Jacob Korenblum is a well-known leader in digital strategy for businesses. He has been responsible for designing and launching digital solutions to real-world problems in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East for over 15 years. The Financial Times, Forbes, Devex, and Scientific American, all well-known publications, have all written about his work. Korenblum lives in Toronto, Ontario, and he likes sailing there.

Social initiatives and new ideas as a career

From the start of his career, Korenblum worked on programs that helped people worldwide. After getting his bachelor's degree, Korenblum started working for the Education Development Center in Washington, D.C., which is a non-profit organization with a global reach. EDC works to find ways to improve the lives of families worldwide. They do this by helping people in 80 countries get better jobs, education, and health care.

Jacob Korenblum moved up quickly at EDC and became the director of monitoring, evaluation, and communications for a project in the Middle East. He lived and worked for a few years in the Middle East.

After his work with EDC, Jacob took a job with OXFAM, another well-known non-profit. This international non-profit organization helps more than 25 million people every year by making programs to promote gender equality, economic opportunities, and action on climate change on a global scale. From 2008 to 2010, Korenblum went to Malawi, India, Haiti, and Kenya to help with important economic projects in poor places. He was the team leader for several projects that looked at microenterprises and used mobile technology during this time.

The Start of a New Social Business

During his time in the Middle East in the early 2000s, Korenblum noticed a surprising lack of internet access. This was a problem and a chance for more economic freedom. Due to limited network coverage and high costs, it was only possible for some families in Palestine, in particular, to get reliable internet service. At the same time, Jacob Korenblum noticed that about 80% of the people in the area had cell phones.

This happened in a huge number of developing countries all over the world. Even though there wasn't much internet access, many people used mobile devices. In 2005, Korenblum started an organization called Souktel, which comes from the Arabic words for "market" and "telephone." This social business aimed to put job seekers in touch with employers without needing the internet.

Through Souktel, Korenblum helped thousands of people in Palestine who used mobile phones to find local jobs. Over more than ten years, he helped the social enterprise become a trusted partner in many countries, helping over 500,000 users in about 30 countries. The group also worked with partners to start several social programs. For example, they helped communities get free legal advice and gave women in the Middle East the tools they needed to get jobs outside the home.

An Emphasis on Digital Careers

In 2018, Jacob Korenblum changed the focus of his career from managing non-profits to working in government and the private sector. From 2018 to 2021, Korenblum was in charge of making digital policies for the Ontario government. In this job, he helped the Ontario Digital Service develop policies that made it easier for Ontarians to get better, faster, and simpler digital services, such as COVID services used all over Canada.

History in school

In 2004, Korenblum got a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Toronto. In 2005, Korenblum was given a Fellowship in Social Enterprise by the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation. Korenblum finished his master's at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2006. He got a Master of Education focusing on international education policy and social enterprise.

Achievements Worth Mentioning

Korenblum has advised the UNESCO Pearson Digital Literacy Initiative and written for UNICEF. In the same way, he was a member of the Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit's advisory board from 2016 to 2018.

Work for charity

Jacob Korenblum has been a strategic advisor to The Global Citizens' Initiative for more than four years. The Global Citizens' Initiative is a worldwide group whose members work together to promote human rights, sustainability, climate protection, conflict resolution, and other humanitarian goals.

Korenblum still cares about social issues worldwide, and he enjoys using his time, experience, and business skills to help small business owners and communities worldwide.