Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Timothy Cameron. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Timothy, thanks for joining us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business
As the Founder of a non profit public charity designed to provide underserved youth with an opportunity for a brighter future, it is often a challenge to break through cultural and social barriers to effectively inspire change. At Stella’s Child, we strive to help youth overcome the stereotypes they grow up with merely because they come from poor families. These talented and creative youth simply lack access to opportunity by mere circumstance of birth. We try to build their confidence, self-esteem, help them discover their strengths and weaknesses and to find their passion. We supplement our life skills programs with entrepreneurship seminars where the youth actually build a brand, our FirstEmploy program that prepares kids for life after high school, as well as graduate internship opportunities working with Stella’s Child in the areas of program development, social media, finance, and mentoring.
One of my favorite stories to tell is a clear demonstration that a mind-shift is possible. That the youth can grow and develop and set a new trajectory for themselves and their families. The story is about a 15-year old girl named Eka. When I met Eka, her DREAM JOB was to be a cook. It soon grew to be a chef. Then an international chef. Then an international chef that inspires cuisine that will also protect the Indonesian and Balinese cultures. Upon graduation from high school, I conducted an exit interview with Eka to learn about her next steps in attaining her culinary dream. She said “Tim, I think you’re going to be upset with me. I have decided not to go on to university to study culinary arts.” I explained to her that I was not upset, but confused. Confused because she always seemed so excited about her culinary aspirations (and she had the talent to do it too!). She went on to say, “Through the Stella’s Child programs, I learned that I am good with math and I enjoy working with numbers. I have decided to go to university to study finance. This will allow me to get a good paying job doing something I enjoy and that will enable me to financially support my family and to grow my culinary skills to reach my dream.” I nearly fell off of my chair and exclaimed “EKA….THIS IS EXACTLY what we try to teach you kids! I am so impressed and delighted with your decision!” During her university years, Eka was hired for a paid internship with Stella’s Child and assisted us in migrating our financials from spreadsheets to a cloud based accounting system and guided us through 3-years of independent financial audit with no findings.
Eka is a testament to the core mission of our organization and a role model for her peers.
Timothy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Tim spent 25 years working at senior levels in education and financial services in the USA, including running his own successful businesses. He became a recognized expert in senior management, strategic planning and development, creative problem solving and team building, and served as Chief of Staff in the United States Department of Education. In 2013, he travelled around Southeast Asia. As an education expert he was distressed by the drastic inequalities in education in the countries he visited, and how this led to poverty being repeated through generations. At the same time, he began to realize how many entrepreneurs and professionals from around the world were based in the region and were eager to do something to help tackle inequality. He realized that matching this developed talent with the undeveloped talent of Southeast Asia’s children might be part of the solution to the limited opportunities he had observed, and the idea for Stella’s Child was born. Inspired, he left the corporate world, sold his possessions, and moved to Bali to set up Stella’s Child with his own money. His strategic, ambitious, results driven approach saw the organization rapidly expand from working with 15 children to almost 300 just 3 years later. The network of expert volunteers who have signed up to support his vision and help mentor the children to become entrepreneurs and dynamic potential employees has grown by 200% and include representatives from more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas. The Stella’s Child programs he developed and implemented have borne extraordinary results and led to 100% of its graduates going on to find meaningful employment – with earnings exponentially higher than the national minimum wage. Driven by Tim’s passion, vision strategic thinking, management expertise and creativity, Stella’s Child has only just begun.
At Stella’s Child, we believe in creating a supportive environment where young people can develop essential life skills, cultivate their creativity and leadership abilities, and gain confidence with the help of our expert team of mentors from diverse cultural backgrounds. Our immersive programs offer inter-cultural exchange opportunities to broaden the youth’s understanding and prepare them to thrive in a global context, promoting cooperation and potentially shaping future community policies. We offer a range of programs, that focus on developing the youth’s critical thinking, independence, self-awareness, business acumen, work ethic, time management, financial literacy, communication, and social and emotional intelligence. Through a combination of experiences, we help the youth grow their core competencies and discover their passions, enabling them to pursue their unique paths to success as they transition from children’s homes and orphanages to the workforce.
