Corporate social responsibility

 

Here's a story about how a fast-food eatery need not necessarily bad for you, or the environment:

Eating at a fast food joint may not seem like an inherently progressive thing to do, but if you bite in to one of the Chipotle chain’s tasty oversized burritos, you’re supporting a business dedicated to natural ingredients, environmental awareness, and enthusiasm for education.   

Read more about this solution, or discuss this topic below.

Northern Rockies Sorting Facility

Created on 05/28/2012 by JayleneArnold

The Northern Rockies Sorting Facility will be diverting for-deposit recyclables from oil and gas camp operations, & providing valuable funding in the community.

About You

Organization: Northern Rockies Regional Municipality Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Jaylene

Last Name

Arnold

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Northern Rockies Regional Municipality

Organization Website

Organization Country

Canada, BC, Fort Nelson

Country where this solution is creating social impact

Canada, BC, Fort Nelson

Region in BC where your solution creates social impact

Northern British Columbia.

Is your organization a

Government

How long has your organization been operating?

1‐5 years

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Idea (you're poised to launch)

How long have you been in operation?

Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your solution addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Cost.

The Need: Describe the need for your solution and the size and characteristics of the community(ies) your solution is engaging

Fort Nelson and the Northern Rockies are a remote, northern community experiencing a boom of natural gas exploration with one of the largest shale gas plays in North America. Approximately 11 oil & gas producers operate out of approximately 35 camps in the area, few with sustainability in mind. Fort Nelson, the service centre for the region, lacks a comprehensive recycling program, and as a result, materials from each camp operation (+1,000 people per camp), where even the smallest generate in excess of 30,000 recyclable bottles and cans per month that currently get landfilled as a result of cost effectiveness. For-deposit recyclabes are currently the only waste being counted; cardboard, tin cans, and plastics are neither diverted from the landfill nor measured at present.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

The Northern Rockies Sorting Facility (managed by the Northern Rockies Social Planning Council) has secured agreements with two oil and gas production companies to obtain all of the for-deposit containers produced monthly from their camp operations, transported to Fort Nelson on empty transport back-hauls from the field. Diverting the for-deposit recyclables from the landfill will not only lengthen the life of the landfill, but reduce GHG's and the NRRM's environmental footprint. The operational design of the sorting facility is such that recyclables will be sorted by both people needed casual, temporary labour, those with barriers to employment, and representatives and groups of service and non-profit organizations wishing to raise money for their organizations.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include the primary activities involved in your solution.

For-deposit containers will be diverted at the camp locations, and "donated" to the Northern Rockies Sorting Facility. Casual workers, people with barriers to traditional employment, and representatives from non-profit organizations and group requiring fundraising opportunities will be provided the venue to sort bottles and cans within the facility for per-bag payment. For-deposit recyclables are effectively diverted from the landfill, while income is returned to those who seek casual labour or have barriers to employment, and to groups who provide a variety of services to the community (i.e. Cadets, Friends of Rachel Club, Swim Club, Family Development Society, etc.). The Social Planning Council retains a portion of the value of each bag sorted to cover operational costs and fund further programming.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others working to address the same needs as you and indicate what sets you apart from them.

Currently there is one waste management company operating a Return-It Depot, who has agreed to handle the bagged containers and pay the same deposits on the bags offered to private customers (primarily residential users who wish to sort and return their containers personally). The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) operates a bottle donation drop bin, where non-profits or fundraising groups can sign-up to 'manage' the bin for one month at a time, retaining all bottles and the value associated. The NRRM will likely consolidate the bottle donation bin with the Sorting Facility once operational.

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

On a one year trial, each month, one oil and gas producer "donated" a 40 foot tractor trailer full of recyclable containers to the Friendship Society, who are co-located with Employment Services. The intent was that having an ongoing supply of containers would provide an earning opportunity for people looking for temporary employment. The reality was that coordinating the sorting and returning of the containers proved operationally challenging, and with no shelter for sorting, it was an opportunity passed over more often than not. The supply of bottles soon exceeded the ability to sort and return them. The other reality was that if the trailers of containers weren't recycled in Fort Nelson, they would be redirected to the landfill as the cost to transport them to the next largest community was cost prohibitive. It was also determined that each trailer generates approx. $3,000 in revenue, valued revenue for an organization otherwise largely dependent on sporadic grant funding.

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

The goal of the initiative is to encourage corporate responsibility in the waste management of natural resource camp operations, by providing a venue for companies to "do the right thing" and divert their recyclable waste from the landfill. Additionally, the revenue available through the return of the containers will help fund (and support the sustainability of) the Northern Rockies Social Planning Council, allowing them to achieve their primary vision of building a healthy, desirable community where all members can reach their full potential. The facility will provide cash employment (casual, temporary, and to individuals with barriers to employment), as well as opportunities for other service organizations to raise funds to advance their organizational goals.

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

To date, the Northern Rockies Sorting Facility has completed its business plan, showing a projection of break even in year one. The NRRM has contributed a building and will be relocating and servicing the building on municipal property within the landfill transfer site (approximately $30,000 in value). The Northern Rockies Social Planning Council plan to hire a site manager, and have negotiated the return/donation of containers from two oil & gas producers operating sizable (approx. 2,500 people) camps in the region on a monthly basis. A huge opportunity exists (depending on the capacity of the sorting facility) to negotiate the return/donation of containers from additional partners in the oil & gas industry.

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

The Sorting Facility projects that if only one trailer per month were to be diverted from the landfill, there would be a cost savings to the NRRM of approx. $17,000 per year ($85,000 in 5 yrs), and a much longer lifespan of the landfill as well. If multiple trailers of containers are diverted, the relief to both the environment and operational expenses becomes exponential. There would be significant impact to the workforce seeking casual or temporary employment with limited jobs for unskilled labourers, and a divisive gap between earnings for those jobs and the cost of living in Fort Nelson. Finally, access to regular fundraising will reduce the dependency of service organizations on the ever-depleting number of grants available, providing sustainability to their groups and purpose.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

Some potential barriers include:
A shortage of sorters - countered by a permanent employment strategy, and operations manager.
Less than anticipated number of for-deposit containers - countered by a flexible operating hours and manager's work schedule to not exceed in expenses what the facility collects in revenues
Assuming a facility can be located/obtained for a small cost - with the NRRM's donation this has been mitigated
Transportation (from camps to town, or from facility to Return-It Depot) - work to form a partnership with a local transportation provider for in-kind contributions of trucking.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Divert 1,200 cubic meters of for-deposit recyclable containers from the Northern Rockies Landfill.

Task 2

Return $12,000 to individuals and community groups.

Task 3

Form a partnership with an additional oil and gas industry stakeholder.

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Divert 3,000 cubic meters of for-deposit recyclable containers from the Northern Rockies Landfill.

Task 2

Determine feasibility of accepting additional materials for waste diversion (cardboard, tin cans, plastics)

Task 3

Achieve organizational financial independence (from grants alone).

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

The Sorting Facility has partnered with the Local Government for the provision of land, a building, servicing, and the necessary insurance - all parts of the operations that would have otherwise consumed a large portion of available funding. Additional partnerships have been forged with two natural gas producers - EnCana and Quicksilver Resources for the regular supply of for-deposit recyclables. We're working actively with Employment Services to ensure that casual and barriered workers know of the Facility, and have networked with community orgs wishing to fundraise by sorting.

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your solution? If so, where and why?

No.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

The operating environment is fairly simple in that the work undertaken (receiving, sorting, and returning containers) is not so specialized that it requires extensive training or education. Entry to the work environment is open and inclusive, while the overall purpose (diversion of waste from the landfill) is a commonly accepted benefit to most community members. Providing a convenient and accessible opportunity for industry to be good corporate citizens, by both diverting waste and in turn providing funds to service organizations and individuals needing an income is not something they can turn down. Finally, the dedication of the Social Planning Council and their Board (in forming the Facility and its Board) shows the personal investment in this project.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

Maxwell Designs

Created: 05/16/12 by April Dutheil

Location

Canada
See map: Google Maps

 

Welcome to Maxwell Designs, home to exclusive hand crafted purses, diaper bags and accessories. We are a family run business based in Langley, B.C, Canada and have been in business since 2006.

Voces de Cambio / Voice of the future

Actualmente venimos desarrollando un programa de líderes comunicacionales, trabajando con escuelas del nivel básico en el distrito de Marcona, provincia de Nazca, a 8 horas de Lima, capital del Perú.

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Jobs with a purpose

Created on 04/14/2012 by Olena Breyman

A website for people interested in a career in sustainability, nonprofit or social entrepreneurship.

About You

Organization: Jobs with a purpose Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Olena

Last Name

Breyman

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

The Netherlands

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

Just recently I was looking for a new job and I wanted to change direction. I wanted to do something that felt like a contribution to a better world, however small that contribution may be. And this got me thinking along the lines of sustainability, nonprofit and social entrepreneurship.

I wished I knew more people in these sectors or occupations. I wished I knew people who had been in the same situation as me and successfully made the switch. I wished I could talk to people who are in the same situation as me right now. And since all of the above was not the case, I wished there was a place that created these opportunities for me.

This is how the idea of this website was born.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Jobs with a purpose

Organization Website

Organization Country

Netherlands, NB, Eindhoven

Country where this project is creating social impact

n/a

Is your organization a

For‐profit

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Not enough practical information on how to make the switch to the sectors of nonprofit, sustainability and social entrepreneurship (also including making the switch while staying in your current job). There are resources dedicated to those fields as such, but not to making the switch. From personal experience, I know a lot of people who wanted to make the switch but couldn't find any opportunities (didn't know where to look for jobs; couldn't find any; didn't feel qualified).

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Jobs with a purpose is a place for people who want to work on solutions to the world’s problems. You will find stories, tips and inspiration about work that matters – be it in sustainability, nonprofit or social entrepreneurship. And of course, you will find jobs in these sectors. Basically, this website is about helping people find a job with a purpose or create their own.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

John works in supply chain management and dreams of contributing to a better world through his job. He comes across our website and starts reading stories of other people like him who have made the change towards a career in sustainability, nonprofit or social enterprise. These stories give him ideas about which direction he can go in. One day he comes across an article about how to change your job towards sustainability without quitting it. The article gives him ideas about how to incorporate elements of sustainability into his current job and which role supply chain management can play in transitioning towards sustainability. The article also gives some tips about selling the idea to his boss. This is exactly what John needed! He gets lots of ideas and starts preparing for a conversation with his manager…

Lisa is a communications professional in a big corporation, and although she enjoys the challenges in her job, she wishes she could work for a more inspiring organization. She comes across our website and also starts reading stories of people who have made the switch. She also regularly checks the job offers publishes on the site. One day, her perfect job is published – a communications manager role for a nationwide nonprofit. She applies and crosses her fingers.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

There are two kinds of organizations doing similar things:

- There are websites about finding a job you love. The closest one to our idea is Escape the city. However, they focus on all non-standard career paths away from the corporate world (any start-up, any non-profit, any organization doing something cool or unusual). We focus only on careers in sustainability, nonprofit and social entrepreneurship – careers with a social impact.
- There are job websites for careers in sustainability, nonprofit and social enterprise (different sites for each of these groups). However, these websites focus on publishing jobs and do not provide a lot of content (articles on relevant topics). Or they provide generic content about the field.
The main challenge is to communicate the difference clearly.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

The website has just launched; so far the only impact we can measure is page views and Facebook likes.

The plan is to measure the impact in:
- jobs posted and filled via the website
- people who change their current jobs to add elements of sustainability or social entrepreneurship (stories sent in)

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

I think this kind of business needs time before first results start to show. The audience needs to be big enough before we can take on paid job ads and turn a profit. The challenge is to stay focused and keep developing the website until that moment. The way to overcome the challenge is to set specific weekly goals and check progress regularly.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Financial: revenue will come from payments for job ad postings. The idea is to first achieve a reasonable-sized regular audience of readers, and then sell job ads to organizations offering opportunities in sustainability, social enterprise and nonprofit.

Social & environmental: the idea of the website is also to raise awareness about opportunities existing in those fields, and I think this will be the main contribution - to get more people involved in working on solutions to today's challenges. In terms of operations, there are plans to move to green hosting and donate a portion of the profits to charity.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

It would be great to see social entrepreneurship become the most common way to do business in developing countries. Just like some countries have never had landline phones and jumped straight to mobile phone use, maybe they could also skip traditional entrepreneurship right to social enterprise. I think it's even more important in those countries, because the government often does not fulfill the functions it does in developed countries, and there is a gap which could be filled by social enterprises.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

I think it will be a great inspiration to see how you can build a viable business in a difficult environment and overcome challenges with very little resources. Also, I think just getting to know people from a very different background will be fascinating. I think working together with them and with other people from Europe will teach me a lot about myself and give inspiration for the work.

The Giving Card

Created on 04/13/2012 by thegivingcard

The Giving Card is the brand new way to save you money, bring extra business to companies and help charities right across the UK.

About You

Organization: The Giving Card Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Dan

Last Name

Taylor

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

At the age of ten I was told that I did not pass the interview to write for the school newspaper, and so I started my own. It ended up outselling the main publication. I have always been determined to find new and innovative ways of doing things, and as such believe that I have an innate entrepreneurial spirit, which was fostered by my degree in business. I started my first profitable business, Mach1Discos, at 15 and whilst at University launched yoonee.com – a profitable business that earned me the accolade of ‘UK Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year’ and an opportunity to compete internationally. The experiences (and occasional mistakes!) that I have had will be invaluable to making the Giving Card a success. I have gained experience of devising business models, networking, making deals, learning to communicate and most importantly, figuring out how to deliver a desirable product.

My passions lie not only in business but by also making a positive difference in the world. Whilst I noticed that voucher schemes were thriving, I also noted that charities were suffering. This is when I realised, whilst sitting in one of my lectures (whilst I probably should have been listening), that there was a niche in the market for something that could assist both businesses and charities.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

The Giving Card

Organization Website

Organization Country

United Kingdom, Hertfordshire

Country where this project is creating social impact

United Kingdom, XX, Nationwide

Is your organization a

For‐profit

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Currently, businesses are keen to increase the footfall into their stores or online shops. They often don’t have the resources to market their business to the local or national population. There is a need for businesses to find a new way to expose their products or services. In addition, charities are looking for innovative ways to raise their profile, engage supporters and increase revenues. Thirdly, the general public are struggling to make ends meet and often living above their means. With rising inflation, people need to be able to reduce the cost of living, whilst still giving to their favourite good causes and helping local businesses. The Giving Card has identified these issues by creating a product which revolutionises the way businesses, charities and the public interact.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

The solution is The Giving Card which enables the general public to save thousands of pounds a year on their shopping, allows charities to raise additional revenues and the companies we work with to attain free advertising and increased footfall into their stores and websites. It offers charities an easy way to raise extra revenues and increase their public profile, involving no charges or stockholding at any time. It also aims to reward people and businesses who want to support charities. Members pay £34.95 per year, which includes a £10 donation that goes directly to their chosen charity and every store the card is used in benefits from the increased footfall. Currently, similar discount schemes provide no charity link; they often charge the companies to get involved (we don’t) and are location-centric; we stretch right across the UK. Welcome to an easily-expandable, fair and eco-friendly way to save money and help good causes.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Generally, our customers come through our website. They often come directly from the charities we work with. Charities have existing databases that they use simply to provide information about up-coming events and often campaign for money simply by asking. However, with The Giving Card, the charity sends out an e-mail to their supporters offering them the opportunity to buy the card. This then directs them through to our website, where the transaction takes place. Now, in this first instance, the charity has received £10 from the sale, plus they are now able to apply Gift Aid to it in most instances. This is the first time that a difference is made; from the sale of every product, a good cause benefits. Then, the person who receives the card can access thousands of discounts across the country in a range of different categories. The lifestyle card can save them money on their car, children, holiday, travel, eating out and other leisure activities. This is the second time that a difference is made; The Giving Card offers consumers the opportunity to save more and enjoy more. Then, every single time the card is used, that retailer gains an extra customer. The discount isn’t a one-off and therefore we encourage customer loyalty. The Giving Card brings trade back to local high-streets and offers retailers an easy and cost effective way to gain extra revenues without spending a single penny. All they have to do is offer a discount when the card is shown. This is the third time that someone benefits. Furthermore, instead of forcing people to print vouchers and waste paper every time they want a voucher, they can simply reach into their purse or wallet and take out The Giving Card. It’s time the loyalty sector went green.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Our main competitors would be from daily-deal websites, however we don’t charge the companies we work with, we promote customer loyalty (rather than just one off discounts) and also provide a physical card to carry round in your wallet avoiding having to print off endless vouchers and search multiple sites.
The Giving Card also prides itself on not being industry specific and offers our customers the opportunity to save money in every aspect of their lives across the UK. At current our nearest competitors are too distinct to pose a negative threat to our success. However, we do recognise that each time anyone in the industry is featured, it adds to our exposure and credability.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

The Giving Card is responsible for raising much needed revenue for some of the largest charities in the UK. This revenue has been vital in supporting essential projects and services for the most vulnerable in our society. The Giving Card grants businesses with free advertising and increased footfall into their stores and websites at a time where local businesses have been hit due to the recession. Usually, charities charge companies to work with them and also do not market third party products (especially the large ones). However, The Giving Card is already working with over 80 charities, including Mencap, Shelter, Mind, Cancer Research and the RSPCA. We also provide support to local charities, such as small hospices.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

One significant obstacle that I’ve faced is marketing The Giving Card as it is difficult to pin point the marketing for all individual groups (members, suppliers and charities). The challenge is to compose a relevant message for each section without impairing the overall message. We overcame this obstacle by communicating directly with suppliers, charities and card holders to receive feedback and we are always looking for new ways to push our product into the market. A further obstacle is that of an ever-changing industry; to combat this, I have started looking at taking the business into the mobile and payment processing space.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

We do not charge businesses or charities that we work with. This enables us to get a critical mass of discounts and promotions, strengthening our product offering. We don’t charge charities either; we simply pass on the donations to them. This enables us to work with more charities and also they often allow us to use their existing channels of communication, and so we save on our marketing costs. Our main income stream is based on the sale of the card to members. The card retails at £34.95 and £10 of that goes directly to charity. There is a strong commercial element relating to the sale of this product. The business was launched with the help of personal finance, private investment and moving forward, the revenues generated from the card. The company is now introducing a new website which allows customers to book holidays, hotels, theatre tickets and do their online shopping, which also provides financial returns for The Giving Card.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

The Giving Card recently won an award for being a triple bottom line business; looking after people, profit and planet. I started the business because I believe if everyone gave a small part of their time, or profit to good causes, the world would begin to take shape. It may sound dramatic, but even if every business donated a small percentage of their annual turnover to a developing country, imagine the difference it could make. I also believe there is an excellent opportunity to get business involved with developing countries and see how we can work together. There are still millions of products and services in this world that involve people and skill, rather than machine or technology. There shouldn't be limitation based on geographical location and I believe social entrepreneurship can open doors, inspire people and help create better futures.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

Having started a business in the UK and recognising how different people are in the North compared to the South for example, it would be a real eye-opener to see how different entrepreneurs and businesses work in a completely different country. I think the most challenging part will be the culture shock in understanding how differently business is seen in a developing country. In the UK, we often feel that we have to come up with ‘the next best thing’ to make a living, but being able to work with farmers who live and breathe their livings in a different way to us in the UK would be fascinating.

