Competing for the US$100,000 prize with other finalists at the Varkey Foundation’s 2023 Global Student Prize is 19-year-old Malaysian, Nurul Nazieha Jasnie. Hailing from Kolej Vokasional Keningau (KVK), Kota Belud, Sabah, she is the only Malaysian on that global shortlist.
While working on her diploma course in baking and pastry-making, she sent in an application that showcased her community project on helping women from low-income groups. According to a statement from Varkey Foundation, the programme that Nurul developed with her peers and teachers provided baking classes for single mothers and women from low-income backgrounds.
“In her country, baking is viewed as providing limited career prospects, and Nurul seeks to disprove this assumption by demonstrating how valuable her education choice has been to herself, her peers and her community,” Varkey Foundation shared in the introduction it crafted for Nurul.
“With the skills that Nurul has gained (from KVK), she successfully started her own business called Tiaa Cookie in 2022 while still a school student. Since its launch, she has been constantly improving her business strategy, for example by switching packaging to sustainable paper bags and doing a promotional sale of cookies with personalized positive messages during student mental health week.”
The Varkey Foundation also shared how Nurul’s initiative had trained over 120 women, specifically from the 40% of the population that earns less than the average income, in baking and entrepreneurship. This is so they can use these skills and know-how to make a living.
KVK confirmed that the Varkey Foundation reached out to share how Nurul is the only Malaysian competing at this global event.
Christine Stanislaus Kinsik, Director, KVK, shared how she was confident Nurul’s achievements can help improve the marketability of vocational college graduates in the country.
“It is hoped that Nurul’s achievements can be an inspiration to all students and youths in Sabah and other states (across Malaysia) to continue enhancing the country’s name on the world stage,” she said.
According to The Varkey Foundation, in its own statement to the press, if Nurul wins, she plans to use the funds to expand and transform her business into a social enterprise and combine it with community workshops and public outreach efforts to train more women and help them kickstart their own businesses. Nurul also plans to further her studies with the prize money, with her sights set on securing a Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism.
“She wants to also produce more recipe books (that are) based on the diverse ethnic cultures od Sabah so that the region can preserve its cultural heritage through traditional foods. Some of the funds (will also) go towards getting new recipes tested in established labs to obtain the necessary certificates and accreditations to market her products more widely,” the Foundation added.
Head on over to the 2023 Global Student Prize page to learn more about the Varkey Foundation programme and who the other 50 shortlisted finalists are.