College of Communication & Information undergraduate student Omar Ismail was a featured speaker in the panel discussion “Social Entrepreneurship: Investing in Your Ideas for Global Change” organized by Florida State University’s Center for Global Engagement on Feb. 19.  It was a part of the “Engage Your World: Intercultural Dialogue Series.”

Ismail’s interest in social entrepreneurship piqued while growing up in Bangladesh.  He was inspired by the work of fellow countryman Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who is a pioneer in the field of social enterprise.

Dr. Yunus founded Grameen Bank in Bangladesh – an innovative banking program that provides poor people, mainly women, with small loans so they can launch businesses and lift their families out of poverty.  Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts and wrote the book, “Creating a World Without Poverty,” which sparked Ismail’s goal of working for the betterment of society.

“Dr. Yunus has said, ‘Poverty is something which is created,’” Ismail commented. “’It is not something than can’t be undone from the world. It could be something that could go to the museum.’”

Almost three years ago, Ismail emigrated from Bangladesh with his mother.  He earned an associate’s degree from Broward College before transferring to Florida State last fall to pursue his Bachelor’s degree in Media and Communication Studies with a minor in Information Studies.

“I would like to work in the field of Information Technology and build my career as a social entrepreneur focusing in creating a bridge among the people with the help of IT,” Ismail said. “I will work on creating a fruitful information system for healthcare and education for remote areas around the globe. I believe that information needs to be free and open for all.”

“Using information and communication technologies to support healthcare delivery is a very important area of research and application in the developing and the developed world today,” Dr. Steve McDowell, CCI’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs said.  “We are very glad to see Omar Ismail taking this initiative.”

While Ismail’s goal is to eventually work in IT as a social entrepreneur, he believes his study of communications is just as important in the field.

“I think it is important in every sector how to communicate with people,” Ismail said.  “Social enterprise means lots of networking with people. I find that studying communication can give me the knowledge and experience to learn about how to deal with people.  If I want to work in healthcare or education, I have to go to the people who need the help, and also go to benefactors and investors who are on the business side.”

Ismail eventually plans to return to Bangladesh as an intern to gain the experience necessary to further his career as a social entrepreneur, while also developing his own social enterprise projects.

“It’s not just my country – the whole world is using social enterprise,” Ismail said.