Seeddharta hemp food

Created on 04/12/2012 by seeddharta

Seeddharta is developing and merchandising healthy hempseed(products) to finance a (silent) hemp campaign (so shhh, keep them lips shut)

About You

Organization: seeddharta Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

branko

Last Name

van broekhuizen

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

The Netherlands

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

Vince & me are both students in our late twenties, who in our mid-twenties rather followed our dreams than followed our studies. Now, after 3 years, we came back to finish our studies, because we want this little paper ánd because we believe our study can help us realizing our dream (WH#M! 2 flies in one!).
The study we are following in Amsterdam is called "Social & Cultural Entrepreneurship". The study gives us the tools and the entrepreneurial skills to become social & cultural entrepreneurs. This time we came back totally motivated and dedicated to finish our study, because we have a dream to chase now, which gives meaning to our study.
Exploring, analyzing, doing research, managing people and processes, making project(plan)s, creating social & cultural programs, organizing events, networking, mediation, creating public consent; these are all entrepreneurial tools we are equipped with. But the main tool we want to use is collaboration; collaboration is the new competition. The collaboration is existing now out of 4 dedicated persons; me (the creative brain), Vince (the strong leader), Maarten (the financial brain) and Dieks (the Art Director), but as a cooperative we are welcoming everyone who can and wants to contribute to our mission; to put nature's most wonderful plant back in Gods spotlight, where it belongs

About Your Organization

Organization Name

seeddharta

Organization Website

Organization Country

Netherlands, NH, Amsterdam

Country where this project is creating social impact

Netherlands, NH, Amsterdam

Is your organization a

Not registered

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

There is a plant here on earth everybody knows, but only few knows it's wonders. Some say the plant can save the planet, and we also know it can make a big contribution to the health of our planet. Then again, the problem is, that only a few people know. The plant has unfortunately a unfounded but big image problem. And why? Because of one of the 30.000 different products that arrives from it is weed.. The hemp plant is only known because of weed, but only a few know that from the industrial version of hemp (which doesn't even produce marihuana!) we can produce textile, paper, rope & sails, canvas, plastic, building material, medicines and even a super food. Our ancestors knew it and used it mainly for those purposes; if only the world would know it and used it for those purposes now...

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

So if the ailment is an unfounded bad image, the cure would be to re-brand this image. Hemp is a wonder plant; the hemp seed contains the solution to a greener world; hemp can save the planet; hemp seeds are a so called super food; and we can all found these statements. Even Ron Paul is preaching America in his campaign for becoming president of the US of A the truth and wonders about hemp, but the people of the world seem to have a hard time believing these wonder stories about this plant that is rooted in their sub-consciousness as "the weed with roots in hell". Yes, we do believe Ron Paul has an enormous influence on the public opinion, but still we do see in the world around us that big organizations do have even more influence. And Ben & Jerry's is a big organization. We do not believe Ben & Jerry's would need as much words as Ron Paul in advocating this wonder plant; if Ben & Jerry's would only launch one new flavor of ice cream made with hemp milk, than the world will know...

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

To be honest, we just started our company 3 months ago, so we still don't have a specific example to walk through with you. But if you let us be so free, we can take you through a specific example of "what could be a specific example in a world were dreams can get true"...

In our experience by now, most people don't even want to try our hemp nut bars if we first tell them the bars are made with hemp seeds. So we learned not to mention there is hemp in the health bar before they tried. After that and they liked it (they all do), than we tell it and then they like it even more. So after they taste the delicious hemp bars, they are open for information. Not the other way around; if we first tell them the information, they not open for trying anymore. So that is also how we want to promote the industrial version of hemp; first let people try, smell, touch, taste and experience it and afterwards tell them the story if they want to hear (and they all do).
After we learned this important lesson, we decided that our primary activity should not be activism (most people don't like activism), but selling a super food and homemade products based on this super food with the name hemp seeds. Our main products are the seeds (shelled, unshelled and roasted with sea salt) and the hemp bars. We also run a catering, on markets and other events, were we make vegetarian hemp burgers, smoothies based on hemp milk, and so now and then pitta hemp hummus, hemp pesto, hemp pancakes, hemp ice cream or whatever we feel like making (to prove that hemp seeds can be - and maybe even should be - used in every recipe).
Because we truly believe in the potential of our company, we dream big (in 35 years we are so big, Unilever is going to be a brand of ours!) but try to be realistic at the same time. If we want to make a big difference, we need to collaborate with others (what we would love to do). And therefore we aim for the highest; Ben & Jerry's! Collaboration implies of course a two way direction, and we cannot give more than the tip to try for once to make an B&J's Ice cream based on hemp milk. That of course is up to Ben & Jerry them self. We will just go on with our primary activities, and develop, produce and bring hempseed(products) on the market!

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Imagine there would be just one goal and just one team... it would make one hell of a boring football game, but for sure this one team will win the game! We would rather collaborate than compete, and the funny thing is, is that our closest competitor (hemp-food.eu) asks their visitors on their website if they want to collaborate! So we guess a collaboration with them would be possible. But if they don't want to collabarote, we do think we can (get and) sell the seeds cheaper and with a more beautifull design. Also we produce more and better tasting products than them. And there is still an enormous market for hemp seeds in Amsterdam and Holland; many organic supermarkets don't sell hempseed(products) yet, so we can be the first. And we have our product ready now, ready for take-off!

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

The social impact we had to-date didn't stretch further than in our circle of friends, family, teacher and a handfull of costumers. We sold in one month after developing the bar more than 400 bars, and our aim is to sell another 1000 coming month. This is also how we measure our social impact; every hemp bar we sell, is a bar with a story and this story will be told by the consumers to their friends and family.
If we have grown bigger, than we want to cause a social impact via the media. Just like our hero Tony Chocolonely did with his slave free chocolate, we want to let us be arrested and create media attention around it. The industrial hemp plant doesn't produce marihuana, but it is still illegal to grow without a license, so we don't see how the law is making any sence.. does anyone?

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

At first we wanted to tell people about the benefits of hemp(seeds), but found out that as soon as we dropped the word hemp, we lost them. People their minds are full of prejudices. The only association they have with it is with marihuana, so they will laugh about it and don't take anything serious anymore what is coming out of our mouths. So that's a barrier; if we want to be taken serious, we better not mention hemp.
Another barrier is our lack of sales-experience. How to overcome that barrier? Like Nike; Just do it! Our mentress told us: "everything nice and well, but you must focus more on sales!" and we are obedient students

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

About the social sustainabillity, we can tell that our "employee relations" amongst eachother are good. We decided that the person who puts in the most time in our company, gets the biggest peace of the pie. We believe that this model is a new model which gives the possibility to people to invest time instead of money in a company (and time is more worth than just money). Our aim is to try to involve as much talented people around us, which as a start-up we cannot pay, but they will get a peace of the pie of the company; so when our joined efforts will bring up fruits in the future, everybody will gets it's fair share.
In the future we want our company to have fair trade products. Therefore we are doing research in Nepal, to find ways to make a farmer family happy with a fair trade deal. And even when it is a fair trade deal, if we buy the seeds from the farmers instead of from a German wholesale store, we can get it for a lot cheaper, which will give us an advantage over our competitors.
The hemp plant can probably be considered the most environmental sustainable plant on earth. Bringing the plant back from being away for so long, would for sure benefit the environment in countless ways. Of course we are going to use environment friendly packiging material also, because we want our eco footprint to be uplifting! Paper and plastic can be made from hemp, so all (our) packiging material too.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

A social entrepreneur recognizes social problems and finds solutions to address those problems. In a developing country there tend to be more social and economical problems. In a world with a thousand problems, there will be a million solutions, so it is hard to tell how we see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries. What we can do is give a example to explain how we would like to contribute to a developing country in the future. We would like to have our own hempseeds from a farmer in Nepal. In Nepal hemp has been grown for thousands of years up to today for food and textile. In Nepal we would educate a farmer family about hemp and hemp farming and give them a fair trade salary for it in return. If the demand for organic hemp(seeds) is getting bigger in the Netherlands, than we will need more supply and we can make another family happy with a fair trade salary; we happy, they happy, everybody happy!

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

It might sound silly, but the aspect I think would be most rewarding, is the learning aspect. I would love to know how successful entrepreneurs like Ben & Jerry's did what we also want to do . We too want to cooperate with farmers in a developing country. Of course this is a plan for the future, but we are already doing research. A friend of us is already doing some research while travelling in Nepal and found some good contacts for us. Now Vince is going to Nepal in the summer, and hopefully I may go to Uganda to learn everything from Ben & Jerry's how they did it! I will suck up all the information like a sponge; what problems did you encounter? What do you do for climate change? What for the community? What is a fair trade price for a vanilla bean (in the Turkish supermarket we pay 1,50 for it!)? Will the Ben & Jerry vanilla factory be as I imagine, just like in Charly & the Chocolate Factory and will Ben & Jerry dance and sing songs for us?

Ethnic Threads

Created on 04/12/2012 by Lorna mcginley

Ethnic Threads is a new charity project, set-up with the aim of selling clothing made from traditional East African material (Kitenge),

About You

Organization: Ethinic Threads Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

john

Last Name

frewen

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

Ireland

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

I visited Uganda last year and the most rewarding aspect was seeing the dedication and compassion Ugandan workers show, both those working in hospitals,and those working in orphanages for disabled infants who have been abandoned. Their positivity, attitude and gratitude toward life is admirable.

The most challenging aspect was having to accept the limited impact we could make during our medical elective, as we were at an early stage in med school and had little knowledge of communicable diseases. That was part of my inspiration to make a sustainable contribution to the Ugandan people. I have recruited a team, each with different educational back rounds to bring as much skill to this business venture as possible.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Ethinic Threads

Organization Website

under construction

Organization Country

Ireland, DB, dublin

Country where this project is creating social impact

Uganda

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

We are constantly exposed to horrific humanitarian conditions in third world countries yet dont do much more than occasionally drop a few euro in a charity box. These contributions have gotten smaller in these recessionary times so we think offering people a product that they want combined with the feel good factor of giving to charity will create a substantial and steady revenue supply.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

We want to actively create revenue through what we believe to be a sustainable and potentially very profitable business. ( all profits will of course be traveling back to Uganda! ) We will be using a reputable charity as an intermediatry as we lack the experience and connections for this business to be fully effective.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

There is a huge demand for our product from the small amount of market research that we have done. As a start up we are still only in the foundation stages of setting up this company we cannot give exact examples but we plan on creating fair trade jobs in Uganda as well as supporting local products and raising awareness by association with the jackets here in Ireland

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

At the moment we have no direct competitors, of course there are countless numbers of jacket styles on sale but none of them have our unique selling point. In terms of peers, when the company grows we would consider partnerships with different brands as part of their corporate social responsibility. for example an African style addidas jacket for the olympics 2016 (wishful thinking I know!) Our main threat would be a well known brand bringing in a line that looks like ours.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

We are still in talks with producers but we will fill this space soon!

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

our main barrier at the moment is accessing information but we are connecting with Lifeworks charity that operated a production business alike ours.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

By creating jobs both in the production, raw materials and logistics areas we will be helping financial stability in Uganda and by pumping our profits back (after the company is established of course) we will be creating social improvement, with the help of our nominated charity. As of yet we haven't chosen a producer or distributor so dont know their environmental abilities, but we intend on making the process as green as possible.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

I think it takes more than simply rattling a box in somebodies face to raise money. Although that may help charities survive in developing countries it is not enough to improve them. Innovative ideas with a real selling point is vital to a dependable cash flow. I want to improve these peoples living standards and not settle for the bare minimum.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

"Our Iinitial aim is to donate proceeds for a pilot programme of €30 jackets to Makondo Health Centre, Uganda, run by the Medical Missionaries of Mary. " This is a quote taken directly from our facebook page. I would like to be at the other end of this, its easy to just throw money at a problem but actually bring part of that problem would be an incredible experience. Although it is not the same industry as our product it is important to understand the local customs and issues of the place you are supporting.

Bia Beauty, Feed your skin!

Created on 04/12/2012 by Bia Beauty

Bia Beauty is a range of natural skin care products. They are created from simple food ingredients by a qualified Herbal Scientist.

About You

Organization: Bia Beauty Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Tracey

Last Name

Ryan

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

Ireland

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

From a very young age I've been passionate about plants; growing them, studying their therapeutic use, discovering their scents, making products from them and cooking and eating them! If I'm out walking I usually have my head stuck in a plant identifying it and figuring out what it can be used for.
This passion has carried on right throughout my life. I studied Organic Horticulture and Sustainable Development in my twenties. I recently graduated with a first class honours degree in Herbal Science. This was a real achievement for me as I gave birth to my son just as my final year started.
When I'm not working on my business I love to be outdoors, on my allotment or walking in the amazing Irish countryside. My love of nature has always inspired me and in return I do my utmost to protect the environment around me. I've volunteered with many environmental groups, from local campaigns to cleaning lakes to teaching children about native Irish trees.
It's this blend of experience, educational qualification and interest in natural products that my business grew from.
During the final year of my four year degree in Herbal Science we were asked to make, market and sell a natural product as part of an Innovation module. I created a 100% natural moisturiser and sold it locally at farmers markets and craft fairs. The response to my product was so positive that I continued making and selling it long after the project had ended. I discovered that I really enjoyed the marketing and sales aspect. What a surprise that was, I hated all the business subjects at school!
I then won an internship in The Rubicon (Business Incubator Centre) based on my idea for a range of natural skin care products. During this internship I wrote my business plan, explored my idea and learned a lot about running a business. From this I was accepted onto The Rubicon’s highly successful PINC Programme, an intensive business course for women who want to take their business idea to the next level. Here I learned all about the legality of running a business, how to keep accounts, how to carry out market research, how to build a brand. I even won an award for the best sales pitch on our final presentation day!
So that's my journey to where I am today, just preparing to launch my business in the coming weeks.
I'm passionate about my idea for natural skin care products because I'm passionate about plants, people and the environment. Our skin absorbs up to 60% of what we apply to it. And so if "we are what we eat" then our skin is also what it eats. I want to make beautiful, natural and effective skin care products from simple, natural food ingredients. The name Bia Beauty comes from Bia, the Irish word for food. I want to encourage people to feed their skin with natural and healthy skin food such as nut and seed oils, cocoa, avocado, mango butter, herbs, essential oils etc. Because of my dedication to environmental protection my business will be run in a sustainable, ethical environmentally aware manner.
I believe that I have the personal skills necessary to realise my vision for Bia Beauty. Throughout my life I have shown courage, determination and leadership which I am now applying wholeheartedly to my business.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Bia Beauty

Organization Website

Organization Country

Ireland, CK, Cork

Country where this project is creating social impact

Ireland, XX

Is your organization a

For‐profit

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

A lot of skin care products contain irritants that are harsh on the users skin and on the environment. And there's the use of petrochemicals, synthetic colours and perfumes, the use of animal products, animal testing and issues with packaging to consider.
"The ecological footprint left behind by the manufacturing and distribution of cosmetics and fragrances has been dismal," says Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the NRDC.
Consumers need to learn more about feeding their skin. Our skin absorbs up to 60% of what we apply to it and so "if we are what we eat" then our skin is also what it eats. Nut, fruit and seed oils and butters are really beneficial for the skin when used properly.
And the people who grow and harvest these ingredients need to be paid a fair wage.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Bia Beauty is a range of natural skin care products with a difference.
-they are created using simple, natural food ingredients; fruit extracts, nut and seed oils, cocoa, mango, avocado butters,native Irish herbs, essential oils
-they are researched and developed by a qualified Herbal Scientist. I use my knowledge and experience to create products that are highly effective
-all products are 100% natural
-Bia Beauty is a truly green company, packaging is recycled and recyclable, all plant waste is composted, waste is kept to a minimum and recycled where possible.
-Bia Beauty is a socially conscious company, local business and charities are supported, exotic ingredients are bought through a supplier that "constantly monitors the market to search, demand and consequently supply more organic, natural and ethically sourced materials". For example the Shea butter I buy from them comes from a women's collective in Ghana. Once Bia Beauty grows I will buy direct from initiatives like this.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

