What is TKN?
Time and Knowledge Nazrana (TKN) is an unconditional gift of Time and Knowledge offered by murids world-wide to Mawlana Hazar Imam during his Golden Jubilee. TKN is based on the tradition of acquiring and sharing knowledge, which is a pillar of Shia Ismaili Muslim history and identity.
The Story
The Northeast Jamat includes a number of well-educated young professionals living and working in major cities including New York, Boston and Washington. Despite this deep pool of talent, identifying and attracting professional volunteers has been a consistent challenge.
It was under this backdrop that Sabeen Virani Dhanani was approached for her TKN assignment by Raheem Haji, the Capacity Development Lead for the Northeast. Rahim asked Sabeen to lead a study that identified the motivations and barriers to volunteering amongst young professionals in the Northeast Jamat.
Sabeen worked with a dynamic team including HR professionals Hannan Mohammed and Zahara Kanji as well as Alim Ladha, an accomplished management strategy consultant who served as an advisor to the team.
Findings
The findings were that the Northeast Jamat has an extremely capable and willing group of young people who are eager to volunteer their time, and more importantly, their knowledge.
An overwhelming number of respondents had been involved or expressed a willingness to be involved in Jamati work. Most of these individuals were not interested in formal appointments or recognition, but valued doing impactful work.
However, due to a variety of constraints including professional demands and the de-centralization of the region (which spans eleven Jamats across several states), these individuals often had trouble identifying opportunities and in turn the Jamati Institutions had difficulty in identifying them.
In addition, some of the individuals who had volunteered in the past felt that their backgrounds were not well-matched with their volunteer assignments, which led to disappointment because of their limited impact.
Others noted that increased communication and flexibility within the Jamati Institutions would create a more enabling environment for volunteering.
Discover, Explore and Learn more via Time and Knowledge Nazrana | TKN Stories | Barriers to Volunteering for Well-educated Young Professionals
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