Futurewhiz’s new young management duo!
Sol May Olivares
Last week, our office was buzzing with excitement as welcomed a fresh, young management team. Vanessa (12) and Adam (13) from primary school Blijhaven in Amsterdam were two of the 719 students that participated in the 10th edition of the project ‘Baas van morgen’ (Boss of Tomorrow). This project, an initiative by non-profit organisation JINC, helps children gain knowledge on how to run a business. Surely Chief Product Owner Jeroen Munk was very impressed by these students and described the day as “the best day of the year for our team, with our products in such good hands” . Curious about what made such an impact? Then read further!
After a breakfast conference and a welcome word by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema in Move, Jeroen brought the students to the Futurewhiz office. They kick off the day with a tour of the office, getting to know the different departments, meeting rooms, and the studio where all StudyGo clips are recorded. Now it’s time to really get to work! First they joined the UX workshop where they learned about making apps and websites that are easy and enjoyable for everyone to use. Afterwards they applied their critical thinking to test Squla and give feedback on its new reward element. They also packed and sent packages for the customer support team. Then it’s time for the managementteam (MT) meeting, which is a gathering of all the managers to update each other on their work. Adam critically noted:“It was not boring, but it took a bit long, we might as well have done something else.”. Time flies by and before they realise it, it’s time to have lunch with all the colleagues. At Futurewhiz, we make sure our friends, guests, and colleagues never leave with an empty stomach. It just so happened that every Thursday is snack day here, so Adam and Vanessa joined the team on the perfect day.
Good food leads to new energy: what a perfect time to start a brainstorm session! The students are sitting together with some colleagues to talk about the future of Squla. It was an inspiring session that sparked several out of the box ideas, such as working with AI. This was a great intro for the next workshop: the AI workshop. Adam and Vanessa were able to test and design a new AI tutor for StudyGo – how cool!
We wrapped up the day with a feedback session and asked the students some questions. What did they think of the office how did they like the workshops, and how awesome were the snacks? But, above all, what valuable lessons have they learned that they can apply to their future? Vanessa and Adam are very excited and really enjoyed the day. Adam’s favorite workshop was the brainstorm session and he liked that everyone could give their opinion. For Vanessa, her favourite activity was helping the customer service by packing the goods. Learning is what project Baas van Morgen by JINC is really about. JINC believes in equal opportunities for every child and gives children the chance to experience how a company works and what it’s like to network. That way, they enter the job market with more confidence. We are very proud of Adam and Vanessa, a power duo in our management team 🚀.
About JINC
JINC believes that every child has talent, including the hundreds of thousands of Dutch children that grow up in disadvantaged socio-economic environments. That is why they strive for a society in which your background does not determine your future. A Netherlands where every child has equal opportunities.