Our focus at Stella’s Child is on empowering underprivileged youth aged 16-19 who come from low-income families, orphanages, or children’s homes. Unlike their American counterparts, these young people often lack the confidence to dream big and have limited opportunities for personal growth and development. In Bali, the hospitality industry is the primary employer, and vocational training programs are popular, but many of these programs fail to deliver on their promises, leading to higher rates of youth unemployment. Graduates of vocational high schools, for instance, contributed to 32.2% of Bali’s unemployment rate in 2020(1). Many students take loans from job placement agencies that offer false hopes to the youth of hospitality employment opportunities that further propel the youth to deeper disadvantages. At Stella’s Child, we take a different approach by offering self-development programs that help young people build the confidence and skills they need to succeed in a variety of industries, including hospitality, business development, aviation engineering, fashion, and social media management. By connecting our youth with mentors, volunteers, and business networks, we aim to help them achieve their full potential and create a brighter future for themselves and their families.
We aim to provide underprivileged youth with access to opportunities that can unlock their full potential and help them achieve financial independence. Our programs are designed to empower young people, with a special focus on encouraging young Indonesian women to identify their talents and passions and overcome societal barriers to their success. Our team of local and international mentors provides a supportive and culturally enriching learning environment, enabling youth to develop their leadership and public diplomacy skills, and gain access to new employment opportunities, which are not currently available to them.
We recognize that many charity and assistance programs can inadvertently create dependency. That is why we take a different approach by providing employment programs and personalized plans that help youth develop themselves, their communities, and future generations. We believe that success comes from within, and our programs are designed to help young people identify their goals and chart their own paths to success. With the support of our caring community of professionals, we are committed to helping youth reach their full potential and make a positive impact on their communities.
Finding employment can be challenging for anyone, but it can be especially difficult for underprivileged children who lack the resources and expertise to navigate the job market. At our organization, we have made significant progress in developing the skills, self-confidence, and capabilities of underprivileged children, making them more employable.
Our solution involves offering vocational and life skills training to youth and young adults, creating a talent pool of qualified and capable individuals who are ready for employment opportunities. By equipping these young people with the skills they need to succeed, we can help break the cycle of poverty in their families and empower them to create a brighter future. Our approach is scalable and has already been shown to positively impact the lives of many students who have enrolled in our programs. With sufficient resources, there is no limit to the number of lives we can change globally.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Running a non profit inherently builds resilience. There have been many times since 2013 where I thought it was time to close the organization down. These times came as a result of the challenges faced in securing sustainable funding streams, dealing with a less than transparent governmental infrastructure, and understanding how to work around corruption in many situations. From the beginning, I knew that it would be a challenge to succeed in building the organization in Indonesia. In fact, many organizations that I researched in the planning phase specifically excluded funding of programs working with orphanages in Indonesia. I was determined even more by this challenge. I figured if I was working in-country, I could better ensure that funding and programs were delivered to those in need, and not those capitalizing on and exploiting impoverished families. What I wasn’t prepared for, was how difficult it would be at times to navigate through this environment. With the right individuals by my side, and I am talking about students that graduated from our programs now working for the organization, we have weathered many storms over the past 10 years. I am certain that there are more ahead, but after passing a major milestone for a new business organization, I am more confident than ever that we can succeed in our future goals. Loads of lessons have been learned. Loads of new strategies have been developed. And loads more successes are in our future as a result.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In November 2012, I was at a personal and professional crossroad in my life. I was in a job that was not headed in the direction I had hoped and was coming out of a failed relationship. I had a trip to Singapore planned for December and my friend there said to me, “if you’re not happy with the direction your life is headed, why not stay on here in Singapore and figure it out.” I thought she was crazy. But after taking a few days to weigh the pros and cons, I submitted my resignation, sublet my apartment in Washington DC and headed to Asia. While there, I had the opportunity to meet with a Belgian chef that owned several up-scale restaurants in Singapore. He told me, “Tim, you took a big risk in coming here, but if you enter the corporate world here, you will likely find yourself at this same crossroad again. I challenge you to take a bigger risk and to build something from the ground up that you will enjoy doing long-term.” I was shocked and astounded by the impact these words had on me. This guy was right! I hadn’t even thought of what I was doing as ‘taking a risk’ yet I was perplexed about what it would be that I would build. Over the next 3-months, it all came together. My travels in India and Indonesia exposed me to youth that were motivated to learn and grow – something I didn’t really see in the USA. I also was exposed for the first time to the expatriate community. I learned that there were talented men and woman in Singapore that had given up their careers in their home countries to follow their husband or wife on a major career move as an expat in Singapore. I thought….wouldn’t it be cool if we could connect these populations? Provide skills training to motivated learners from men and woman with loads of knowledge and experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stellaschild.org
- Instagram: stellaschild
- Facebook: facebook.com/stellaschild
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stella’s-child