York student explains net generation to world leaders

By Martha Tancock

Jennifer Corriero

Last weekend, Jennifer Corriero had breakfast with Bill Clinton at the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting in New York City. The 21-year-old York business and communications student also touched base with her occasional boss, Bill Gates. Then she hobnobbed with some of the world's other richest and most powerful CEOs and statesmen.

How did she rate an invitation to this elite event? The WEF chose her as one of 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow, bright young entrepreneurs from around the world who have demonstrated a commitment to society or the environment.

Corriero's selling card was www.takingITglobal.org , a Web site she co-founded and still runs. Aimed at young people between 13 and 30 who want to "make a difference" in the world, takingITglobal works as a hub of opportunities, a drop-in centre and library in cyberspace and a platform for individual stories. In two years, 2,000 members from 124 countries have signed up. They share their experiences on personal update pages. They can find out about events, scholarships and non-profit organizations around the world. They can download a kit on how to organize a workshop. The Web site epitomizes the kind of socially and environmentally responsible entrepreneurship the non-profit, non-partisan, corporate-funded WEF promotes.

TakingITglobal has thrust Corriero into the limelight. Suddenly, the media and CEOs are deferring to her as a spokesperson for the net generation. But Corriero sees technology as a servant rather than a master. It's a source of information, a means not an end. "It's a way to get to where you want to go," she says. TakingITglobal, for instance, works as "an extension of personal experience," a place to swap stories and share skills.

Maurice Strong her fan

Corriero was nominated for Global Leader by two eminent Canadians: Maurice Strong, environmental crusader, adviser to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and former adviser to the president of the World Bank, and Don Tapscott, author of The Digital Economy and Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. She met them through friends of friends, by being in the right place at the right time. And she made a big impression.

Correiro had learned Web design skills during a York University-based, IBM and federal government-sponsored summer program called KidsNRG when she was in high school. Less a techie and more a designer, the leader in her began managing client Web-design projects.

Feminist and philanthropist Nancy Ruth hired her to develop a Canadian women's history Web site called www.coolgirls.org , the daughter site of Ruth's www.coolwomen.org . Ruth introduced her to Charles Coffey, Royal Bank Financial Group executive vice-president government relations and community affairs, known for supporting women's initiatives. During a meeting in Coffey's office, Canadian volunteer diva Bluma Appel breezed into his office seeking "smart-ass techies" for a Pollution Probe gala. Corriero put up her hand. At the gala, Appel introduced her to Strong.

Such random encounters with influential people are part luck. Corriero is her father's daughter ­ aiming to do her best and make a difference. In Grade 7, she directed a play, in Grade 8 played Louisa in Sound of Music and trained to compete in a track meet in Italy. Oozing talent in math and sciences, art and sports, Corriero attended the prestigious Shad Valley summer camp for bright, well-rounded international students. She's attended international conferences and sports meets on her own steam, with money she's raised. Her first scholarship came from Schulich School of Business.

Jenergy's vision

It's hard to keep up with Jenergy, as her friends call her. She's a sponge for learning, for meeting new people, for ideas. A conversation with a homeless man in a doughnut shop is as interesting as a teenager's conquest of Mount Everest. She'll change directions whenever something catches her interest. In her first year at Schulich, she signed a six-month contract and moved to Seattle to advise Microsoft on net-generation products. "I have a clear vision of where I'm going, but not of the path to get there."

"People are dreamers," says Correiro. Including her. TakingITglobal is part of her dream "to create the workplace, learning environment and resource centre of the future." And not just on the Internet. One day she hopes takingITglobal will spawn a network of 50 resource centres around the world like the Web site's office at the YMCA in downtown Toronto.

"I feel that a lot of non-profits are under-resourced," says Corriero. "If we can help strengthen the efforts of those who are trying to improve our world, we will."

Living is about fulfilling potential. Her talent, she has discovered, lies in motivating other people. "I can inspire others and they can inspire me. And together we can do great things.