I buy my exotic raw materials from Aromantics, a company in the UK. They have a detailed Natural, Organic, Ethical and Fairly traded Purchasing Policy. As they say themselves "We give priority to raw materials that have been fairly traded or ethically sourced from traditional communities, modern community projects or co-operatives. This demand encourages and rewards growers to use organic and co-operative/community principles in their production, to be more ecologically aware and to ask for a fair deal when selling their produce. This in turn affects the cosmetics market and so consumers’ awareness and demand for such products. It is a positive cycle of change that respects nature and people and improves the ability of future generations to sustain themselves." As soon as Bia Beauty expands and can buy direct from growers or growers collectives I will have a similar purchasing policy.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

My main competitors are Trilogy, Burt's Bees, Dr. Hauschka, Lush, The Body Shop, to name just a few! What differentiates Bia Beauty is the Feed Your Skin message. I want people to understand the importance of putting good quality natural products on your skin. I want to create a link between food and skin care. I also feel that my qualifications, which I promote on my packaging and promotional material will set me apart, I want to become the "skin care guru". And also I want Bia Beauty to be known as a company you can trust, if we say products are 100% natural, then they are. If we say we are a green, socially conscious company, then we are.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

Its important for my business that I be seen as a "skin care guru". In order to do this I have been giving radio interviews and teaching classes in skin care. As a result I have been able to spread my "feed your skin" message and talk about my desire to create a sustainable and socially conscious business.
I have also supported my local community in various ways. For example I gave skin care classes recently at "The Girls's Club". The Girls Club Cork is a voluntary cancer support group for women who have or have had cancer and their carers, families and friends.
Through these classes and other promotional work I want to change people's attitudes to skin care and cosmetics. I also want to be a positive example to other businesses.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

As my main competitors are hugely successful brands with enormous budgets for marketing, my much smaller budget will be a hindrance. However I am doing all I can to overcome this. I have received funding from my local Enterprise Board for marketing. I also attend business seminars on getting free PR and marketing. I plan to make the most of social media and any opportunity I get to tell a story to the media will not be wasted. Also I feel that my business has a unique angle to it, feeding your skin. This will help me capture peoples imaginations and excite their interest.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

My financial projections are to make €59,500 in sales in Year 1 with a net profit before tax of €16,700, €116,800 in sales in Year 2 with a net profit of €7,600 and €176,900 sales in Year 3 with €28,800 in net profit. I have financial support from my local Enterprise Board as well as business mentor-ship. I plan to create one full time and two part-time jobs within the first three years.
My business is a "for profit" business but it is my sincere desire that my local community, my suppliers both in Ireland and abroad and my customers benefit from the success of my business.
Environmental sustainability will come about through my waste policies, packaging policies etc. I aim to build the first environmentally friendly cosmetics factory in Ireland.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

I think social entrepreneurship takes qualities from both charity and business. People in developing countries are looking for something more than charity. They are looking to be treated with respect and given the same chances that we in more developed countries have been given. And I think that unfortunately a lot of business is self-serving only and fails to support its local community. Social entrepreneurship takes the positive from both, the caring aspect of charity with the innovation and efficiency of business. Social entrepreneurship is the way forward for the developing world, a chance to trade on a level playing field, the promotion of economic freedom. Its about people not liking the system that they see in place and so taking positive steps to change it, allowing people in the developing world to be part of the change and control the change, not just recipients. I read that social entrepreneurship is dreaming combined with doing!

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

What I would find rewarding and fascinating would be to see how Ben and Jerry's have made an impact on the farming cooperative and community by trading fairly with them. Then I could use this as a model for my business, vanilla is also a raw material that I use in my business!
The challenge I would say will be trying to take as much as possible from the experience, to take home the message of fair trade and the difference that business can make and to spread this in my local community.

Eaternity - climate friendly food

Created on 04/6/2012 by judithellens

We are passionate about establishing delicious, healthy and climate friendly food in society.

About You

Organization: Eaternity Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Judith

Last Name

Ellens

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

The Netherlands

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

My interest and love for live and nature is at the heart of my efforts to work for a sustainable world. To preserve and divide our resources in a fair and sustainable way is the best way to achieve this goal. I am an enthusiastic hobby cook too and being able to combine these two passions in Eaternity is absolutely thrilling to me.

The idea of saving CO2-emissions with climate-friendly and good food, I first presented at the ETH ecoworks-workshop at the end of 2008. Our team won the first price and a few months later I founded the association Eaternity. The three years following I was in charge of several smaller and larger projects carried out by the association, mainly on a voluntary basis, with several partners such as SV Catering, ETH Zürich, City of Zürich, Zunfthaus zur Saffran and others.

I hold a Masters degree in environmental sciences with a major in ecology. I have two years of experience in the area of carbon footprinting and ecological impact evaluation of food products which is an important asset to the association. Further, I have gained additional experience in campaigning and project-management through my work for WWF Switzerland and the University of Copenhagen. My core strength is interdisciplinary project work. I work consistently and remain the overview of complex and on multi-stakeholder issues.

It is my vision to create a more environmental-friendly and fairer world. With Eaternity we move towards this direction. It is my believe that the contribution of every single person is an important aspect to achieve this.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Eaternity

Organization Website

Organization Country

Switzerland, ZH, Zürich

Country where this project is creating social impact

Switzerland, ZH, Zürich

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

About 1/3 of European greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the food supply. This amounts to more than 2 tons of CO2 per capita and year. A growing world population coupled with an ever increasing demand for resource-intensive products are resulting in an increasing burden on our planet. If the entire world population were to follow the same food consumptions patterns as the average European person, we would need 2-3 the amount of land and 3 times the amount of water globally.
Individuals and companies are increasingly aware of the need to reduce emissions but their actions are most often related to energy resources or to “greener” means of transportation. Despite a huge potential a widespread awareness of the impact in CO2 emissions from food patterns has not yet taken place.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

We introduce climate-friendly menus and create awareness among individuals and institutions regarding food-related CO2 emissions.

We provide up-to-date and transparent scientific data, and implement measures to engage businesses in delivering services in the fields of climate optimizations of food.

A climate friendly menu is not simply equivalent to a standard vegetarian or organic menu. Our optimization strikes the most effective balance between economic value, taste and attractiveness, healthiness and CO2 emissions to maximize customer interest.

We have developed a web-application that will enable individuals, institutions and restaurants to calculate and optimize their own menus, label them with the CO2-value and present the added value directly to their customers. By providing an easily accessible and cost-efficient way to put this into practice, our application makes it possible that climate friendly foods become widely available and recognized in society.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

In order to make a scalable business model, expandable to other regions, our model is a hybrid. On the one hand, we have "Eaternity" a non-profit entity; and on the other hand, we will have "Services by Eaternity" a for profit entity.

Eaternity positions itself as an organization that fulfills an important role in society by representing a neutral and scientific position, representing the ideological interests that are central to the accuracy and validity of the data, as well as developing and representing our core message of eco-friendly food consumption. Eaternity already operates effective PR and media work via presentations, publications, events and its homepage. As a public institution, Eaternity continuously builds on the existing trust it has received.

“Services by eaternity”, will be a profitable entity that will develop hand-on solutions from the scientific data of Eaternity and provide services to restaurants, cafeterias, schools, kindergarden, etc. We had already run a pilot with the city of Zürich (http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/menu-plus) by offering a climate-friendly menu at one of their cafeterias. By also calculating the emissions of the rest of the menus, a direct measure of the impact in CO2 emission reduction can be obtained.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

We partner with NGOs and associations to increase awareness of climate friendly food and with scientific and environmental institutions to collaborate on research and data-development (LCA).

We do not have direct competitors, although 2 types of companies offer related services.

ESU-Services licenses a database on CO2 fooprints on a range of products, including food. They do not provide effective communication and services to implement measureable solutions or engage critical stakeholders such as chefs and consumers.

Bluehorse - carbonostics has build a software for the processed food industry which calculates and optimizes carbon emissions, nutritional value and cost based on ESU-data. This product is similar to our offering, but targeted at mass produced food products.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

We have successfully carried out 2 projects, with the ETH Zürich and with the City of Zürich. During several weeks climate-friendly food was offered at the institutions canteens accompanied by an information campaign. Both projects have had an extensive evaluation (indicators were: meals sold, CO2 reduced, customer survey, media coverage) with overall positive feedback. In addition, we have cooperated with for profit and not for profit parties to raise awareness on the topic either with information booths, holding lectures, support employee awareness events and public events and have been present in several local and national wide media (magazines and newspapers). Impact can be measured by homepage-hits (1000-2000 a month) , facebook-likes (400) and general increased interest.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

The calculation and optimization services need to be provided fast and in a consistent basis. One barrier is that for every new menu there is a chance that we do not have available data for a particular ingredient. However, as our database improves this risk will diminish over time.
Another barrier is that behavioural change is difficult to induce in individuals. Therefore, we intend to implement awareness campaigns through media and co-operations with restaurants to make climate-friendly meals more appealing to society. One form to attract restaurants and chefs to engage on our project is to offer trainings and to certify them.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

The advantage of our model is that the services provided are flexible and can be tailored to each customer. “Services by eaternity”, as a company, will set up in the future more products and business models for other markets (e.g. specific food products, hotel chains, mass-market mobile application, etc.).

A delicious, healthy and climate-friendly nutrition causes 50% less green house gases as compared to nutrition that does not take ecology into account. That is 1 ton of CO2 per capita and year. In addition, climate friendly nutrition implies a fair and appropriate stewardship of natural resources. In the end it is about helping solve long-term social issues like global warming and resource scarcity.

In order to induce change we focus primarily on people directly. Therfore we also tackle social issues by providing lectures and workshops to different educational institutions, and by giving free access on relevant scientific information about climate friendly food.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

Resource scarcity, crony governments and a growing population are some of the challenges that developing countries face. Whether some or all of these aspects are present in a given country, what we see as a result is inequality and pollution. Unfortunately, both of them continue to grow as businesses comply with corrupt and bureaucratic structures in order to be successful. We see social entrepreneurship as a different way to do things, having always in mind a more efficient resource usage and working towards an empowerment of individuals and local farmers. This entails a more direct relationship with every actor in a business' supply chain, giving them the required tools and education required to reduce their environmental impact and improve social conditions. we believe that creating these relations, establishing synergies between them and avoiding corrupt organizational structures are an imperative towards true sustainability.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

One of the biggest challenges I might find is that as I have never been in Africa I really do not have an adequate overview of Uganda’s problematic, making it difficult to adjust my perspectives towards their motivations and reality. Nevertheless, I am eager to seize this challenge and to enlarge my vision about their needs and culture during my stay in Uganda.

The close interaction with the Uganda’s farming community is another important rewarding experience as it will open up perspective on additional possible optimizations and will allow us understand our supply chain oversea. This can have a big impact in our social model as within the agricultural production stage lays the most important phase in carbon foot printing as most emissions are caused here.

Changeshop

This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: Whiteladies Picture House.

Whiteladies Picture House

Created on 04/5/2012 by karma-ghost

We aim to rediscover Bristols cinematic heritage, develop community spirit and involvement and embrace a sustainable future.

About You

Organization: The Whiteladies Picture House Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

David

Last Name

Fells

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

I've been working as the manager of the Redgrave Theatre in Bristol for over 5 years, during this time I have made many contacts within the local theatre industry and have developed a good understanding of why Bristol needs more arts venues. I also have a good understanding of what is required to make a venue successful.

As well as being passionate about creating a new arts venue for Bristol I have always had a love for 1920 - 40's architecture, especially Art Nouveau and Art Deco. To be able to save such a beautiful building as the Picture House while also creating a new theatre and arts venue for Bristol would be a dream come true.
In the 2 years that I have been working on the project we have attracted over 1000 supporters as well as in-kind support from many local companies - we have attracted a group of dedicated volunteers who are all willing to put their time and experience to the project.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

The Whiteladies Picture House

Organization Website

Organization Country

United Kingdom, BST, Bristol

Country where this project is creating social impact

United Kingdom, BST, Bristol

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

We are trying to solve 4 issues;

The 1st is that theatres are notoriously expensive to run (with large carbon footprints) making it difficult for companies to cover their costs.

The 2nd is that Bristol has a thriving theatre industry but no medium size venues that can be used for events. Many companies struggle to put on shows while touring companies bypass Bristol altogether.

The 3rd issue is that despite a rich cinema heritage most of Bristols cinemas have been demolished.

The final issue is that The Whiteladies Picture House is a beautiful 1920's cinema that has stood derelict for 10 years. Since the cinema closed the area has suffered with many shops and restaurants closing down. The area is missing the community focal point that would attract more people to the area.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Our solution is to convert the Whiteladies Picture House into a multi-use arts centre consisting of 400 seat theatre, 200 seat cinema and function room. The renovation would restore all of the important historical features of the building and protect the building for future generations to enjoy. We aim to use the latest energy efficient technology in order to reduce the buildings carbon footprint and running costs.

This new venue would act as the social hub for the local community and would also attract visitors from the wider community to the area.

The 400 seat theatre is just the right side to fill the current gap between the smaller studio venues and the much large theatres in Bristol and so would attract a variety of new theatre companies to Bristol as well as helping to support the local theatre community.

As well as showing poplar Films the cinema space would be used for educational events that would allow people to learn about the history of cinema.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

The buildings renovation would use many environmentally friendly and low energy technologies as possible in order to reduce the impact of the building on the environment and to minimise running costs. These technologies include using heat pumps rather than traditional central heating and LED lights wherever possible - including the revolutionary led mirror lights that have been designed by GDS to mimic the colour temperature of traditional light fixtures. Recycling and reusing would also be a key part of the development - we will be looking to source reclaimed items as much as possible - partly as it links into the historical aspect of the building but also because this will lessen the impact of the refurbishment.

Our roof terrace garden would be watered using collected rain water and would contain flowers and plants that promote biodiversity.

While these changes may seem minor when added together they will create a venue that is unlike any other in the country and will act as a flagship example of how community venues can make the shift towards a sustainable future.

Once renovated the business will be open 10am till 11pm each night, with the possibility of occasional late night film screenings. The Business will be open all year round with December and Easter as the busiest times of year. During the summer when less theatre shows are performed the schedule will be filled with a greater number of dance performances and films. Special community focused film screenings will help to boost revenue during traditionally quiet times. These will include:

i. The “Golden Oldies” Programme – Providing a safe relaxed atmosphere for some of our more senior patrons to meet and socialize while watching a variety of classic films
ii. The “New Mothers Club” – Allowing mother’s with young babies to meet, socialize and watch films without worrying about disturbing other audience members.
iii. The “Cine-Crèche” – Allowing Parents to do the weekly shop, browse around Whiteladies road or have a relaxing meal while their children watch a film under the supervision of our CRB checked Staff.
iv. The “Monthly Charity Club” – A Monday night screening of whichever film is playing that month, where all the profit from the tickets are given to a chosen charity.

Unlike the majority of theatre’s that only open their bars during performances we believe that due to its location there is enough local interest/passing trade to warrant full time opening hours of 10am till 11pm. The Bar will serve a variety of spirits, soft drinks, wines and beers. As much as possible we aim to use locally produced beverages such as Bristol Beer Factory or Bath Ales. While the bar will not serve food it will stock a variety of snacks and sweets including crisps, flavoured popcorn and of course Ben and Jerry's ice-cream. For events that require catering the intension is to develop relationships with local restaurants and caterers. This will allow the Picture House to offer a much wider range of menu’s while helping to support other local businesses.

Live Music event’s will also be a feature of the yearly programme. Events such as these will increase the potential door sales as well as having increased bar takings compared to theatre events.

We also intend to include a variety of film festivals or special screening days during the year. These could be based on a genre, actor or director and can be timed to link into other events within the yearly calendar (the most obvious example of this would be a horror film festival at Halloween).

The function room will also be used for other community based events such as meetings, rehearsal space, dance classes and as an art gallery.

We want to create a venue that has something for everyone and that encourages different sections of society to interact and develop connections that may not normally exist.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Because of the way that the building would operate there are no other venues in Bristol that are doing exactly what we want to do. Our aim is to create a venue that compliments rather than competes with the existing venues.

There are other venues elsewhere in the country (such as the Electric Palace in Bridport) that have achieved a similar ambition to us. We are in contact with many of these organisations and they are hoping to help support our project with advice and guidance.

The difficult aspect of The Whiteladies Picture House is the amount of capital expenditure needed early on in the project, but once renovated we see no limits to what we can achieve and hope that other community groups can use us as a business model for their own renovation projects.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

We have started our project by reaching out to the local community - we have the support of over 1000 people, we produce regular newsletters and video blogs as well as using social networking sites. This contact allows us to learn more about the Buildings history and what peoples hopes are for the future. We have made contact with many companies and are developing these relationships in the hope of greater support further down the line. Already we have had offers of in kind support or donations from a variety of sources - for example local sustainable architect White Design has put together some concept plans for the building free of charge. We believe that the venue will be more successful with a greater level of community involvement.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

The success of the project is threatened by the current owner of the buildings attempts to get planning permission to convert the building into flats. We are hoping the project can more forward quickly so that we can purchase the building before this happens.

Another barrier is that the project requires a large amount of capital expenditure - we are applying for funding for the majority of the sum but we will have to raise the remaining balance.

We have attracted several volunteers with experience in fund raising large sums of money and are confident that their experience will allow us to complete the project.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

The multi-use nature of the venue gives it the flexibility to be financially sustainable; for example the normal lull in theatre income during the summer will be supplemented by an increase in cinema takings caused by the release of the summer Blockbusters.
The buildings location is also the key to its success, it is positioned on one of the main commuter routes into Bristol City centre, its close proximity to Bristol University means that there are a large number of students living nearby with disposable incomes. The area has good transport links including multiple bus routes, Clifton Down Train station, taxi ranks and a multi-story car park. The Picture House is positioned between BS8, BS9 and BS6. These three areas are arguably the most affluent in Bristol and contain the largest proportion of Theatre-goers.
The work we are already doing creating connections with local community groups will help to establish the Picture House as a vital part of the social makeup of the area. Our aim is for the building to become part of people’s lives in such a way so that they will help to protect it for the future by volunterring or donating.
The money saved though being environmental sustainable joined with the income from hires, tickets sales and donations mean that the venue will be unlike most other theatres in that it will be financially independent and will not need regular arts council funding in order to survive.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

I believe that there is currently too much focus on profit within western business models. If a company’s primary focus is to make as much profit as possible then they will negotiate aggressively with businesses in developing countries to ensure that they get the best prices.

