His passion for helping children in Zambia and Uganda was obvious, as was his quick intellect and engaging personality. I would hire Karman as a representative for Fair Trade Sports in a New York second to sell our fairly traded sports balls. He reminded me of several students I know in United Students for Fair Trade (USFT).
And Karman is bright enough to surround himself with a group of co-founders and advisers to round out their overall team.
My friends who are venture capitalists regularly comment that they invest in the person, not the project. In their eyes, the initial project may morph over time (usually does), but if the person is a serious dynamo, the project will eventually succeed (and make the VC a boatload of cash).
It’s encouraging to see emerging leadership within the current generation of college and high school students focusing their skills on issues such as children’s health care in Africa. If you have the opportunity to help with a social venture plan competition at a nearby university, I’d encourage you to say Yes.
Published by Scott James April 12th, 2007 in How you can help.
I first met Karmon Tandon and his co-founder Brandon Teng in the 6th grade, at Bellevue Christian School, as their teacher. Let me say that you are absolutely right in your assessment of their keen sense of passion for kids needing health care. Both of them see that their job in life is to serve the needs of others and they go with the vision! We need leaders like these. It is an honor to have worked with people like Karmon and Brandon.
Evelyn Seymour