Ronit Avni founded Localized, a platform that unlocks educated talent for global companies, because she wanted to enable talented professionals living in emerging markets to have world-class career opportunities regardless of where they live. As an immigrant to the United States, Avni knew firsthand that poor local economic conditions often lead to “brain drain” in which educated workers leave their home countries to seek better jobs elsewhere. “Many countries lose 30% of their population to brain drain,” says Avni. “They're losing all this talent that they have nurtured.”As a social entrepreneur who previously started and exited a successful mission-driven media company, Avni saw an opportunity to help reverse this trend. The combination of mobile device penetration around the world, internet connectivity, and a knowledge economy now makes it possible for people to work and learn from others across geographies and time zones. “None of this is rocket science, but it is a fundamental shift in how these interactions happen,” she says. With the ability to connect to global firms through technology, professionals no longer have to leave the countries where they’ve been raised to find a job. The resulting “brain gain” can increase the share of knowledge economy jobs in countries that have previously struggled to grow in knowledge-intensive industries.

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