Sustainability Graduate Spotlight - Pierre Yimbog
The United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) pledges to ‘leave no one behind’. This central ambition would have all UN Member States commit to the eradication of poverty in all its forms, the cessation of discrimination and exclusion, and the reduction of inequalities and vulnerabilities for those left furthest behind.
Discriminatory laws, weak policies and anti-social practices that leave groups of people further behind pose a fundamental threat to a country’s ability to meet the UN SDGs, namely SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities.
Published by Social Justice Ireland in February 2023, the Sustainable Progress Index ranked Ireland in 8th place out of 14 EU countries on progress towards the UN SDGs, with a serious underperformance to make progress in areas such as poverty, inequality and climate action.
In this fifth edition of the Sustainability Graduate Spotlight series, we are focusing on SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, namely targets 10:2* and 10.3**, and shining a spotlight on Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Graduate, Pierre Yimbog who advocates for better social inclusion in Ireland.
Pierre Yimbog
Pierre Yimbog is the Co-founder of Black and Irish, which was established in June 2020 to advocate for and make Ireland an inclusive society for the black and mixed-race Irish community.
Pierre is also the Co-Founder & CEO of SoloBook; an early stage travel start-up that he began in February 2023 and hopes to launch into the market later this year.
He’s also been recently inaugurated as President for the young professional network; Junior Chambers International Dublin, which seeks to support the professional development of professionals and entrepreneurs.
Previous to his more recent ventures, Pierre worked for Engineers Ireland as Community Engagement Executive.
We caught up with Pierre to learn about his journey from education through to his work on social inclusion. Pierre tells us that “the most exciting element of my work is being an entrepreneur and building both a non-for profit business tackling social issues affecting the black and mixed raced community, and on the other hand embarking on the challenge of building my own travel start up with no technical expertise but with the passion for solo travelling.”
During his time at the University, Pierre was heavily involved in student activities and after his academic studies he continued on to become Vice President for Education and President for DIT Students’ Union during the 2017 – 2019 academic years. Pierre shared with us that “I count myself privileged to have been part of the formation of TU Dublin and becoming the first President of TU Dublin Students’ Union in the 2019/20 academic year.”
Educational Experience
Pierre studied at the former DIT, and graduated with a Bachelor of Law in 2017. The Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree (TU918) is now delivered in TU Dublin by the School of Social Sciences, Law and Education.
He also has a Diploma in Technology and Intellectual Property Law from the Law Society of Ireland and is currently undertaking a Masters in Corporate Governance at the University of Law.
When asked what motivated him to study Law, Pierre told us:
I chose law as I was good at history and learning about facts in secondary school and then I participated in the Trinity Access Programme Pathways to Law programme during 4th year which gave me an insight into the legal industry which I saw as a potential career.
When Pierre visited the DIT Open Day at the Aungier Street Campus, he was informed of the small class sizes and the opportunity to have good engagement with lecturers during the education journey. The course lived up to that promise, with Pierre advocating that he would choose it again even if he wouldn’t become a solicitor because of the learnings and experience it provided.
Applying new Skills and Knowledge
We wanted to know what key skills and knowledge Pierre took from the course that he has applied to his advocacy work. Pierre told us that “I developed having a keen eye for detail, understanding very legal and technical terms, and being apply to them to current situations and real world problems.”
Although Pierre hasn’t gone on to qualify and practice as a solicitor like some of his peers, he’s pursued further studies in law and in the areas that he gets to apply in his companies today.
Pierre tells us that he also got the opportunity to develop his soft skills in communication, public speaking and leading teams and projects from being involved in Clubs & Societies and the Students’ Union. If it wasn’t for getting actively involved in campus life, he says he wouldn’t be where he is today and doing the things he loves.
What does #TUDublinSustainability mean to you?
To me, 'TU Dublin Sustainability' means understanding what you need to do in practice to be able to not only survive tomorrow, next year but far into the future and doing better for all those affected along the way.
Notes:
*10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
**Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard.