, are applying what they are learning in class to help The Welcome Card. The Welcome Card’s pain point is simple to identify, yet complex to solve, which is to address the incredibly long wait times associated with the processing of the growing number of refugee and asylum applications around the world.
According to the Welcome Card’s site, a record 1.3 million refugees crossed into Europe in 2015. Between 2015 and 2016, more than 2.5 million people applied for asylum in the EU. By the end of 2016, authorities in the member states issued 593,000 first instance asylum decisions. In 2015, Sweden received 162,877 asylum applications, which was a 300% increase since 2013. As a result, asylum seekers have difficulties dealing with the waiting time and stillness of the asylum-seeking process. Currently, asylum seekers face an average waiting time of 12-21 months. During this period, asylum seekers are unable to obtain employment, drivers licenses and restart their lives in a safer home. Additionally, most asylum seekers wish for more information about the process and about the expected time for a decision.
Jasmine Afshar, a current UK MBA student says, “The immigration processing system is extremely outdated. By losing a piece of paper, an asylum seekers case approval can be delayed for months and even years. The Welcome Card allows for live updates at refugee and asylum seekers fingertips through their mobile devices and in their native language. It offers the opportunity to have access to the information, resources, and networks necessary to reach self-sufficiency faster. Our team is collaborating with UK's ACM-W to develop the application. Our first goal is to offer the application for beta testing by local immigration agencies by the end of the year. Ultimately, our goal is to create a streamlined application process and ensure immigrants and governments alike have the technology needed to welcome our neighbors."
The Welcome Card seeks to address this problem by providing adaptable systemic solutions regarding the refugee crisis that would ultimately help refugees and asylum seekers overcome their obstacles in gaining citizenship in a timely fashion. This digital platform allows asylum seekers (users) to navigate their own asylum-seeking application process, by providing them with secure individual access to their case status on mobile and desktop.
Adjunct Professor at Gatton, Mr. David Goodnight, says, “The Entrepreneurship & Business Start-Ups (MBA 624) course is all about taking a significant project, raising funds and starting a company. We engage teams in a real-world experience more than simulation. The Welcome Card, as a non-profit, is applying start-up principles to build a pitch deck. The principals are the same and can be successfully applied to attract funds to make their goals a reality."
The Welcome Card’s story began on May 20, 2016, when their team came together during a 12-hour workshop to tackle the refugee crisis through design. Their concept was born out of their human-centered design investigation, which they continue to develop in Lexington, Kentucky. Their team consists of people with a diverse interdisciplinary background who believe that any individual can offer creative solutions and alternative perspectives to some of the world’s biggest challenges, traditionally handled by governmental institutions.
Pictured from left to right are current UK MBA students working with the Welcome Card: Andy Conway, Jasmine Afshar, Ches Hill, Grahito Soetarso and Daniel Walker (not pictured).
