Founder’s Message
As the world experiences accelerated rates of change in everything from automation to the degradation of climate systems, young people face unprecedented challenges. Moreover, in the midst of an industrial revolution that is touching every aspect of every life on Earth, we are seeing hyper-competition, elevated mental health stresses and rates of depression amongst young adults.
At the same time, young people live in an era in which the opportunities to access to knowledge, connect with like-minded individuals and live a life of impact have never been greater. Employing diligence, discipline and collaboration, today’s youth possess the potential to change the world around them in very significant ways.
Path and Purpose has been designed and developed with the express intent of encouraging young people to seize control of their own future and develop a plan to make it a fulfilling, purposeful reality. Consciously constructed to cultivate the hard skills proven to assist in the achievement of goals and the soft skills required to develop a sense of self-reliance and emotional intelligence, the program puts as much emphasis on creativity as it does on analytics. It also embodies my hopes and dreams for my own children, twin boys who are the same age as the young people this program is intended to help.
In part, it reflects my own journey, through which I have witnessed significant economic and political ebbs and flows and have continuously striven to adapt through a combination of education, work-experience and activities intended to positively affect the world in which I live. I have worked in both the public and private sectors, contributing in government, telecom, software/hardware, health care media and financial services, in positions in corporate financial planning, investments, marketing, product management, sales, change management, operations and digital transformation. Through my work with organisations both large and small, I not only cultivated a passion for business but also recognised the benefits of organisations being more accountable for balancing profit and growth with social and environmental aims.
For me, education continues to be a life-long journey: I recently completed a Masters in Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge, lessons from which I am incorporating into my management advisory practice to help businesses embed environmental and social considerations into their decision-making . This helps clients recognize and better understand the links between their profit imperatives and the true costs of achieving them, as impetus for innovation in business practices toward more sustainable business models. At Cambridge, I also completed research on corporate sustainability in financial services, and natural capital valuation initiatives. My dissertation, which earned me a distinction, focused on the location decision making of enterprises within the global cleantech sector. This has led me to found an impact fund to invest in companies that have the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the heart of their business models. Prior to this, I obtained an MBA from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Arts, Economics from the University of Western Ontario. The graduate certificate in Executive Coaching I earned from Royal Roads University has enhanced my ability to facilitate both management and operational teams to achieve success. It has also enabled my coaching and mentoring of many young people to confidently share the brilliance that already exists inside of them.
Path and Purpose was founded in Canada and has been initially conducted in person, but has its sights set on serving a global community of youth, employing online delivery methods to reach a broader audience. It cuts across socioeconomic class and circumstance, and believes that every young person should have the skills to thrive amidst the challenges and opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution. I welcome you to join a growing, global community of individuals striving to discover their purpose and forge their own path to success.
Pravin Rodrigues