However if an organisations is run as a not-for profit social enterprise the focus switches from financial profit to social, community and environmental benefits. Companies such as the Whiteladies Picture House will actively choose fair trade suppliers and support good practises in developing countries because it is part of their ethos.

The more social entrepreneurship there is with good ethics the more pressure there is on Big business to follow suit. Hopefully there will become a tipping point where peer pressure results in all companies switching over to ethical fair trade suppliers and so helping developing companies to improve the lives of the population.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

It is very hard to say what would be the most rewarding part of the trip as it all sounds amazing - I love experiencing different cultures seeing how people live around the world - what their normal day is like, what they eat, how they spend their free time. I would also really like to learn more about how they are combatting climate change as this has always been a subject that interests me. Having grown up in Devon around the local farming community it will be great to see what a Ugandan farm is like and be able to help out with the work.

Even with the difficulties with the recession, life in England is relatively easy - we are safe in the knowledge that the government will support us if the worst was to happen. I think the most difficult and inspiring aspect of the Uganda visit will be to see people whose situation is a lot less certain but are still happy to work to improve their lives.

Nudus - Naked Food From Your Neighbourhood

Created on 04/3/2012 by Lisannebuik

Nudus is an online marketplace providing chefs with a crowd to cook FUN, FAIR & FUTURE-PROOF food and become the star-chefs of our time!

About You

Organization: Nudus Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Lisanne

Last Name

Buik

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

The Netherlands

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

I have the ambition to set out an innovative vision on sustainable food that is simple, straight and can contribute to accelerating the transition to a sustainable economy fast and furiously.
This ambition stems from a passion for sustainable food and cooking, a network of highly skilled and passionate people who share this passion, and a desire to deliver social impact. I believe I have the entrepreneurial and leadership capacities necessary to transform this idea into success. As a Master of Science in Global Business & Stakeholder Management I understand how to operate a corporation at the intersection of business and society at large. Furthermore, I have undertaken a substantial amount of pioneering projects in the sustainable food world, mostly together with the Youth Food Movement, but also in the Corporate Responsibility department of Royal Ahold.
Lastly, I like to create and challenge the status quo. During my studies I have exhibited that for instance at SECEUR, a start-up student organization offering strategic consultancy services to NGO’s in Rotterdam. While all my business administration peers were more interested in established student consultancies, I took the challenge of helping to set up an organization with a wider societal goal and motivating others to offer their business skills to social organizations instead of the big corporates. I have succeeded in both. The organization has doubled in size that year and we have been able to set a culture of both excellence and fun, which I want to achieve at a larger scale in the future.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Nudus

Organization Website

Organization Country

Netherlands, NH, Amsterdam

Country where this project is creating social impact

Netherlands, NH, Amsterdam

Is your organization a

For‐profit

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Nudus aims to take up 3 societal challenges

1. We need to move from a culinary media culture to a democratic food culture. Hyped celebrity chefs generally don’t add to the quality of the food consumed by the crowd. However, an increasing amount of home-chefs is able to feed good food to the crowd. We need them to become the star chefs of our time.

2. Consumers are disconnected from their food and their social urban environment. Nudus is a community-enhancing concept aiming to reconnect neighbors through good food.

3. Consumers seek ways to recover trust in food providers. They are entangled in the web of complexity caused by sustainability labels and a marketing overload. A fully transparent online community promoting a simple and fun sustainability standard can solve this issue

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Nudus sees an opportunity to tackle these challenges in two ways:

1. It provides a tool that defines sustainable food from a Nudus perspective based on simple, specific criteria.

To Nudus sustainable food is:
Fun (promoted by the crowd)
Fair (fair trade certified or locally sourced, and traceable) and,
Future-proof (agreeable life-cycle environmental impact, certified organic, rich in nutrition)

Consumers eating from our chefs rate their dishes on the FUN factor, while Nudus provides insight in the Fair and Future-Proof factor, hereby nudging chefs to cook sustainably.

2. Nudus provides an online marketplace that connects chefs to consumers. The crowd itself is democratizing our food culture by purchasing dishes from “star” chefs online. Nudus chefs are naked chefs, their process and product is fully transparent and rated by the crowd. Herewith, Nudus aims to solve the trust, complexity and disconnection issues that society experiences with food.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Nudus is a peer-to-peer model serving two markets: the chefs and the customers. Nudus makes a difference to both in a different way:

A Nudus Customer:

Imagine being hungry for good food. You enter an online community that highlights chefs from your city who cook good food. You’re sure because they are Nudus chefs and have an FFF rating. Nudus gives stars to chefs who cook sustainable food that is appreciated by your peers. You click on the chef of your liking to see their offering today. It may be a dish to be collected at their home tonight, delivered at your home, or a dinner at their pop-up home restaurant. You purchase it online, go after it, rate it, and become part of the community. Herewith, the community expands as a snowball: more consumers, more chefs, more sustainable food consumption, and more social cohesion.

A Nudus chef:

Imagine being a good cook, but without a crowd beyond your family and friends. You would like to earn some money through this passion so you audition at a Nudus taste day and are accepted to the community. Now you cook your famous curry that the crowd can source: crowd-sourced curry. You appreciate the Nudus concept as it nudges you to cook sustainable and tasteful food because you earn stars for doing so.

Nudus is a service model. It provides peers with tools and incentives to engage in a lasting sustainable food revolution together.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Nudus competes with the (take-away) restaurant industry.
For 2 reasons Nudus can provide a better product:

1. Traditional culinary models are less social than Nudus. The social experience of Nudus makes the food also more transparent than in (take-away) restaurants, in which you are likely to not meet the chef.
2. Nudus is more economic. Chefs don’t have fixed costs and don’t have to engage in marketing endeavors. Therefore, the food is of great value.

Nudus also competes with other peer-to-peer food platforms (gobble & thuisafgehaald.nl) However, these platforms cannot legitimately claim to promote good food because they lack a standard other than the crowd’s vote for fun. Nudus is nudging the crowd to make conscious choices by giving stars to fair and future-proof food too.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

Nudus' social impact is determined by:

# of transactions
# of community members
# of stars dedicated to food

Nudus' objective is to achieve 100.000 transactions by 2013. It's mission is to facilitate 50 mln food encounters between people by 2020. Since the social impact is so important an infographic on the website will count the amount of transactions to date.

These transactions promote:

Naked Food
Better food choices (Fun, Fair and Future-proof)
Less environmental impact, utilizing resources most efficiently

Naked Neighborhood
Social and cultural culinary integration
Bring to the surface hidden culinary gems of a neighborhood
Everybody can join, it’s no food snob platform

Naked Value
Maximize value through sharing
Redefining "value" through the FFF system

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

Financing
Additional to the start-up budget of €10.000 personal capital I need another €165.000 in the first year from launch 2012 to end 2013.
The peer-to-peer market has been named as an angel investor's hot market by the Economist. Using my network is key here.

Marketing
Marketing to both chefs and customers is both expensive and difficult as it asks for different approaches. However, I already have spoken to many interested chefs who could do the launch. A survey showed positive demand for Nudus' services.

Logistics
I plan to travel to Gobble to find out details about logistically organizing the delivery process

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Financial
Total budget for sept 2012-dec 2013: €175.000

Marketing budget: 30.000
Website: 10.000
1 intern and 1 freelancer: 30.000
Distribution outlet + office: 50.000
Travel expenses: 5.000
Management fee: 25.000
Variable costs (materials): 25.000

Two scenario's are worked out: viable and success.
VIABLE 2012-2013: total 50.000 transactions
3% commission chefs
10% commission customers
total: €230.000 - €175.000 = gross profit €55.000 to be reinvested
expected growth 2014: 20% per quarter

SUCCESS: 2012-2013: total 100.000 transactions
3% commission chefs
10% commission customers
total: €460.000 - €175.000 = gross profit €285.000 to be reinvested
expected growth 2014: 30% per quarter

In both scenarios the model appears financially sustainable. More income can be earned through product partnerships (sustainable products used by chefs offered for free in target market). This idea appeared from a survey amongst producers.

Social and Environmental
The stars distributed to chefs for their FAIR and FUTURE-PROOF food create a snowball effect. More stars leads to more transactions leads to more chefs promoting FAIR and FUTURE-PROOF food. At the same time Nudus makes the complexity of sustainable food transparent, fun and easy to understand. Herewith, the effect is lasting.
By economically empowering chefs to make the right choices (give them stars) consumers are more likely to do too.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

Social entrepreneurship can deliver the means to economically empower and sustainably develop everyone equally.
Having just finished my Master thesis research assessing the fairness of Fair Trade, I have identified the root of the problems that developing countries face. Social enterprises that provide the means to leverage human capital in innovative and sustainable ways can bring positive change to developing countries. Flexible business models are key and especially the Internet provides countless opportunities to engage many countries in the same purpose: providing equal opportunities to all, developing local communities and increasing quality of life.

Nudus is one of those models. Being online it can be launched anywhere in the world and provide people the opportunity to share and connect through food. Nudus brings these tools to economic empowerment of all who are able to cook well and want to share that with their crowd.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

After contemplating about Fair Trade Certification for half a year I am highly energized to experience working on a Fair Trade farm myself. I am working on an article explaining a nuanced vision on the fairness and future of Fair Trade to explain the complexities of an institution that claims to operate based on principles of justice. I am likely to find it most rewarding to incorporate real-life stories in this vision, while being extra inspired to contributing to the sustainable development and economic empowerment of those who need it. Most challenging will be to achieve an understanding how to overcome governance issues like corruption in achieving success. Being able to overstretch existing institutions while changing the market bottom-up (from within) I hope to be able with Nudus to launch an initiative that makes complicated governance barriers easier to overcome. Herewith, truly fair trade might be one step closer, in a fun way :)

Bridge the Gap : Project Galaxy Bazaar - A SocioEntrepreneurship Venture of Grade 11-12 Students

Created on 04/1/2012 by bijaldamani

Galaxy Bazaar is a social entrepreneurship venture by students of Grade 11-12 of The Galaxy Education System based at Rajkot, Gujarat, India.

About You

Organization: The Galaxy Education System Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Bijal

Last Name

Damani

About Your Organization

Organization Name

The Galaxy Education System

Organization Website

Organization Country

India, GJ, Rajkot

Country where this project is creating social impact

India, GJ, Rajkot

Is your organization a

Non‐profit / NGO / Citizen sector organization

Your role in Education

Teacher.

The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with

Private (tuition-based)

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)

How long has your solution been in operation?

Operating for more than 5 years

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Like every city, even my city – Rajkot has two extreme classes of people residing. I teach in a Private school where students are dropped in chauffer drive Audi car and in the same vicinity, there are children who drop out of formal school system and work as child labour trying to earn the living for the family. So there are two goals – to teach my students the business techniques so that they become creative capitalists in future and to bridge the gap in opportunity by providing education opportunity to children working as labour.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

The Solution comes in form of Project Galaxy Bazaar. A bazaar which is set by students before Diwali and money is raised based on pure business principles. Students contribute the capital, get the goods from wholesaler or retailers, rent out the venue, and market the event. A lot of hard work is put in and students face the risk of running a real business. Sponsorship is sought from various industries in the area. The net profits are donated to provide education to children who have dropped out of formal education system. The project has been carried out for the last six years taking sponsoring education of more than 450 underprivileged students
The project bridges the gap between different classes of people in the community. It also provides the privileged students a chance to help their lesser privileged counter parts.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Project Galaxy Bazaar involves not only students but many members of the community in its working. It’s a Win Win Projects where various stakeholders of the society are involved – directly or indirectly. The primary activity of the students is to hone their business skills, target profit earning but keeping in mind the business ethics. This exercise plants the seeds of ethical business dealings at the impressionable age. (I am dealing with 16-18 years old.) Goods are sought from the Manufacturer or Wholesaler on ‘Sale or Return’ basis. Many new products and producers are encouraged and provided the ready platform. The Bazaar is set up before Diwali keeping in mind Diwali shopping requirements. All the goods are made available under one platform. Variety of promotional activities takes place during Bazaar days. Students run the Bazaar and after accounting for every expense, come to Net Profits. These profits are donated for education of the underprivileged children.
Galaxy Bazaar is a much awaited project in the community. The project has started in the year 2005 and six Galaxy Bazaars have already taken place with INR 8000 (Sponsoring education of 4 students) as the profit in first year to INR 700000 in the fifth and sixth year ( sponsoring education of more than 500 students) Something that was started as a simple Classroom project, Galaxy Bazaar has come a long way.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

My peers in this project are my students of Grade 11 and 12. ( Different set of students every year as batches change) There are many NGOs working in this area but I do not consider them as my competitors as this is the Project carried out by the students. Instead of competition, we join hands and collaborate with people or organizations who are working in the same area. For example, for two years, we teamed up with Rotary District 3060, one year with NGO Pratham etc. So I do not consider them as my competitors – I consider them as potential collaborators.

Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.

Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

Galaxy Bazaar: Commerce in Education and Education in Commerce. A Social Venture - for the students, of the students, by the students.

Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

A Project which attempts to bridge the opportunity gap between privileged and lesser privileged students. It’s more than business.

Social Impact

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This Entry is about (Issues)

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

The impact of Galaxy Bazaar has been two fold. The first impact is on the underprivileged children who have been working as child labour. They got a chance to get the education out of the funds raised by my students. We have managed to touch lives of more than 450 children.

The second impact is on my own students. These students are future entrepreneurs. And I am glad that this project provides them with the most important lessons in business ethics and corporate social responsibility at an early age. Many Ex-students can vouch for it that GB has made them better human being and better entrepreneurs.

What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?

We are planning to get more involved in this project. Students will be introducing basic ICT skills to these children. We have already received a technology grant from HP which will be used to bridge the digital divide as well.
Inquiries have been received by other schools and colleges wanting to be part of this project, we can think of expanding the horizon of the market. Moreover, we introduce something new every year. Plan for the next two years is as follows :
1] Introduce Flea market where we can bridge the divide of the resources between various classes of society
2] To introduce the Online market to reach out to that segment of the society which does not manage to come physically to bazaar.

We wish to introduce underprivileged students to basic Technology skills.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

We need to introduce some changes in Bazaar to retain the interest of the customers. Students are working on revamping the model to make it more interesting.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Introducing underprivileged students to technology skills

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Design Basic ICT related curriculum for underprivileged children

Task 2

Arrange for buying Akash tablets for these children

Task 3

Prepare my students to deliver ICT training to these children

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

ICT Module in its place

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Will manage to get at least 20 Akash Tablets which will be used among underprivileged children

Task 2

Game Based learning for Underprivileged children

Task 3

May be able to train and help the teacher as well

Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]

As I would come to my school in school bus everyday, I would witness two different worlds at the same time - Neo rich kids getting down the chauffeur driven expensive cars to come to school and children working as labour in the same vicinity - working at a tea stall or selling flowers or newspapers or working as labour in construction sites.
The divide in the community is astonishing and at that time the idea of Project Galaxy Bazaar sprouted in my head. I realized it is important that privileged students not only empathize but come up with a solution to this problem. What my student blows up in one day can buy a year's education for these kids and its important for privileged kids to know it. I am sure the students who have been part of Galaxy Bazaar will always think of generating employment for lesser privileged people in the society when they will grow up to be big entrepreneurs. I wanted to mold 'CREATIVE CAPITALIST' who thinks beyond their own profits.

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

In this venture, students enter into two types of partnerships.
1] Partnership among 120 students - a Win Win is drafted as Partnership Deed
2] Partnership between students and suppliers
Moreover, we work in partnership with NGOs like Rotary, Pratham etc. to better utilization of our hard earned money.

What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]

As mentioned earlier, the team working for this project consist of Project Co-ordinator (i.e. me) and my team of 120 students. Together we are responsible for achieving the above mentioned goals. Many times, ex-students too provide their services for better functioning of the event.

We have Rotary members helping us to reach out to these children and fulfilling our goals.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

Need :
1] We need to expand and if any other school is interested in the Project, we can set up the Bazaar in other town, city, state or country to raise the money for educating underprivileged children in our vicinity.
2] Generous and consistent sponsorship from any corporate body would help us grow.My students can work for these corporates to compensate for their help.

Go Green Initiative for Issuers of Plastic Payment

Green is no longer just the color of money at major banks nowadays, as they compete world over to go green. In probably one of the largest commitment so far from a banking major, Citigroup in 2007 pledged $50 Billion for green spending over the next decade. This was close on the heels of $20 Billion commitment over 10 years by Bank Of America. Given the fact that some of the largest banks are now considering their impact on the environment.

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UPDATED_Stoked professional beauty

Created on 03/31/2012 by stoked professional beauty

stoked professional beauty make people look and feel stoked

Inspires those receiving a treatment and empowers disadvantaged children

About You

Organization: stoked professional beauty more ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Ros

Last Name

Perry

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

I wanted to update you on progress, since my initial application (Thanks for the early-bird Ben & Jerry's ice cream).
If my brand could be encapsulated by an ice cream flavour it would be phish food (with a twist: chilli-chocolate chunks)

Personal background:
Whilst at school I got into a great routine of land or (swimming) pool training each morning and night- this was the foundation for my positive work-ethic. Then, I studied full-time at College and undertook a night class, to obtain a professional qualification, in Marketing. I was probably the Charted Institute of Marketing's (CIM) youngest member at 17 (students should normally be 18 to enroll on the course). Then, I worked full-time with FMCG's and undertook my (BA Hons) Business Studies degree during the evenings. I reached Assistant-Management level, then left on a gap-year, to travel the world.
Whilst away, I undertook voluntary work at the commonwealth games (Melbourne), fashion week (Sydney) and in schools (South African townships). When I returned, I changed my career to work in the public sector (education), where I project managed a small team and worked with numerous contractors, to improve outcomes for children. Whilst employed/ maternity leave, I undertook the CIM Diploma in Marketing, PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner and a Diploma in NLP.

