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#11 - Lucas Perlman, Partnerships at MaRS Discovery District

Daniel Lee

#11 - Audit to Africa and startup partnerships at MaRS Discovery District with Lucas Perlman

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Join in for a conversation with Lucas Perlman, International Partnership Manager at MaRS Discovery District. I've had a lot of friends in the professional services field like accounting, consulting and finance tell me about how they want to do work that is more impactful and meaningful to them. Some have even told me about wanting to take some time off to go on a trip to a developing country to help out the local businesses there. Well, today's guest did just that. Lucas left audit to go help out local businesses in Tanzania through a corporation called Anza, which is practically the Mars discovery district of Tanzania. We go through the decision making process he had in taking the leap, the value of taking career risks earlier on and what he does in his new business development role at MaRS. For those who want to try something similar to what Lucas did he discusses a partnership program you can take part in over a 3 month period and he has also given me links to other programs he wanted to share with you. I've included these links in the shownotes so check them out after listening to the interview. So without further adieu here is my conversation with Lucas. 

Volunteer Opportunities:

Anza’s International Professional Program - http://anza.co.com/international-professionals/

  • ~3 month in-country assignments working with Anza supported entrepreneurs

CUSO -  https://cusointernational.org/

  • 6+ month engagements across the world

Escape the City - https://www.escapethecity.org/

  • Job board used by a lot of startups/NGOs in emerging markets