#41 Jim Kouphokham 🇱🇦 - Building the Do-It-Yourself movement in Laos with Xiang Miang and Makerbox Lao

<p>🇱🇦 Jim Kouphokham is the co-founder of Xiang Miang, a youth-led social enterprise developing the entrepreneurial mindset and technology skills of youth. He’s also the co-founder of Makerbox Lao, the first public makerspace in the country, enabling the youth to build things by themselves and adopt a maker mindset instead of a consumer mindset.</p><br><p>💡 Coming from a difficult background, he studied hard to get a scholarship for Australia, where he was exposed to so many new ideas, opportunities and people that made him more creative, entrepreneurial and driven to make a change in Laos.</p><br><p>🤔 Throughout his studies, there was this one question that Jim kept thinking about: how can the youth in Laos also be exposed to these opportunities and be empowered to become problem solvers?&nbsp;</p><br><p>💻 He came back to Laos and started collaborating with schools to conduct the first entrepreneurship bootcamps, data science programs and technology trainings with Xiang Miang.</p><br><p>⚒️ This led him to launch Makerbox for the youth to have their own space to connect, build things with their hands, and learn about topics never heard of in Laos before. It’s a space built by makers, for makers and aspiring makers, for those who want to paint, build their own electric bicycles, discover the Internet of Things, play board games, or just have meaningful conversations!</p><br><p>🗒️<strong> REFERENCES</strong>:</p><p>About <a href="https://www.facebook.com/xiangmiangtech/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xiang Miang</a>.</p><p>About <a href="https://www.facebook.com/makerboxlao/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Makerbox Laos</a>.</p><p>Connect with Jim on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-kouphokham/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Jimmy.KPK" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.</p><br><p>🎧 <strong>Where to listen?</strong></p><p>YouTube:&nbsp;</p><p>Apple Podcasts:&nbsp;</p><p>Spotify:&nbsp;</p><p>Google Podcas