Passion for issue:
I have always enjoyed pushing myself and trying new things. Although, I'm now aware of the positive effect this has on people (coaching and NLP).
Whilst working in South Africa, I noticed lots of individuals with low self-confidence/ self-worth. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing them turn around.

Entrepreneurial skills:
For fun, I have worked with international brands, and coordinated meetings with major retailers/ TV programmes/ journalists in England, on their behalf. I love reading or hearing about successful businesses- I sign up for emails, listen to radio interviews, watch TV programmes and read case-studies. My favourite brands are Absolute vodka, Ben & Jerrys, Innocent smoothies, Pret a manger, Redbull and Stella McCartney kids. And, from cosmetics industries: Bumble and bumble and MAC.

I am talented, committed, confident and driven. I believe in the stoked professional beauty concept. Now, I'm ready to listen to mentors and your colleagues at Unilever (especially formulators and marketeers at Dove and TRESemme), before applying what I learn into this social venture.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

stoked professional beauty

Organization Website

Organization Country

United Kingdom, Nottingham

Country where this project is creating social impact

United Kingdom, NGM

Is your organization a

Not registered

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

When I worked with African street children, I noticed low self-confidence and aspiration. To tackle this problem, I would like to introduce a product-line that uses coaching and NLP techniques to help more people lead fulfilled lives:

"Life is not measured by the breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away." Anon

People (around the world) in low-income families deserve to feel good about what they can accomplish . Fun activities could provide them with great memories and energy (and distraction).

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

There is a saying: Eyes are the window to the soul...

Stoked will provide people with beautiful-looking eyes and hope to un-cover more beautiful souls, via their treatment: "BAGS AND BOLDNESS BLITZ". Eyelashes frame a face and allow people to define themselves and their style. Loyal customers repeat-buy every couple of weeks (more customer interaction/ feedback than a charitable subscription) and they provide more frequent income than selling a product (e.g TOMs shoes, or Livestrong bracelets).
Market demand is proven and profit margins are attractive for both manufacturers and salons.
Added benefit: The end-customer is engaged with their therapist for the duration of the treatment (upto 90-minutes for the initial application of eyelash extensions). So, a network of coaches will be built via the therapist training programme (how to use/ apply stoked products).

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Stoked professional beauty will take homogeneous products (eyelash extensions and dyes) in a market with few competitors and become the brand of choice (via trend-setter seeding); GHD hair straighteners achieved this status in the straightening-iron market.

Eye products are quite controversial (chemicals are irritants, so quality training is essential), so there is potential for PR if endorsed by reputable medical professionals (I will look into the type of products used by other professions e.g. glue used by dentists).
A percentage of stoked company profit (% to be advised by mentors) will go into a fund that will provide "stoked" activities for children. This could include: street-dance, beat-boxing, sand-boarding, surfing, nail art etc. (focus on low overhead costs, so children can continue challenging themselves beyond their "stoked" experience). Activities should have a PR hook e.g. I was involved in a world record water fight in Australia (sponsored by X-box): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzwa_aAOC4M). I'm sure "stoked" could beat that record!

Primary activities:
- Keep in touch with the network of therapists via social media: quote of the day on Twitter, inspirational images on pinterest, monthly newsletter, interactive company website.
- Provide each therapist with "stoked" conversation cards/ music to play etc, so client experience is similar- regardless of where they chose to get the treatment (in a similar way that exercise classes operate e.g. Zumba fitness).
- stoked "professionals" will go on tour in search of like minded salons to represent the brand
- Offer treatments in VIP rooms, cool hair salons (places with high (potential) client footfall) and at prestigious events (e.g. http://www.st-tropez.com/photo-gallery)
- Therapists could demonstrate how to apply different types of product online (similar format to: http://www.bumbleandbumble.com/product/72/221/Products/Styling/Specialty...)
- PR- strong relationships with journalists
- Launch party as if redbull had taken over- not a traditional beauty brand.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Stoked professional beauty will be superior to it's competitors due to its focus on customer service and its dedication to social enterprise. The trademark treatment will revolutionise eyelash tinting:

"BAGS AND BOLDNESS BLITZ"

It will be unisex and completely customer focused. Customers will be invited to make their treatment more comfortable i.e. play their own music (from their personal iPods) and asked if they'd prefer to sit or lye etc.
The competitors vary depending on the product. I'd like to start the product portfolio with lash tint:
Jemma Kidd
Eylure
Strictly professional

Or, semi-permanent eyelashes:
ABC Beauty Ltd
ABX Beauty Group
Beauty Express
Lash FX
Lash Perfect

These competitors already have a loyal custmer-base & established distribution

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

Stoked will put a percentage of company profit into a fund that's used to target an issue e.g. Illiteracy, then when a certain value is reached, I will use my event-management experience to deliver mini-academies for children. i.e. I will get in touch with organisations to donate books and successful musicians to perform and discuss the importance of reading to them. Then, coaches (top therapists) will be invited to help coach children to find reading-techniques that work for them. Success will be measured by student improvement (and for Stoked, column inches in the media).

I have organised and undertaken voluntary work myself:
Whilst in South African townships, I sourced football kits from my home-town football club (Nottingham Forest), and health and beauty products from work(Boots)

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

"The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people" Randy Pausch

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Financial:
The company will start small, and it will evolve through a (low/ no cost) viral marketing campaign. It will be profit making and its social activities will make financial sense.

Social:
Stoked will target specific issues e.g Obesity, illiteracy, unemployment... to improve ongoing community life.

Environmental:
Stoked products will be manufactured and packaged using recycled materials (ethical supply chain) and they can be recycled post use.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

It's the only way forwards...

Stoked social activities will start small and provide more impact as the company grows in size:

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one"
Mother Teresa

Stoked will put a percentage of company profit into a fund that's used to target an issue e.g. Illiteracy, then when a certain value is reached, I will use my event-management experience to deliver mini-academies for children. i.e. I will get in touch with organisations to donate books and successful musicians to perform and discuss the importance of reading to them. Then, coaches (top therapists) will be invited to help coach children to find reading-techniques that work for them.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

Challenging:
Medical issues that are beyond control e.g. HIV, nodding disease and the physical apperance of some children, as a result of Kony's soldiers.

Rewarding:
Meeting (and living with) new people and experiencing their culture and cuisine. Learning about farming cooperatives, fair-trade ingredients, and the best way to set up a social enterprise.
Possibility of impact: Illiteracy is a big problem throughout the East-African education system. It's ironic yet I knew that I wanted to make changes in the world when I sat with babies on my lap, in a nursery for children with HIV, reading "The tales of Robin Hood" (I live in Nottingham too).

"empathy hour"

Created on 03/26/2012 by ShineOn001

We empower TRUEself, TRUEvalues & TRUEchoices for all.
Simple does it. We center on the individual, our senses &
the four sides of a person.

About You

Organization: Brightstar ebusiness Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

marissa

Last Name

Andal-zamora

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Brightstar ebusiness

Organization Website

uc

Organization Country

Philippines, ALB, Legaspi

Country where this project is creating social impact

Philippines, ALB, Legaspi

Is your organization a

Business

Your role in Education

Resource Officer.

The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with

Other

How long has your organization been operating?

1‐5 years

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Idea (you're poised to launch)

How long has your solution been in operation?

Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

*We need to address the “blaiseness & uncaringness” happening with the youth of today and wake them up.
We want them to care, to love & do something for their neighbor, the people around them & their communities

*I believe that the more privileged schools will benefit best with this program, to instill empathy in them while still yo
*My innovation centers on being wholistic in my approach. It is multi-sensory & pushes the button on our four sides : mental, Physical, emotional & spiritual. To create the impact that is needed, to be internalized & to be assimilated fully.

I always apply the simplicity of activities and see the full impact
When applied due to the personal factors that are taken into consideration. And consistent practice makes it more embedded in a persons psyche.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

*I would like to create the “empathy hour” once a week in a school, community & wherever.
This would address wholistically the student. It is multi-sensory and would activate the four sides.
In a an hour a week, they would do the experience of empathy for an hour wholistically. This is for internal impact & retention.

“EMPATHY HOUR”

The following will be done:
5mins Meditate &/or pray for oneself & others
10mins watch a video or sharing of an empathic experience
10mins do an icebreaker/or play
A person stands up and share the most number of empathy he/or she has experienced around him/her in one long breathe.
The person who shared the most wins.
20mins they go out and apply empathy with the people around them
10mins journaling & sharing

*I have always used this solution in various form of evolvement with values formation as a motivator, facilitator & coach. This is the first time I am putting it in paper.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

*I apply this solution always to various areas of my life and I see it take effect instantaneously.

Best example would be the people I coach. I usually use this technique to to reach their innermost part. I psyche on what would best work with them and design a gameplan to bring out their best.

It always is a very hand-on activity, designing & coming out with a solution for each & everyone but that’s what makes me happy in doing also very challenging for me. It excites me when I see their shift.

I have made it more general for groups of people

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

I only compete with myself. When I see results and see people happy, doing & moving then that makes happy.
I know i've delivered. Its a personal fulfillment.

Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.

Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

We empower TRUEself, TRUEvalues & TRUEchoices for all.
Simple does it. We center on the individual, our senses & the four sides.

Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

The innovation is in its simplicity and so easily implementable.
The "ripple effect" & "tipping point" can be felt in its basic-ness.

Social Impact

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This Entry is about (Issues)

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

*Ive always had positive feedback with most people and has been a solution to them.

*This can be gauge my the activities that will be done after by everyone affected & influenced.

What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?

*If we can implement & sustain this with a lot of schools, it will be
A “ripple effect” & “tipping point” kinda thingy for all.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

*When a person does not see the positive impact of it. You ask to do it with a small group first.
There is always a solution once you believe in it.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

6th month: applied to 10 schools, hopefully, after this it will ripple off and become nationwide. Creating a youth that cares.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Contact & write principals

Task 2

Broadcast in social media: write an article, a video, a tweet…

Task 3

talk to government specifically department of education.

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

it is now global and applied to various schols due to its simplicitiy, actionability & result driveness

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

expand on the basic 3 tasks I’ve mentioned

Task 2

go more global in sharing

Task 3

share the impact of previous schools that took the task on hand.

Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]

*Whenever I design & conceptualize solutions, I try to visualize for myself the long lasting effect it would have if it is happening to me.

And with empathy it started there, I was becoming more blasé & uncaring, so as not to exert so much effort any more & people are reacting differently to me bacause of it, it is not me.

The person who actually brought my attention to this website & to “activating empathy” is one of the people that I am coaching because she knows where I am coming from.

So here I am.

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

*Depending on what is the goal, I partner with whoever would magnify the solution and move it forward.

What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]

*It would be a group of people who cares, who sees the neccessity for it and who would move mountains to achieve it.

It is a group who believes in the cause & the solutions created by it especially for our kids.

They are visionaries on their own and see the progress it foretells & leads to.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

the "TOTAL belief" support group is so much needed

Students Career Acceleration Initiative through Internships

Created on 03/14/2012 by Monica Tedla

A win-win solution where businesses understand their employees needs while students learn first-hand how to use the knowledge learned in school.

About You

Organization: VRT Cares Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Monica

Last Name

Tedla

About Your Organization

Organization Name

VRT Cares

Organization Website

none

Organization Country

United States, CT, Newtown

Country where this project is creating social impact

United States, CT

Is your organization a

Other

Your role in Education

Student.

The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with

Public (tuition-free)

How long has your organization been operating?

Less than a year

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Idea (you're poised to launch)

How long has your solution been in operation?

Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

I am trying to encourage students to pursue higher education by giving them the opportunity to participate in an internship program in a business setting and understand how they can utilize the knowledge they learn in school in real life. School data (behaviors, motivators and student feedback surveys) have shown that students who have internships are more motivated to excel in school and earn high grades as a result. By achieving academic success in high school, they are motivated to attend college or other forms of higher education.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Using social entrepreneurship, I want to create an internship program that benefits both the participating students and businesses. Students from a participating high school are given the opportunity to participate in an internship during the summer and they are paired with a local business. Through their internship experience, students learn how to utilize their skills and relate their schoolwork to the real-world work environment. Due to this heightened awareness through real world experience, they understand the importance of good education and are more inclined to study hard and pursue higher education for a bright future.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

The model is based on collaboration between private and public organizations. This solution benefits not only the participating student but also the participating local businesses.

Through internships, students gain real world experience by the practically using Microsoft Power Point, Word, and Excel skills and analytical skills to analyze the information of participating local business “employee engagement” surveys. The students will also practice written and oral communications skills and learn to create business presentations and present them effectively in a real world setting. This allows the student to relate their classroom learning to their real world applications. Lastly, these students will walk away with the 12 key competencies for success in business and life. These competencies include: continuous learning, persistence, personal effectiveness, project focus, empathetic skills, decision making, flexibility, planning and organizing, initiative, personal accountability, problem solving, and self management.

The participating business benefits by contributing to the development of future employees/leaders for our community. They also receive valuable feedback (empathy) information to help the business improve and grow based on employee feedback from the employee engagement survey. This is a creative way of understanding group empathy.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

This program is unique and thus, there are really no other competitors. There are however, programs that are available to promote higher education, which will compliment this program and make it successful. Generally businesses try to shy away from hiring high school student interns other than big departmental/food stores as they feel they do not get a lot of value for the wages they pay. This program is unique in that we provide participating local businesses with a cost-effective “employee engagement” survey and provide the feedback analysis. Consulting firms at a huge cost typically administer these kinds of surveys that several businesses cannot afford. Local businesses will be motivated to participate in this program as it is a cost effective solution for gathering employee empathy

Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.

Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

Win-win solution where businesses understand their employees needs while students can learn how to use the knowledge learned in school

Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

It is a self sustaining model that enables business results with a social impact.

Social Impact

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This Entry is about (Issues)

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

This project is still in its initial stages of development and planning. The first step I have taken is getting the approval from a participating school. On March 8, 2012, I received approval from Hartford Public High School, Academy of Engineering and Green Technology. The next step is to find a sponsoring company that will help with the “employee engagement” survey materials, administration analysis. VRT Management Group, LLC has confirmed to donate their employee engagement survey materials, train the students with administration, data collection, and supervise the data analysis and presentation. The required marketing material has been designed and will be communicated to local businesses in the next few weeks. The concrete impact will be measured at the end of summer 2012.

What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?

The projected impact will increase as the program continues over three years. The first year, I plan to conduct a program with 10 internships from one participating school, contact 10 participating companies, and have one sponsoring company. For the second year, I plan to increase the number of participating schools to two schools with 10 internships from each school and contact 20 participating companies, and two sponsoring companies. By the third year I project to have three or four participating schools with 30-40 internships with 30-40 participating companies and 3-4 sponsoring companies.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

One barrier that may hinder the success of this project is getting local businesses on board and willing to participate in the program. In order to overcome this barrier, I will leverage the school advisory board members, Hartford Mayor and other officials who all are working hard to promote higher education for all students. I will try to collaborate with other non-profit organizations for their marketing support. One of the marketing strategies is to create a one-page marketing brochure to distribute to local businesses around Hartford to participate in the program associated with Hartford Public High School AoEGT.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

10 companies will understand their employees and 10 students will receive real world skills that compliment classroom learning

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Find a participating high school to participate in the program (completed)

Task 2

Find a company willing to sponsor the program with assistance in employee engagement and distributing the survey (completed)

Task 3

Find 10 local businesses willing to participate in the program (to be completed)

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

The 12-month impact milestone would be to have successfully completed one summer program.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Find a participating high school to participate in the program (completed)

Task 2

Find a company willing to sponsor the program with assistance in employee engagement and distributing the survey (completed)

Task 3

Find 10 local businesses willing to participate in the program (to be completed)

Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]

This innovative idea came to me when my father challenged me to think out-side-box when I was discussing a plan for my summer learning. He always encourages me to think beyond the traditional ways to make an impact, learn, and grow in the process. I began thinking of how to help others get internships instead of me searching for my summer internship. Then the “Aha” moment came when I was thinking about how I enjoyed mentoring and coaching Hartford Public High School students and wanted to do something with these students again.

In high school, I spent a lot of time tutoring and mentoring students from Hartford Public High School. This was an urban school with over 90% minority students and very limited opportunities to be exposed to role models and real businesses. I always wanted to help them receive similar benefits that I received going to a good suburban public school because I was exposed to so many learning opportunities beyond school.

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

Three partnerships are required to sustain this program successfully. The first partnership is with the participating high school that will provide the student interns, Hartford Public High School AoEGT. The second partnership is with the sponsoring company (VRT Management) that will assist the program by contributing their “employee engagement” survey and assist with analysis. Lastly, all of the participating local businesses will be third group of partners to the program.

What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]

I will be the project manager and student mentor. High school Advisory board, volunteers from VRT, and the facilitator/mentor for the student interns who conducts the soft skill workshops and data analysis that are critical for program success. The advisory board and other non-profit partners will assist with signing-up participating businesses. The volunteers from VRT Management will provide survey design, online tools, data analysis support and assist with advance analytical tools for data analysis and final recommendations.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

INNOVATIVE HEALTH PROJECT HAS BENEFITED MORE THAN 40 THOUSAND PEOPLE IN 3 YEARS

Created on 03/6/2012 by Projeto CIES

Self-sustainable and innovative project in health management, with mobile health care units serving high-risk communities.

