Did you know that when surveyed across the globe, folks under the age of 35 said the No. 1 thing they wanted was jobs?
One year ago, I had the honor of taking the stage at the Social Good Summit alongside some of my dearest friends and talking about how technology is going to help create a more sustainable future through job creation and entrepreneurship.
We discussed how Leila Janah's Samasource and her newly launched company LXMI are creating a better world for those who need jobs and helping lift them out of poverty; how Trisa Thompson is using Dell's 2020 Legacy of Good goals to help underprivileged youths through solar-powered Learning Labs; and how Adrian Grenier's work around reducing ocean plastics and the Lonely Whale Foundation is bringing visibility to a massive environmental issue.
That week, the United Nation passed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or what I like to call the world's to-do list. It's a comprehensive set of objectives covering everything from cleaner oceans to equality for women to ending hunger, and by accomplishing these goals by 2030, we can make the world an infinitely healthier, cleaner, more productive place.
The goal that I threw my weight behind--alongside Michael Dell--was Goal 8: global job creation and entrepreneurship. Together with the forces at Dell, we rallied support from world leaders, heads of companies, and entrepreneurs to make sure that decent work for all was a priority for the UN.
We started the #EntrepreneursUNite movement and garnered feedback and support from people around the world who also believe that employment is the answer to getting the economy on track, enriching communities and giving everyone a shot at a fulfilling and productive life. At the end of the campaign, we had gathered more than 1.3 billion actions, and knew that we were on to something!
Thanks to the overwhelming support we received, Goal 8 was officially adopted into the SDGs. Over the course of the past year, we've been standing behind the goal and working with other companies and entrepreneurs to support job creation around the world.
I've seen the results of what determined entrepreneurs can make happen, especially when it comes to job creation. Entrepreneurs create 70 percent of jobs, and up to 90 percent in developing nations. While large companies certainly have a role to play, I'm putting my trust in small businesses to create the most new job opportunities.
One of the best parts of my job is meeting many of these entrepreneurs who are out there giving it their all and working tirelessly to become profitable, scalable, badass companies.
I had the chance to meet an abundance of especially amazing ones at the Dell Women Entrepreneur's Network Summit this summer in Cape Town, South Africa. This annual gathering of global, high-growth women entrepreneurs is always an incredible melting pot of ladies who are out there hustling hard, breaking down barriers and creating unbelievable businesses.
One such woman is Sarah Collins, founder of the Wonderbag--a non-electric slow cooker that she's using to help end global poverty. By employing a buy-one-give-one model, the Wonderbag is helping with many of the SDGs, such as good health, gender equality, creating sustainable communities and ending deforestation.
At this year's Social Good Summit, I took the stage with Sarah as we discussed concepts such as time poverty--something that afflicts everyone in the world, from women in Africa who spend 6-8 hours a day collecting firewood and cooking over open flames, to American women working full time jobs and going home for a second shift to care for their families.
I know that people like Sarah who are out there running businesses and creating jobs for people in their communities are moving the needle on Goal 8, along with so many other SDGs. I'm confident that if we continue to enable entrepreneurs like her with the right technology, proper access to capital and supportive networks, they'll continue to thrive and provide the jobs this world needs.
This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post to mark the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, or, officially, "Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development"). The SDGs represent an historic agreement -- a wide-ranging roadmap to sustainability covering 17 goals and 169 targets -- but stakeholders must also be held accountable for their commitments. To see all the posts in the series, visit here.