Talenpac is a training firm specialised in designing and delivering programs for refugees living in Malaysia. Our flagship program is a 5-month micro-entrepreneurship and leadership development program which equips refugees with the tools and resources on how to start or grow a small business.
Our Why
Restoring Dignity
Every individual regardless of their circumstances, background or identity deserves to be able to live a dignified existence. Entrepreneurship can restore a sense of dignity and control to refugees who may have lost their homes, jobs, and communities. It gives them the opportunity to apply their unique skill sets to generate income in a new country.
Economic Self-Suffiency
Refugees often face significant barriers to finding traditional employment due to lack of legal rights, language barriers, lack of recognized credentials, or discrimination. Entrepreneurship offers them a path to economic self-sufficiency, allowing them to create their own livelihoods regardless of their age, education level or family commitments.
Skills Training
Entrepreneurship skills training encompasses a wide range of competencies, such as business planning, marketing and financial management. It also comprises transferable skills such as communication, problem-solving, leadership, adaptability and creativity which can be applied across various contexts and industries.
Our Approach
Our approach is a weekly in-person program over 5 months designed to equip participants with the essential business skills required to start or grow an existing micro-business. Besides business skills, participants develop self-awareness and leadership skills during the program. We alternate workshops with personalised coaching and support group sessions to ensure we cater to their unique business and personal needs. Participants who demonstrate they have a viable business model can apply for a small business capital grant to purchase necessary equipment or materials to start their business. Our workshop modules include Idea Generation, Minimum Viable Product, Bookkeeping, Costing & Pricing, Marketing, Quality & Presentation, Business Planning and Communication Skills.
Our Supporters
UNHCR Malaysia
We designed and implemented a micro-enterprise development (MED) program for UNHCR in 2018 for 30 asylum seekers and refugees from the Afghan, Somali, Sudanese and Yemeni communities residing in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. This was a 6-month intensive program that combined weekly workshops and coaching sessions to help aspiring entrepreneurs start their businesses. Participants were guided through idea generation, business model development, business validation, go to market strategies, financing strategies and growth strategies.
Yayasan Hasanah
Yayasan Hasanah is an impact-based foundation striving to create real and lasting positive social and environmental changes for Malaysia. Between 2020 to 2023, we were selected to design and implement micro-entrepreneurship development programs for a total of 140 refugee participants living in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor to help them start or scale small businesses which could help increase their household income post the Covid-19 pandemic.
About Us
We wanted to find a solution to the livelihood challenge faced by refugees living in Malaysia given the lack of legal work rights. We knew education inequality, cultural norms and caregiving responsibilities often put women refugees at a disadvantage when it came to accessing livelihood opportunities. We ran a pilot program in 2017 to test a micro-entrepreneurship program we had put together to encourage refugees to start a home based business which could generate some income for them. The positive feedback and results encouraged us to tweak and improve our content and this led us to partnerships which has allowed us to reach and impact many more refugees.
Our Team
Charu Agarwal
CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
Charu is trained as a lawyer but has been working in the field of social impact for more than 15 years. Her collective work experience with Teach for Malaysia, the UN Refugee Agency, Muskaan, a nonprofit based in India and starting her own social enterprise MAD, to fund water and sanitation projects in Sri Lanka and Cambodia has given her a unique insight into understanding the complexities of poverty alleviation.
She has a proven ability to design and deliver projects with a focus on impact. She also has over 300 hours of training & facilitation experience.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Queensland, a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and completed her MBA in Athens in 2020.
Connect with her at charu@talenpac.com
Navin Muruga
CO-FOUNDER AND ADVISOR
Prior to founding Talenpac, Navin was an Acumen Global Fellow and was placed as an interim COO for a social enterprise in Bhopal, India. In his role as COO, he worked to increase the household income of poor dairy farmers in rural India by connecting them to India’s commercial dairy market.
Prior to his fellowship year at Acumen, Navin was an avid fundraiser and project implementor for water and sanitation (WASH) projects in developing countries. His work in raising money for WASH projects has helped over 11,000 people gain access to clean drinking water.
For his commitment to social impact, Navin has been invited twice to speak at TEDx and was awarded the Arthur Guinness “Entrepreneurs for Good” prize.
Connect with him at navin@talenpac.com
Sara
PROGRAM MANAGER
Sara is from Afghanistan and started her journey with Talenpac in 2018 as a program participant in our first Micro-Enterprise Development (MED) program for refugees.
She started a very profitable small sandwich business during the program and was recognised as the program’s top performer that year. She subsequently joined a community health organisation to raise awareness on mental health among the refugee population in Malaysia.
Sara worked with Talenpac as a part-time business coach and project coordinator during our 2020 MED program and she joined us full-time in October 2021 as a workshop trainer and business coach.