About You

Organization: Projeto CIES Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Roberto

Last Name

Kikawa

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Projeto CIES

Organization Website

Organization Country

Brazil, SP

Country where this project is creating social impact

Brazil, SP

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

How long has your organization been operating?

1‐5 years

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

Prêmio Finep 2009 em Tecnologia Social (Finep 2009 Award for Social Technology)
Schwab Foundation and Folha de Sao Paulo’s Social Entrepreneur Award: The physician Roberto Kikawa was awarded in the 2010 edition of Social Entrepreneur Award. As a result of this award, promoted in Brazil by Schwab Foundation and local newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, Kikawa and CIES are now member of the global network of Schwab Foundation’s Featured Social Entrepreneurs and also of Folha’s Entrepreneurs Network.

Social-environmental. .
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/empreendedorsocial/finalistas/2010-roberto-kikawa.shtml
Ashoka Fellow: This global non-profit organization - acknowledged for its support to social entrepreneurs - approved CIES as fellow in 2011. Ernst & Young: The “Health Truck” initiative was the social highlight in 2012 Ernst & Young Terco Award for its pioneering distinctiveness and social actions after it has won the 2010 Schwab Foundation and Folha de Sao Paulo’s Social Entrepreneur Award. The tribute took place in Casa Fasano, in April 7, 2011. http://www.ey.com/BR/pt/About-us/Entrepreneur-Of-The-Year/Vencedor_Maste...

Public utility accreditation: Projeto CIES was recognized as an organization of public utility in April 2011. As a result, “Health Truck” and other projects of the organization now are eligible to fiscal benefits and can also be contract in a less bureaucratic way by the government to provide health care in municipalities. This was possible due to the law bill 247/10, by deputy Afonso Lobato (Green Party). This enabled the approval by the Governor of Sao Paulo State, Geraldo Alckmin that was later published in Diario Oficial, in April 20, 2011, under the Law number 14.415.

Certification to Schwab Foundation’s Featured Social Entrepreneurs during 2012 World Economic Forum for Latin America. http://www.schwabfound.org/sf/SocialEntrepreneurs/Profiles/index.htm?sna...

Founder member of Folha’s Social-Environmental Entrepreneurs Network (2011) http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/empreendedorsocial/976452-folha-lanca-rede-...

References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each

Mirjam Schöning, senior director of Schwab Foundation/World Economic Forum: Tel.: + 41 (22) 869 1408 Mirjam.Schoening@weforum.org

Cássio Aoqui, consultant of Social Entrepreneurs Award/Folha de S.Paulo: Tel.: + 55 (11) 9331-0824 cassio@folha.com.br

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Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)

How long have you been in operation?

Operating for 1‐5 years

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Cost.

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Long waiting lines to access exams in public health care institutions.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Innovative health integrated to education project focused on high-risk populations that uses an innovative method of shared management that engages government, companies, civil society and communities. The services provided are self-sustainable and based on the SUS (Unified Health System) remuneration reference table. Projeto CIES (Health and Education Integration Center) has mobile health care units that can be adapted to various situations and locations: Health Truck, Health Mini Van and Health Box.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Already waiting for around 1 year, housewife and little farmer Maria José (not her real name), 70, arrives anxious to receive eye care in Health Truck in the city of Itapema, brought by her son due to a visual deficit. After being received at the front desk, she is rapidly directed to medical consultation as she has an appointment with determined hour and a printed card. She is impressed by the agility. The doctor asks: Good Morning, Dona Maria, how are you doing? – Doctor, I can’t see a thing. They say I am losing my sight, answers her. – OK, lets check that. You are not going to lose your sight. You have a disease called cataract and we will make a little surgery tomorrow and you will see again, explains the physician. – Ah, I am not going to lose my sight, son? Thanks God! and cries of happiness. The physician explains the procedure to her son. Next day, Maria arrives to the surgery that is finished 15 minutes after (phacoemulsification) leaving with her eye covered. After 24 hours she comes back to evaluation and withdrawal of the eye cover, with the same doctor. – Son! Wonderful! I can see! And leaves the room crying of happiness. That is a portrait of just one medical specialty and just one of the 200 surgeries done. You can imagine the 10 specialties together!

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

There are other Health Trucks around the country but usually providing care in just one medical specialty, therefore not covering some of the main population’s needs, as medium complexity exams. They also have high operational costs and just make one-off consultations, without continuity plans in the long term to the served community.
Projeto CIES differentiates from the traditional practice because it has developed a concept of shared management based on the implementation of a Local Productive Arrangement in health that engages government, companies, civil society and the benefited community.

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

After realizing the lack of health care in the periphery of larger urban centers and remote communities, a group of physicians, lawyers, accountants, engineers and architects decided to launch a mobile health center to change the harsh Brazilian reality.

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

Our goal is to replicate the model as Local Productive Arrangements in Health in a self-sustainable way, engaging and training local health professionals; and therefore serving more people. Our goal for 2012 is building 7 new mobile medical centers (one truck, two boxes and four mini vans) that will make possible to benefit 270,000 people in 5 different Brazilian states (Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Mato Grosso do Sul e Para). In 2013 we will start to implement a franchising system and we plan to have 50 mobile centers in the whole country benefiting 390,000 people by 2015.

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

Since 2009, the project has passed in 25 cities of five different states and more than 35 thousand people have directly benefited from its services. It has provided more than 70 thousand exams and surgical procedures in gastroenterology, endoscopy, colonoscopy, cardiology, electrocardiogram, ultrasonography, urology, vasectomy, postectomy, urodynamic test, digital mammography, eye exams, cataract surgeries, chalazion, pterygium, surgeries and dermatological care, laboratorial exams and lectures on prevention of diseases. It has also offered free training to more than 500 local community agents. This results have been increasing fast: from 2008 to 2009 the number of patients increased by 116% (from 1,898 to 4,102), exams and procedures increased by 234% (from 4,267 to 14,236) and trained agents increased by 275% (from 40 to 150). From 2009 to 2012 the consolidated number increased even more, 388% (from 4,102 to 20,000 people).

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

In 3 years of operation, the direct social impact was to promote access to 57,000 people from the base of the pyramid to high-quality specialized medical care and prevention, in a humanized way, in its advanced mobile medical centers that reach people at their home’s doors. It is also affordable and enhances productivity, generates income and jobs having 1,650 health agents trained in 28 cities in 5 different states of the country. That is a result of a engagement of government-company-community where the citizen is trained, works, is paid and serves it owns community. We expect to benefit 390,000 people in 50 centers around Brazil, by 2015.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

The barriers faced by the project were expected in its business plan (SWOT analysis), as well as the measures to overcome them. The barriers are: small municipalities that lack financial resources or that do not know how to contract the services (legally speaking); political parties interests; problems with local health secretary. The solution we found to overcome these barriers was to help in fundraising with local companies and providing legal support (partnership contract based on OSCIP law, calls for accreditation, tender waiving based on proven knowledge and singularity) as well as establishing partnerships with local Health Secretaries to meet repressed demand, as it is an integrated network.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Units continuously working to provide care all year long

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Strategic planning for 2, 3 and 5 years (already achieved)

Task 2

Care processes and protocols standardization (on going)

Task 3

Personal hiring and training (on going)

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Finishing a new mobile unit and starting new ones up.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Fundraising for new investments (partially raised)

Task 2

Franchising models to replicate the initiative (being developed)

Task 3

Building new mobile medical centers (box under construction)

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

Event’s costs are reduced through partnerships with local companies - which provide accommodation and food services, as example -, government (materials, equipment and professionals) and community (staff). In consequence, a Truck event generates a gross income of 100,000 to 450,000 Brazilian reals. From this amount 20% to 30% go to fixed costs, 10% go to new investments, 40% go to cover costs of the event (fees and inputs) and 20% go to cash reserves.

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?

Project CIES was created to be replicated in all Brazil and any other country, and it was conceived to act in large scale, especially in the poorest regions of the country, with precarious health care, as well as in Africa.
There is a clear effort to conduct research and develop new health mobile models - as containers (in assembly phase) and mini vans (one already in activity) – in order to increase its flexibility, impact and operational efficiency. Such innovations aim to reach other areas that have care needs.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

In the absence of regulation in health - especially related to creation of social businesses - led us to the development of an innovative hydride model of non-profit with technology social business with safe governance and low risks of conflict of interests. This model enables us to grow and to replicate our project to the whole country and abroad, as the non-profit keeps its partnership with the government and uses companies donations received through fiscal benefits programs and the social business can receive social investments to replicate structure. Additionally, we can serve as a model to other organizations.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

We can exchange experience and partnerships to strengthen the concept of social businesses and sustainability that is not very disseminated in our society yet, differentiating it from the concept of social responsibility.

My Name My Story

My Name My Story (MNMS) is a Youth Run Social Leadership Organization that involves students, faculty and the community in the spirit of “inspiring the next generation of leaders” and all actions of the organization are aligned with the philosophy of “Hope – Believe – Succeed –Inspire”

Our Goal: One Million Stories that Inspire.

Our Mission: To increase Unity, Tolerance and Empathy, in the community, while developing leaders.

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Purchase Empower

Have you ever thought about the ingredients that went into your meal before eating it? Better yet...have you taken the time to understand HOW all those ingredients even got to the restaurant where you are eating? Although most consumers do not take into consideration the supply chain that makes their dining experience possible, it is eye opening uncovering the journey items take to reach their final users. Purchase Empower is trying to answer these questions by uncovering and documenting the supply chains of products in State College, PA and the surrounding area.

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!SYOU // co-designed sneakers

Created on 02/29/2012 by SYOU

Time for Change

The global sneaker industry is dominated by a handful of giant brands. Domination of retail margins, marketing strategy and production techniques is paramount. Money is spent on marketing, pouring value into sports-derived products. Production is done as cheaply as possible in Asia. At its core this model has existed for decades. It’s time for change in the sneaker industry.

‘Trade, not Aid’ in action

About You

Organization: !SYOU // co-designed sneakers Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Jaap

Last Name

Spoorenberg

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

The Netherlands

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

We represents a new generation of entrepreneurs, looking beyond just our own interests. Success can be shared. We are Merijn ten Thije & Jaap Spoorenberg. The initial idea was hatched whilst one was working for Nike EHQ: researching & defining opportunities for Nike in Africa. Merijn & Jaap are two like-minded entrepreneurs and friends since they met as student brand managers at Red Bull, bonding over a shared passion for marketing, creation and ethical brand-building.

Together, we want to launch !SYOU the way it deserves to be launched: on an international scale with a global reach. In order to achieve this, the team needs to be complemented with global influencers and skilled partners, who join us and change the way people think about sneakers.

We believe in an alternative to the rigid and conservative business models that have driven the fashion industry for many years. We believe fashion, commercial success and a positive, sustainable approach to production can work hand-in-hand. !SYOU is an abbreviation for I SEE YOU. We see, and collaborate with, talent all over the world. This co-design philosophy is the heart and soul of !SYOU. This is why we get up in the morning.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

!SYOU // co-designed sneakers

Organization Website

Organization Country

Netherlands, NH, Amsterdam

Country where this project is creating social impact

Colombia, ANT, Medellin

Is your organization a

For‐profit

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

The global sneaker industry is dominated by a handful of giant brands. Domination of retail margins, marketing strategy and production techniques is key. Money is spent on marketing, pouring value into sports-derived products, produced as cheaply as possible in Asia. At its core this model has existed for decades. It’s time for change in the sneaker industry.

In times of recession, funds for developing aid decrease. At all times big NGO’s suffer from an image problem - ‘Which part of my donation is spent on salary and overhead of the organization and which part is truly distributed to the aid in developing countries?’

In the developed world, DAC-listed nations are perceived as poor, helpless, conflicted, even war-torn.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

By producing a unique, sneaker in DAC-listed* countries and marketing to consumers in developed markets we meet two distinct needs: Firstly, our desire to help drive positive economic change in local communities through two-way trade, not aid. As such we also hope to contribute to the positive image of the country. Secondly, our consumers’ desire for more sustainable products that do not sacrifice fashion-forward design or quality.

Introducing !SYOU: unique sneakers produced in collaboration with DAC-listed nations. Co-designed with local creative talent and designers around the world, produced by local manufacturers with locally sourced materials, and sold at a fair price and at fair margins all across the world. And the best bit? Everyone involved receives a fair share of the proceeds from each sale. From local producers to local creative talent to local communities. This is ‘Trade, not Aid’ in action.

* Countries eligibeligible to receive official development assistance.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Co-Design is a simple ‘fair-trade’ philosophy, which builds creative and commercial partnerships in every nation we work with. Design talent and local material producers collaborate with the !SYOU team to produce each new sneaker. Co-Design is unique to !SYOU and it’s why we get up in the morning. It’s a totally fresh approach to sneaker design. A global viewpoint that sets us part from the every other two-footed brand on the racks. And it gives us the chance to do our thing in a good and honest way.

The !SYOU concept is truly unique in the market. From our co-design philosophy to our product design, our packaging to our service, we hope to become a revolution in the sneaker industry. Our global journey to develop new collections with new DAC-listed countries allows to continually innovate, thus retain and protect our concept.

The soul of the !SYOUbrand is positive collaboration. Inspired by and produced in collaboration with DAC-listed nations. !SYOU is co-designed with both local creative talent and top-designers from around the world and produced by local manufacturers with locally sourced materials. Everyone involved - from local producer – to local creative talent – to local communities - receives a fair share of the proceeds from each sale. This is ‘Trade,’ not ‘Aid,’ in action.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

The current market is dominated by a handful of global brands , in whose sales strategies retailers play the leading role and retail margin is paramount. Marketing is focused on sports and budget spending prioritises endorsement deals and traditional television and print advertising. 95% of the production is still located in Asian countries and completed as cheaply as possible. These basic principles have formed the pervading business model for decades. It’s time for change in the sneaker industry.

Giant brands such as Nike, Adidas, Converse, Puma, VANS dominate the market place. Luckily more (sustainable) brands are also entering the market like Veja or TOMS.

Quality and price wise we will not outperform these players on the market. Story-, value and content-wise we hopefully will.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for 1-5 years

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

In June 2010 the first !SYOU collection launched as a test-run in the Netherlands. A limited batch of 600 pairs was co- designed with talented artists and material producers from Burkina Faso.

Furthermore, !SYOU was invited to participate in several competitions and events where we could tell our story. We invited the creatives from Burkina Faso to Amsterdam to co-design with top-talents in the Netherlands for a week (with aid of the Mondriaan foundation). This action was an ultimate recognition of our philosophy of international collaboration, and a positive approach towards working with DAC-listed countries and talents.

In a nutshell: on a small scale we stimulated economic activities, and we hope we shared our story and philosophy and showed a positive side of Burkina Faso.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

A highly competitive market. A small number of new brands have entered the market and survived. We hope that our story and combination of a commercial initiative and do-good, while still being an A-brand help us to enter this market.

The DAC-listed countries: The countries we work with are on the official list of developing countries (by the World Bank). Many of these nations are unstable both political and/or economically, and sadly, obstructive bureaucracy and corruption are both regularly observed. We invest time in selecting the right local partners/organizations and communities to collaborate with to minimize these risks.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

At !SYOU we see talent and collaborative opportunity all over the world and we aim to help change the way the consumer sees our developing nation partners. It makes no difference if you are a photographer from Ouagadougou or Tokyo, if you are an artist in Medellin or NyC, a local manufacturer in Bulgaria or Argentina.

Our approach is trade...not aid. A structured solution that puts each developing nation as an equal trade-partner, utilising their resources to generate jobs and revenue. For example; When a consumer buys a Nike sneaker they (maybe unwittingly) support and contribute to cheap, possibly exploitative production in Asia, huge retail margins and athlete sponsorship deals. !SYOU offers a distinct alternative – equal on quality and fashion edge, but combined with the knowl- edge that their purchase directly (and with full transparency) supports economic and creative development in developing countries.

By producing a unique, premium sneaker in DAC-listed countries and marketing to consumers in developed markets we meet two distinct needs: Firstly, our desire to help drive positive economic change in local communities through two-way trade, not aid (and as such contribute to the positive image of the country); and secondly, our consumers’ desire for more sustainable products that do not sacrifice fashion-forward design or quality.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

In the developed world, DAC-listed nations are perceived as poor, helpless, conflicted, even war-torn. In reality many of these countries nurture a wealth of new talent and valuable resources. Take Colombia as an example. Asked for an instant association, respondents most reactions are: “Drugs.” “Violence.” “Poverty.” “FARQ.” Those interviewed had little or no idea of the creative talent the country offers.

Fair-trade or NGO initiatives in the fashion industry tend to focus to heavily on worthy aid or conservative diffusion product lines. Interest is generated by charity, rather than creativity. There are a small number of interesting exceptions to this rule, but the opportunity for cool, edgy fair-trade fashion brands like ours remains strong.

Consumer apathy is a very real issue for cause-related products. Our belief is that fair trade can feel good and look great. Make the product desirable with sole reliance on the fair trade ethic.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

Beside the country itself; meeting and talking with like-minded entrepreneurs. Visiting the projects, and being on the look-out for new opportunities. We always have had the vision that we don't know it all. We love to gather people around us who know better and learn from them and each other.

We created an idea of how !SYOU would be as a person: 'He or she would be humble pioneer on a never ending journey. And like all adventurers, aid and inspiration comes from amazing friends at every step. The people and the journey are as important as the destination.

The brand is humble, without ego, or desire for fame and fortune. The challenge and the reward are all in keeping the independent spirit alive and in sharing this with as many like-minded souls as possible. It’s always more than money, more than fashion, because !SYOU is more than just a sneaker.'

Charm Offensive

Created on 02/22/2012 by CharmOffensive

Charm Offensive - Fulfil your vintage desires...save the planet!!!

