Organization:Kairos Society
Contents
Overview
The Kairos Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit global society founded in 2008 by Ankur Jain (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) and headquartered in the United States. The Kairos Society is an entrepreneurial society that focuses on presenting young entrepreneurs with challenges to sharpen their skills. The Kairos Society specifically targets major global problems as its primary entrepreneurial challenges for its fellows.
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of Kairos (of Greek origin) is "a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action: the opportune and decisive moment." [1] This word powerfully conveys the vision of Ankur Jain, founder and chair of the Kairos Society, who questioned, "What if today's most influential leaders were friends 30 years ago, working together to solve the world’s problems?"[2] This simple statement led to the proliferation of an organization that spans across five continents, bringing together the great minds of our time. The Kairos Society currently partners with Johnson & Johnson, Autodesk, American Airlines, and GE to help solve our world's biggest problems. [2]
Here is a helpful overview video from Karios Society:
Purpose
The purpose of the Kairos Society is to promote unity and collaboration amongst the leaders of tomorrow. By working with one another, the future leaders of our world will understand how they as individuals can play pivotal roles in the problem-solving process and how as a team they can solve seemingly impossible problems such as the gas crisis, pollution, and the overhaul of the healthcare system. The Kairos Society has a strong focus on entrepreneurial candidates, those bold enough to step out with ideas to solve these global problems. Kairos believes binding these individuals together at an early age will springboard future collaboration amongst the leaders of our world.
Events
According to the its website, at this point the Kairos Society organizes three events globally:
- Global Summit: Started in 2009, the Summit focuses on gathering the world's brightest minds together every year to solve the world's bigger problems.
- Mobile Summit: Organized annually, this event is an opportunity to identify and accelerate the next generation of cutting-edge mobile ventures.
- UK Summit: The first Kairos Society UK Summit, organized in 2013 focused largely on the "Future of Education", a topic which the society claims to take particular interest in.
Distinct Differences From Other Offerings
The Kairos society is very different in multiple respects from other clubs. It does not specifically partner with universities in the way that other clubs do. The Kairos Society instead seeks out outstanding candidates and uses a private, word-of-mouth method of recruiting members. The goal of the Kairos society is to build strong regional teams around one or two local leaders. These leaders and their team partner with regional companies to help present young entrepreneurs with real problems to solve. Kairos hopes that these experiences will help promote and launch global entrepreneurial activities.
Impact Achieved For Students and Campus
The Kairos Society uses their student contacts in the region to generate interest. Kairos believes in independence among its members and trusts them to recruit other like-minded individuals. The general idea is for an individual to seek out the Kairos society or vice-versa, there is no mass-recruiting. The selected student can then make their own recruiting decisions, often including their personal collaborators. Fellows must be extremely independent, motivated, and determined to be afuture leader. The Kairos Society is incredibly selective about their fellows; there is not a current published list of schools/regions available of Kairos fellows.
Steps Required To Bring Resource to Campus
The only way to bring Kairos to your campus is to personally apply. There is no commericially available application, the best form of contact with the Kairos Society is through the website, using your credentials in requesting to apply.
Contact Information
fellowship@kairossociety.org
References
