# RefugeesWork

INFORMATION ON THE NOMINEE

Nina Breznik
RefugeesWork.com
Founder
Rummelsburgerstrasse 47b, 10315 Berlin, Germany
[e-mail]

**Briefly describe the nominee's professional background:**
Nina studied Policy analysis and Public administration and graduated in 2005 with thesis on Challenges of youth unemployment. She was active in startup environment and also received investment in her startup. Later she learned programming and works as a coach for entrepreneurship and programming.

> Alex is an open source JavaScript developer and activist. He started his career as a researcher at SAP and Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics. He works as a tech consultant and is also a co-founder of Berlin based programming school.

**Please tell us why the nominee should be considered for the award:**
Together with their team at RefugeesWork, Nina and Alex spent the last year and a half working actively with helping refugees in Germany fight problems of employment. They focus on teaching refugees IT skills and connecting them to remote IT jobs. There is a big demand for IT professions and remote jobs enable any refugee, no matter where she/he is to apply for online jobs. The team developed 2 platforms: first for teaching IT skills and second for connecting refugees with job opportunities.

**Please describe how forcibly displaced or stateless persons have directly benefited from the nominee's work:**
Many refugees joined the learning program which they can do online even from the camps. All they need is a computer and internet. Next to that, some of them succesfully got their first internships or even jobs.There is over 500 people using their online platforms and there is a big potencial for refugees who are struggling with job opportunities because of language barrier, lack of skills needed in the new country or discrimination. Online jobs don't discriminate so this open many opoortunities for safe income and also brings more mobility to the people, since they have their jobs always with them, no matter where they move. So in the future, they can go back home, without losing a career they were invesiting in.

**List any publications or articles about the nominee (can include videos, online articles, blogs):**
1. Edgeryders (a project of the Council of Europe and the European Commission) (UK)
https://edgeryders.eu/en/refugeeswork-programming-skills-for-a-new-generation-of-freelancers-to?utm_content=bufferb21f3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

2. Labsus (Laboratory for the governance of the commons) (IT)
http://www.labsus.org/2016/09/refugeeswork-lintegrazione-attraverso-il-lavoro-autonomo-dei-rifugiati/

3. Berliner Morgenpost (DE)
http://www.labsus.org/2016/09/refugeeswork-lintegrazione-attraverso-il-lavoro-autonomo-dei-rifugiati/

4. Platform Cooperativism Consortium (USA)
http://platformcoop.net/stories/refugeeswork

5. Open knowledge foundation Germany (DE)
http://codefor.de/projekte/2016-07-20-be-drl-refugeeworks

References

Michael Newson
Senior Labour Mobility & Human Development Specialist at International Organization for Migration - MENA Regional Office
[e-mail]

Dr. Trebor Scholz
Associate Professor for Culture & Media at The New School in New York City
[e-mail]

Shana Krakowski
Director of Microfy.org
[e-mail]