About You

Organization: Charm Offensive Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Lucy

Last Name

Sinclair

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Charm Offensive

Organization Website

Organization Country

United Kingdom, LEC, Leicester

Country where this project is creating social impact

United Kingdom, LEC, Leicester

Is your organization a

For‐profit

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Currently in the UK approximately 1.5 – 2 million tonnes of textile waste is dumped in landfills every single year. The meteoric rise of cheap, disposable clothing has resulted in our natural earth becoming clogged with non-biodegradable synthetic materials. MP’s have coined this ‘The Primark Effect’ and action is being taken to tackle the problem.

Charm Offensive sees that mainstream fashion trends inhibit individuality, style can help to express your personality which promotes confidence - something that we’re sure most ladies could and would like to benefit from.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Charm Offensive rescues pre loved, ladies vintage clothing and accessories from their impending landfill doom and provides them a new lease of life. We recycle these lucky lovelies not only by selling them on at vintage fairs, festivals and from our online treasure trove, but we will also be holding regular era themed event nights to showcase our wares and rally support for our movement.

Our brand values, ‘Green’, ‘Dynamic’, ‘Fun’, ‘Creative’ and ‘Bold’ form the backbone of our company, as well as wanting to play our part with environmental issues we also feel it is important to celebrate creativity and expression of individuality through style.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Charm Offensive will make a difference with its solution by creating a working cycle and turning one lady’s junk into another’s treasure. To exemplify, take the tale of Mable’s marvellous Mary Quant mini skirt. It started out life in the swinging 60’s as Mable’s festival favourite and boy did it see some times! Flash forward to the noughties and Mable is having a clear out. The mini skirt is bundled up with some other bits and pieces and thrown into a recycling bank. The bank is cleared and all Mable’s items are sent on to a sorting house where items of perceived vintage status will be passed on to an affiliate vintage wholesaler. The vintage wholesaler then supplies Mable’s skirt, along with other vintage delights, to Charm Offensive, here it has found a platform and is picked up on the Charm Offensive website by an admiring Annabel who is enchanted with her find and with the attention to detail of the beautiful recycled packaging it arrived in (and she left us some fab comments to boot!). This allows Mable’s marvellous Mary Quant mini skirt to dance through another era. The cycle has helped Mable, bought joy and individuality to Annabel and kept another item from falling foul in the landfill. Charm Offensive will ensure the continuation of this cycle and will aim to help significantly reduce the textile landfill statistics, giving our planet a hug : )

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Old Blighty offers independent vintage companies...these little gems are great for grass roots inspiration but their market is limited. Charm Offensive is gearing up to frolic with the frill seekers who waltz the world wide web by taking advantage of the e commerce revolution , Britain spent 31.5 billion in the first half of 2011!
Beyond Retro are definitely addressing the same environmental needs, they promote sustainability and reduce waste while simultaneously celebrating individuality. Mod Cloth, the international vintage empire is another in the mix, we admire their business acumen. We will take a lot from the strengths of our competitors but will set ourselves above by developing further our green agenda, something that we have noticed neither of the aforementioned have pursued.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

We have not yet started trading due to funding barriers but aside from the very core of vintage being a recycling process, we have plans to extend our ethos further and develop our company so that social consciousness is at the forefront of our operations. We have made the decision to go down this route as we believe what you reap is what you sow.
We have factored into our plans to donate 20p of each item sold to support The UK Youth Climate Coalition. This inspirational organisation is tirelessly campaigning for a shift in the economy towards a greener future. Another organisation we are supporting is The India Shop. We shall use their fantastic recycled newspaper bags, made by street children in Delhi. Selling these bags helps give these children a better quality of life.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

Starting out from nothing as a small business we will inevitably encounter certain barriers. So far our main barrier has been getting the business off the ground with limited funding. We have over come this by persistently pitching our ideas and plans and have secured from the Princes Trust Foundation. We have learnt that persistence and positivity will over come any barrier and provide solutions.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Charm Offensive forecasts year on year growth. Whilst keeping our consumer prices affordable, we can still achieve an average mark up of 66% which ensures financial viability and will enable us to continue to develop our social and environmental agendas. In the first year all profits will be invested into the business and into helping our chosen projects hence building lasting professional relationships that will ensure sustainability. To start with, we shall be generating business through vintage fairs, markets and festivals which will help to get our name out there initially. Alongside these events we will be heavily focused on our digital marketing strategy which will allow us to build strong networks and reach wider global audiences and consumers. Other plans to encourage growth of our business include setting up fun vintage era themed nights, community events and eventually we aim to start up our own Charm Offensive festival which will involve many other green businesses.
As the Charm Offensive brand becomes stronger, our effect on environmental issues will be amplified.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

In our view social entrepreneurship marks a move away from monetary capitalism towards a more collaborative, inclusive economy where working towards mutual benefits will encourage harmonious relationships for the greater good financially, socially and economically. We see the focus as not trying to tread on others as a means to climb to the top but rather embrace a network of support.
We understand, and are very aware of, cause and effect. What we do will have an impact and therefore it is our responsibility to create positive effect.
Globalisation has bought us closer to developing countries and we feel that we should be considerate with our presence in terms of understanding different cultures and their specific needs. Social entrepreneurship will contribute to the improvement of developing countries by respectfully enabling trade on decent terms.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

We feel the main challenge will be encountering the suffering caused by poverty but know that this will spur us on to want to do our bit to help. The greatest reward will be seeing how social entrepreneurship can create a life changing impact on a community, will show us the dynamics of how a western company can work positively with developing countries and will inspire us further in our quest to make a difference.

Happy Honest Treats

Created on 02/22/2012 by Justnuts

We are justnuts and we make Happy Honest Treats.

About You

Organization: justnuts organic treats Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Erik

Last Name

Van Gangelen

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

The Netherlands

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

I love treating myself to little tasty treats. But what I eat, I want to be fair. So no unnatural stuff and made with respect.

At my work it was Christmas (or Sinterklaas for the Dutchies) 365 days of the year, chocolate and sweets everywhere. After unsuccessfully stalking the caterer and the vending machine guy, I decided to create my owns snacks. After a while I started letting my family and friends taste them. And asking them if they would buy them. The feedback I got was positive, sometimes a bit rude, but it pushed me in the right direction.

So about a year ago I started justnuts. Realizing that two people know more then one and knowing that I'm not good at everything, I asked my good friend Thijs to join me, which he did.

So now we make Happy Honest Treats together.

I've build up a set of skills regarding, marketing and operations. Thijs knows a lot about finance and is a very driven sales person. The perfect combination.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

justnuts organic treats

Organization Website

Organization Country

Netherlands, The Hague

Country where this project is creating social impact

Bolivia

Is your organization a

Please select

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

The one of the 'Unhealthy snacks' which are packed with no respect.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Creating Happy Honest Treats. Little boxes filled with organic and if possible Fairtrade nuts and dried fruits. For example: hazelsnuts with coconut and raisins.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

We only buy organic ingredients, we do not add anything else.

If possible and relevant we buy Fairtrade, otherwise we have set up our own Code of Conduct, which lets our suppliers know what we think of for example labor issues.

We pack our treats in little FSC Mix Sources cartons which contain compostable (made from wood pulp) bags.

These bags are put in these little cartons by a special project of young guys who all have an psychological handicap, e.g. Autism or AHDH.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Our peers:
- Innocent Smoothies
- Green & Blacks chocolate
- Ben & Jerry's

Competitors:
- SUMM
- Leev
- Every other snack on the shelf :-)

From our peers and competitors comes the challenge to keep reinventing ourselves. Continually improving our (social) impact. For example we need to be on the front end of the developments on sustainable packaging.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

After just a year in business this really difficult to say, but we have shown that you can make healthy snack that is packed with respect.

In doing so w've kept our packing guys busy, sourced a lot of kilograms of Fairtrade Brazilnuts and used no oil for packaging material doing it.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

Convincing the really big for example caterers that our products are for real, that their customers want them and they still can make some money by selling them.

We have been building up a case with the help of Albert Heijn. They have stocked us, they like helping us and therefor we can show other possible customers that our products do sell.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Financial: we have a margin that gives us the opportunity expand our business, pay our salaries and make a little profit.

Social: making a really tasty and healthy snack, packed by our social project and with partially Fairtrade ingredients.

Environmental: we use FSC Mix Sources cartons and compostable bags. The bags are made from wood pulp and you can throw them in the same bin as your veggies and fruit.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

For justnuts it will be in two ways:
- buying Fairtrade and working with the farmers to produce the best nuts and dried fruits.
- sharing a part of our profits with our farmers, so they can improve their business and off course their nuts and dried fruits.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

Learning views on how to solve a problem from different cultures. I have a Western way of doing things, but strongly believe that that is not the only way to achieve your goals.

AOK! A social game for good & community

AOK is a social game for good and online community that makes sharing positive actions playful, rewarding and impactful.

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St. Rose of Lima School Activates Empathy Through Donation to Children of Haiti

Created on 02/15/2012 by mwhitloc

St. Rose of Lima elementary school partnered with Kids Around the World to relocate a large playscape to Carrefour, Haiti to aid displaced children there.

About You

Organization: Saint Rose of Lima School Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Michelle

Last Name

Whitlock

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Saint Rose of Lima School

Organization Website

Organization Country

United States, CT, Newtown, Fairfield County

Country where this project is creating social impact

Haiti, OU, Carrefour

Is your organization a

Non‐profit / NGO / Citizen sector organization

Your role in Education

Other.

The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with

Private (tuition-based)

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)

How long has your solution been in operation?

Operating for less than a year

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

American families largely take for granted the playscapes and playground equipment that dot our schools and parks. But in many areas of the world where families have been hit by war, poverty, illness and natural disasters, children have no such luxuries. As a result, there is a dire need to help children be children in strife-ravaged countries like Haiti, despite the hardships they’ve faced. And there is an equally pressing need to raise awareness among U.S. children as to their global cousins’ situation, activate empathy and motivate action to help. We also need to “reduce, reuse, recycle” on a larger scale.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Our school recently saw and seized an opportunity to create a virtuous, eco-friendly giving circle that will bring daily joy to children in Carrefour, Haiti, and will foster a spirit of gratitude and giving back in our students, consistent with our school’s mission and core values. Partnering with Kids Around the World, St. Rose will donate a large, used playscape from our elementary school playground that had been dismantled to make way for portable classrooms. The playscape will be refurbished, transported and reassembled in Carrefour. Photos and details will be sent back to St. Rose so that the community can celebrate the giving circle. And finally, a new playscape and outdoor learning area will be erected at St. Rose of Lima School dedicated to the children of Carrefour. Our students will Feel and Imagine the plight of their Haitian children, Do something to help, and Share and celebrate the journey of the playscape as a school community.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

According to the representatives from Kids Around the World with whom we are working, there is a location that wants the playground, Grace International, in Carrefour. Located about eight miles from Haiti’s capital city of Port au Prince, the former girls’ school was destroyed in the January 2010 earthquake. After the earthquake the compound was opened to people who lost their home; more than 20,000 people have reportedly lived in tents within the 20-acre space. There is a perfect flat, level area where the playscape will be erected for use by the children in the compound. The installation is expected to be complete by June 2012.

At St. Rose, the dismantling of the playscape (assisted by school parents and volunteers) was captured in photos and a large poster was created to share the event with students and visitors to the school. The students are very engaged in the project and excited to see the playscape’s new location. They are also learning about Haiti and the children’s living conditions as part of the project, and are praying for them daily and at weekly mass.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

We don’t view our project in a competitive framework, and so have no formal response to these questions. We hope that our school will set the example for many schools across the U.S. who are in a position to help children in this way, and our fondest wish would be that many schools donate their used playground equipment and deeply engage their students in the donation process.

Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.

Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

Our school, St. Rose of Lima elementary school, partnered with Kids Around the World to relocate a large playscape to Carrefour, Haiti.

Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

Instead of becoming trash, the playscape will be reused in a way that is socially conscious, “green”, and raises global awareness.

Social Impact

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This Entry is about (Issues)

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

As the playscape has just been dismantled and transported to Pennsylvania for refurbishing, it is still in transit. But within the school, the project has created a feeling of pride and fostered curiosity about Haiti and its children. In a local newspaper article detailing the project, St. Rose of Lima Principal Mary Maloney reports that many of the children initially asked “Where’s Haiti?”, giving teachers a chance to educated students about the challenged country and its citizens. Additionally, the local community has reacted very positively to the school’s donation, which has been chronicled in the Newtown Bee and on the Newtown Patch.

What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?

Because the playscape is large and was in relatively good condition, we expect that it will provide many years of happiness to the children at the Grace International compound. And because we are embracing the donation as a school community, and dedicating the new playscape and learning area to our Haitian recipients, we anticipate that our students will carry the awareness and pride for many years, and will realize that there are many opportunities to give back, show empathy and find creative solutions that will benefit the planet and the world.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

We don’t anticipate any barriers to the success of the first phase of our project – specifically, getting the playscape to Haiti. Kids Around the World is a tested and trusted partner that has removed and reinstalled more than 200 playgrounds since the organization was founded in 1995. The second phase of the project is to raise enough funds to purchase, install and dedicate the replacement playscape and build a learning area with an outdoor classroom. Our inability to raise enough funds for the expenditure is our biggest barrier, and so we are seeking grants and alternative funding to achieve our goal.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Used playscape refurbished, transported and reassembled in Carrefour, Haiti by June 2012;Replacement playscape scoped & funded.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Used playscape refurbished, transported and reassembled in Carrefour, Haiti by June 2012

Task 2

Replacement playscape scoped, funded and reinstalled by June 2012, along with construction of an outdoor learning area.

Task 3

St. Rose school new playscape and learning area dedication and celebration ceremony (incorporating photos/video from Haiti)

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Bond formed with Haitian community that extends the scope and magnitude of our school's aid and support.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

St. Rose school new playscape and learning area dedication and celebration ceremony (incorporating photos/video from Haiti)

Task 2

Find direct aid conduit to Carrefour to assist the children of that community through food and clothing drives, etc.

Task 3

Dedication plaque or stone in place at the new playscape/learning area as a daily reminder of our school’s on-going mission.

Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]

Our school’s mission is to provide children in preschool through eighth grade a foundation for academic excellence in a faith-based community. We seek to foster student’s personal spiritual growth, responsibility, and Christ’s message of service to others – and we try to model those values in everything we undertake.

St. Rose Playground Committee chair Jim Walsh, along with other parent and faculty volunteers, were facing the task of removing the large metal and plastic playscape parts, assuming they were bound for the local dump. But they had a nagging feeling that there must be a better way. Researching manufacturers for the new playscape, Mr. Walsh first heard about Kids Around the World. That was the “aha!” moment where he saw an opportunity to achieve a greater good and inspire empathy in our students.

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

We are partnering with Kids Around the World, an Illinois-based, faith-based non-profit that has been refurbishing playgrounds and playscapes since 1986. Their organization’s mission is to help children and families who have been affected by war, poverty, illness and natural disasters. Their passion is to reach children around the world with the message of God’s love for them. For more information: www.kidsaroundtheworld.com

What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]

St. Rose of Lima School has a Playground Committee comprised of involved and engaged parent volunteers who are determined to complete this project and achieve the broadest possible impact with the project – in Haiti, in our school and in our community. Our school has a rich and long history of parent volunteerism, and we are confident that we will complete the project milestones laid out in this submission.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

We would be glad to assist other schools seeking to donate their used playground equipment via Kids Around the World, or serve as a reference for that non-profit organization. Additionally, we would be happy to share ideas for celebrating the giving circle and engaging students in the process.

Techniek Talenten - Talents of Technique

Created on 02/14/2012 by Techniek Talenten

Techniek Talenten aims to provide students and business to link together, so they are able to grow and achieve results. Technique=future

About You

Organization: Techniek Talenten Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Mathijs

Last Name

Oomen

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

The Netherlands

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

Born in a nice family with almost all entrepreneurs I know where my love for innovation and entrepreneurship came from. I grew up on a technical company from my parents but yet I wanted to study. Last year I received a bachelor degree at Rotterdam University with a speciality "entrepreneurship & Innovation". During my study I saw a big gap between what students learn on school and what the companies ask for in a student. Growing up on a technical company, I know there a limited technical employees avalable and the number (and skills) of techical students is decreasing in The Netherlands. Therefore the Foundation Techniek Talenten is founded.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Techniek Talenten

Organization Website

Organization Country

Netherlands, NB, De Heen

Country where this project is creating social impact

Netherlands, NB, Bergen op Zoom

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

There is a big gap between what students learn on school and what the companies ask for in a student. Also, there are limited technical employees avalable and the number of techical students is decreasing in The Netherlands. This is because working in the engineering sector has a bad and dirty reputation. The foundation Techniek Talenten wants fill this gap by using funny, interesting and learnfull projects to stimulate engineering sector

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

One of the products (and now the main project) of the foundation is the "Supermono Project". It is a multidisciplinary group project where every student of the Markiezaatcollege (a college with engineering courses) can participate. The students will learn to work together in this project. Almost every course participates on this project! The "Supermono" is a bike which is build by students through cradle-to-cradle and the bike will be build as 'green' as possible. For example the bike will run on Bio-ethanol.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

The 'green bike' will travel the country to show on several exhibitions and fairs as a showpiece for all MBO Techniek (=technique and engineering courses). Not only will you see Technique students are the future, Technique is also fun to do.
Also, the bike will participate at the highest level of motorcylce racing; Dutch & European Supermono Championship! It is a challenge to show that you can compete using environmentally products, bio-ethanol and dutch engineering students!

