TEDxPSU – Ian Rosenberger – Self-development to Developing Countries

Ian Rosenberger is a former Survivor: Palau contestant and MTV MADE coach. Professionally, he has nearly 10 years of experience studying economic redevelopment in Western and South-Central Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean. In 2010, shortly after the Port-au-Prince earthquake, Ian founded Team Tassy, a foundation that breaks poverty cycles by identifying, saving, and mentoring through adulthood dying children whose access to life-saving medical procedures have been cut off due to finances, the earthquake, or both. It became clear to him through his work with Team Tassy, that while nimble and intelligent NGOs are vital to redevelopment economics, in order to truly own their own futures, poor people need safe, fair jobs. So, Ian created Thread, a for-profit social brand that takes trash from the streets of the developing world and turns it into goods, jobs, and futures. Ian is a proud Penn Stater, where he was elected as the university’s Undergraduate Student Government President in 2003.

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