Last week Squarespace was privileged to serve as a host company for Bpeace, a non-profit network of business professionals who volunteer their skills to entrepreneurs in conflict-affected countries. In partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, Bpeace's goal is to create one million jobs across 1000 communities, with the simple belief that more jobs mean less violence. Bpeace Fast Runners are remarkable entrepreneurs from countries like Afghanistan and Rwanda. They all share the vision that employment is the bridge to better education, less poverty, improved health, and ultimately, less violence.

We had the pleasure of hosting two Fast Runners from Afghanistan, both young entrepreneurs, in our office for two days. Reza owns a web and software development company. Farangis is a civil engineer who recently founded her own web hosting and design services provider.

Reza and Farangis spent time with many on our team, with discussions ranging from an overview of our industry, building a successful business, personnel management, strategic and financial planning, sales and marketing, IT and data center infrastructure, and PHP and JavaScript coding. In return we had the opportunity to learn about Afghani perceptions of American business, the challenges of the local business environment in Kabul, female entrepreneurship in their culture, and much more.

Squarespace is proud to have participated in Bpeace, and we look forward to continuing to help Reza and Farangis via email and Skype, and to participating again in 2012.