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

We want to build the 'greenest bike' and compete others bikes/teams in the Dutch and European Championship. Therefore we have worldwide competitors (and attention) from countries as; from Denmark and Sweden, to Spain and Portugal, but also Brittain, Germany, Poland, Italy and so on...
Also, there will be 2 others student teams participating. TU Delft and Hogeschool Arnhem en Nijmegen. Those are 2 universities in The Netherlands. Our student project will be the first one a lower level; MBO Techniek.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

For now, building only one "Supermono", almost all courses give by ROC Markiezaatcollege can participate. This means 6 courses and approximately 40 students.
In the future, we hope every company wants to hire an engineering students (with talent for technique) who participates at this schoolproject. In the end, every school should learn their students in interesting group projects.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

In this stage, awareness of the problem is needed. Also, money is needed to create this awareness on several exhibitions, fairs and an european platform like a European Championship.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Building the "greenest bike" we create environmental (cradle-to-cradle; bio-ethanol), social (creating awareness on this subject, a better education programm, more interests in Technique, more engineers in the future) and maybe more financial sustainability (better communication business - schools, better engineers).

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

In these times of (financial) crisis The Netherlands (and more European countries) don't invest anymore in knowledge. This is very important for the continuity of a country. If you invest in knowledge, you can grow. Learning based on this project will create innovative people.
innovatief > social impact > sustainable > awareness & learning

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

A few years ago I travelled through the West of Africa. Together with Oxfam Novib we collected money for a little school in Mali. I hope I can see the beaty of the country and the people again. I'll never forget the smiles on their faces!
I also have an agricultural background and I want to explore the African way of harvesting. Exchanging and sharing thoughts about harvesting and using nature would be awesome!

Tutudesk UK

Created on 02/14/2012 by Tutudesk UK

Tutudesk UK supports The Desmond Tutu 2015 Tutudesk Campaign Centre in its ambition to provide 20m school desks to 20m children.

About You

Organization: Tutudesk UK Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Rebecca

Last Name

Sweetman

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

I'm 25 and I have two years of management consulting experience from McKinsey. This has given me a fantastic toolkit of skills and access to an incredible network, but in my new role founding and running Tutudesk UK I expect there to be many challenges that I have no idea how to solve at first sight. However, I have the confidence to accept my limitations and ask others for help. The incredible thing about working in the world of social enterprise is that everyone is working towards the same goal, to have a positive impact on society and the environment, we're not competing against each other to make the most profit.

My passion for Africa started when I travelled to Uganda at the start of my gap year when I was 17. I spent a month working in a school where the children didn’t understand the language (English) that they were being taught in and many left primary school without knowing their times tables. I realised that without a basic level of education these children were being given little opportunity to escape from poverty.

Since then I have worked with a number of youth education charities and I came to realise that a charitable model isn’t the right approach to achieving scalable impact, given the limited funds available, but I didn’t know what the solution could be until last year.

When I was in South Africa last Easter I was both introduced to the concept of social enterprise and to the founder of Tutudesk. I immediately knew that this was the type of organisation that I wanted to be involved with. I made a number of suggestions about helping Tutudesk from the UK and found myself taking on the role of setting up their first international office!

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Tutudesk UK

Organization Website

Organization Country

United Kingdom, KEC, London

Country where this project is creating social impact

n/a

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Imagine attending a school with no classroom desks. What would you write on? Image a teacher trying to read the work you’ve written whilst leaning on your friend’s back. Is it legible? Over 95 million African children (and an estimated 400m worldwide) face this daily reality.

Literacy is the ability to read and write. Without a writing surface a child's literacy and thus their overall academic performance is affected, as well as their ability to concentrate in class.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Tutudesk is a simple low technology solution - a portable school desk. When placed on a child’s lap, it provides a surface for a child to write on, whether they are privileged enough to have a chair, or if they are sitting on the floor. It is light enough for the child to carry it to and from school thus extending the learning environment into their home. It is made from high quality plastic, ensuring its durability and safety for children.

The clever part is that Tutudesk UK is a social enterprise, it has a positive impact on society whilst remaining financially sustainable. How do we do this?

Tutudesks are sponsored by corporates, foundations, governments and various international development agencies, and are provided free of charge to beneficiaries. In exchange, sponsors can imprint their message on the top surface of the desk. In addition, Tutudesk UK will be registered as a charity and so will also be able to receive charitable donations.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

The primary activities of Tutudesk UK are to raise awareness of the Tutudesk solution and the impact that it has, and to recruit sponsors.

In November I attended a handover of 1,000 desks to a primary school in Carletonville, just outside Johannesburg in South Africa, that had a 50% desk shortage. Many of the desks that they did have were broken and the chairs that went with them were the wrong height. Following the handover every child in the school has their own desk that they can use both at school and at home. This handover was part of a community sponsorship program by Gold Fields.

Gold Fields is a global gold mining company based in South Africa. They took the decision to sponsor 20,000 Tutudesks in various schools to cover a number of critical success factors:
1. Alignment to, and sponsorship of a national priority area: education and education infrastructure
2. Sponsorship in areas around predominantly mining areas in which Goldfields operates. This strategy allows for public recognition in places where stakeholders across the board are constant witness to the Gold Fields intervention
3. The ability to further print material on the surface of the Tutudesk aligned to foundational education requirements – maths and literacy

In addition to the primary goals of stakeholder communication and education infrastructure provision, the Tutudesk intervention further facilitates an access point to communities for Gold Fields to identify other areas needing development in areas where they mine, and draw labour from.

Tutudesk UK will work very closely with Kommunity Group Projects and The Tutudesk Campaign Centre in South Africa who are responsible for the manufacture and delivery of the desks to schools. In some instances we have requests from specific schools or governments that we seek Sponsors for, in other instances we find Sponsors who want to distribute desks to a specific community or school.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Tutudesk doesn't have any direct peers or competitors. However we do compete:

Product: Some sponsors specifically want to provide school desks to children. In this situation Tutudesk is competing against standard classroom desks, however these are over 3x more expensive, cannot be carried home at the end of the day and don't offer a sponsorship opportunity to provide a ROI for funders.

Advertising: Where we target advertising budgets, we compete with other forms of advertising, however for the same impact the Tutudesk is 60-70% cheaper than traditional media such as billboards, radio and television.

CSR/Donations: When seeking education or Africa CSR/donor budgets we compete against a broad range of other applicants, however Tutudesk is a proven concept with high levels of impact.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

More than 1 million desks have been distributed to over 1000 schools across 20 countries in Sub Saharan Africa by Kommunity Group Projects.

In a survey of 76 schools, 100% of interviewees reported that the children's school work had improved, the classroom was more organised and the children were more comfortable.

More broadly, Tutudesk supports the MDGs on primary education and global partnerships. In addition, the messaging on the desk can support 3 of the other MDGs around HIV, gender equality and the environment.

Finally, further research is being conducted by MBA students from the University of Texas who are looking at the impact that a writing surface has on a child's education.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

For Tutudesk UK, the main barrier to success is not being able to attract sponsors. To overcome this we have designed a strategy to target the most appropriate organisations.

The most likely Sponsors will have one or more of the following factors: they see at least one country in Sub-Saharan Africa as part of their market, they have African employees, they source goods from a country in Sub-Saharan Africa or they have previously supported an education initiative.

Beyond this, we are also looking at other revenue generating opportunities in the UK that will generate profit to put towards achieving the Campaign goal.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Financial: Our sponsorship contracts have a profit margin built into them to cover overheads however, as a social enterprise, any profit will be reinvested in the business. The ultimate goal is that all overheads are covered by our Sponsorship contracts so that 100% of any charitable donations we receive can go towards the provision of Tutudesks.

Social: The provision of a school desk, a writing surface, improves a child's literacy and their overall academic performance. This in turn can provide them with a route out of poverty. Also, we support local (African) employment by manufacturing our desks in South Africa and the distribution and integration of Tutudesks offers further opportunities for employment creation in the recipient countries.

Environmental: The desks are 100% recyclable.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

There is a significant opportunity for improvement in developing countries, starting from the basic foundations of health and education. The challenge is that charities face limited resources to have impact at the scale required. Also, there is a significant opportunity for economic growth in developing countries. The challenge is that most businesses look at this and identify the best way to maximise profit without considering society or the environment.

A social enterprise can solve both problems; it is financially sustainable, which means that it doesn’t rely on donations, and as such is subject to market forces; also, it is driven to grow based on impact rather than profit and so society and the environment are part of the equation.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

Uganda was the first country in Africa that I visited. It was during my gap year when I was 17 and it would be wonderful to go back and remember where my passion for Africa started.

I find the most challenging part about visiting another country and working with local people is adapting to their local customs, however it is also the most rewarding part. It can just be small things like a ‘side-hug’. Or else, more fundamental things like the fact that many people in South Africa talk much more openly about their religious beliefs than people do in the UK. I've been an advisor to enke: Make Your Mark, a youth entrepreneurship and peer networking initiative in South Africa for the last 2 years and I will always remember reading one of the facilitators’ description of them self: "I am one of god's creatures living on earth with the purpose of changing people's lives". I don't think you would see that in a non-religious setting in the UK.

Corporate Wellness "Tool Box" - A Game Changer -

Created on 02/13/2012 by Fnewth

Using US and cross border best practices, create a corporate wellness “tool box” that is practical, cost effective and scalable.

About You

Organization: Medi Weightloss Clinics Cranston LLC Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

John

Last Name

Migliaccio

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Medi Weightloss Clinics Cranston LLC

Organization Website

Organization Country

United States

Country where this project is creating social impact

United States

Is your organization a

For‐profit

How long has your organization been operating?

1‐5 years

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

Ranked #1 in weight loss programs in ShopRI magazine.

References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each

Dr Francine Newth is a professor of Strategy in the School of Business at Providence College. She has conducted research globally on strategic alliances in government academia and industry. fnewth@providence.edu and 4019658090.
Steven Pare is the former head of RI State Police and presently Director of Public Safety for the City of Providence, RI. 401-272-1111

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)

How long have you been in operation?

Operating for 1‐5 years

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Cost.

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Smaller companies (less than 500 employees) worldwide are being severely impacted by rising health care costs. (US Health care spending will soon exceed $2.9 trillion) These health care costs lower a companies’ bottom-line worldwide often affecting their ability to remain in business.
Such companies often do not have access to corporate wellness programs nor do they have trained personnel to implement such activity effectively. Corporate Wellness reduces workmen’s compensation, lowers absenteeism and prescription costs, improves productivity and lowers health care costs. Wellness programs are not uniform and aren’t being effectively delivered to the employees and their families.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

A Corporate Wellness “Tool Box” is a Game Changer. For profit companies CAN deliverer the wellness/ prevention message (provided they have the tools) far better than the medical community! The solution is to create and DELIVER TO SMALL AND MID-SIZE COMPANIES AN INNOVATIVE CORPORATE WELLNESS “TOOL BOX” THAT allows them to EXECUTE ON PREVENTION AS A RAPID SOLUTION TO REDUCE A COMPANY’S costs including HEALTH CARE COSTS USING:
1. Software technology that assists in delivering the message on wellness and prevention through a unique multi-channel system to deliver the prevention message. Incentives for employee action-
2. NEW MENTORING SYSTEM: LARGE RI COMPANIES MENTORING SMALL/MID-SIZE COMPANIES USING THEIR BEST PRACTICES - Premise: companies can deliver the prevention message better than the healthcare community.
3. NEW INDEX That sets forth cost savings to companies called- A PREVENTION IMPACT INDEX(PII) -

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Typically a small company does not have a specific HR person dealing with wellness or prevention. Often the CEO or CFO is the de-facto HR person and also deals with an outside sales person regarding purchase of health insurance. Some form of wellness program may be offered from Blue Cross or United Health etc. These usually call for specific actions namely an annual visit to physicians, blood pressure check-up, completion of a health assessment questionnaire, etc. These actions are important but don’t go far enough to improve the bottom line of a company. A corporate wellness “Tool Box” as a Game Changer includes:
1. Prevention Impact Index (PII) that allowing the CFO to analyze dollar savings that come with strong weight loss, smoking cessation and or exercise programs – that include employee incentives.
2. Specific actions related to exercise and weight loss- from simple (walking contests) to intervention like physician supervised weight loss and aggressing smoking cessation actions-
3. The key to the system’s success is the message and the delivery of the message which is set forth using proprietary software from Messaging lab.
4. Smart phone, individualized web based employee support make the program work

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Blue Cross, United and other insurers have introduced corporate wellness programs tied to the sale of their insurance policies. These companies recognized the need for “wellness” and are addressing the issues with generic programs.
Consultants (former HR people) or individuals seeking a living providing guidance to companies on health issues now call on companies about wellness. Generic on line efforts are also available but are not specific enough.

The “Tool Box” approach importantly differs by empowering the “for profit” companies to use their marketing and organizational skills (usually not available to medical entities) to accomplish the important goals of wellness, directly affecting their bottom line.

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

. In 2010 while having a trade booth at a large Chamber business Expo, the booth being in the name of Medi Weightloss Clinics, almost all the sales materials dealt with individual weight loss issues. I placed 2 signs noticing the fact that discounts where available to companies who would notify their employees of our weight loss and exercise service. Requests for information on Corporate Wellness poured in, it was my Aha moment!

Following the Business Expo show, I called upon a number of small and large companies and began to understand the horrendous impact that high health care costs had on companies in talking with both the CEO’s and CFO’s they were looking for a simple and direct executable solution to improve their bottom line. As a result of that I contacted a professor at providence College, Dr Francine Newth, who was developing a Prevention Impact Index that focus on ROI. The index measured costs factors, risk factors, and investment factor.

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

. The goal is to adopt the best solutions from a fragmented corporate wellness sector and adapt them specifically for use by small companies. My objectives are:

• Offer to small and medium-sized companies the right tools to leverage their workforce productivity, achieve cost savings and increase profits
• Expand on the 160 companies already using our corporate wellness program
• Leverage the powerful software (EMR) that we already have in place that identifies corporations, demographics and geographic locations
• Assess and adopt cross border best corporate wellness practices
• Increase our corporate wellness sales force
• Introduce the power and knowledge of the health associations (Diabetes, Heart, and Cancer Society) as partners in the tool box •

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

Nationally over 160 companies have adopted the present Medi Weightloss Clinics corporate wellness program. Numerous letters (available but too long to submit) from individuals and corporations support the fact that engaging in prevention namely weightloss, exercise and smoking cessation improves employee productivity and reduces the onset of diabetes, heart disease and certain forms of cancer.

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

To directly impact the health of employees by focusing on PREVENTION, thus lowering a variety of costs and improving the bottom line. The impact for companies that adopt comprehensive corporate wellness efforts is that it will make these companies more competitive and profitable allowing them to remain in business and create jobs. Leveraging the impact on employees and projecting the same wellness lessons to the families of employees will have positive results on their own life, productivity and happiness.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

The barriers include
• government regulations of the sector, local and federal
• larger insurance companies forcefully pressing into this market sector
• renewed recession or substantial weakening of the economy
To overcome these potential barriers
• remain actively involved in all level of government attending hearings and providing input to respective government entities
• to partner with insurance companies and to secure intellectual property rights for the tool box and related services
• for companies to survive a recession, this will help them save costs and thrive

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

As a corporate wellness market leader, sign up 5 new companies and utilize this beginning to leverage growth.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Finalize Tool Box and delivery system

Task 2

Secure approval and commitment by top management of large companies (Hasbro, GTECH, Raytheon) to mentor smaller companies

Task 3

Finalize the wellness message and its multi-channel delivery

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Get commitment from an additional 10 RI small companies

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Complete 100 tool box systems

Task 2

Provide Prevention Impact Index platform to reduce their costs. Assist them on exactly how to use the Index

Task 3

Begin to deliver the wellness message through Chambers of Commerce and large business associations

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

We have partnerships with Diabetes Groups, Fitness Together, CVS, Citizens Bank, five Chambers of Commerce, 3 Universities Prov. College, Roger Williams School of Business and URI (use of graduate and undergraduate interns and faculty advisors), Nurse Practitioner VA Hospital Smoking cessation group, plus membership in 200 corporate members RI Business Group on Health (RIBGH)

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?

Once the program is fully implemented in RI it will be offered to 83 Medi Weightloss Clinics in 26 states nationally and through those clinics to thousands of US companies

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

Our internal proprietary EMR software that captures data on employers, employees, demographics as well as 3 years of ground work building business relationships provide us with an operating environment and organizational strength to make our innovation successful.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

Make our research available by agreement and collobrate with other applicants as appropriate

50 cents that changes the world for every child

Created on 02/13/2012 by Bruce Walker

50 cents that changes the world for every child is found in Healthy Hygienic Habits (3H). Maximizing the outcomes in education by reducing absenteeism.

About You

Organization: Partner Aid International Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Bruce

Last Name

Walker

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Partner Aid International

Organization Website

Organization Country

Germany, Neu-Anspach

Country where this project is creating social impact

Indonesia, JR, Bandung

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

PartnerAid’s work is regularly praised by beneficiaries, government, and UN partners in the countries where we work but we have not yet received any formal awards/honors.

References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each

a. Jochen Schmidt – Currently the International Director for Partner Aid, previously worked in Kyrgyzstan on a German-government funded effort to transform the emergency health care system. Jochen has extensive experience in coordinating health care initiatives and has provided support to the Healthy Hygienic Habits (3H) program. Email: schmidt@partneraid.org. Phone number: +49 (0)6081-9128980-6

b. Pantjawidi Djuharnoko – Currently the Director of the School Health Education Coordinating Board (SHECB) in West Java and a representative from the Department of Social Services in the Governor’s office. He has advocated for the development of a daily hand washing and tooth brushing intervention in preschools and elementary schools in West Java. Email: pantja_kes@yahoo.com Phone: +62 815 623-4180 or +62 87822822162

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Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Idea (you're poised to launch)

How long have you been in operation?

Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Equity.

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

In West Java the Department of Health reports that 75% of school age children are suffering with significant dental disease. The number one reason why children miss a day of school is tooth pain (61% of the total). Research has proven that a student’s learning process is significantly impaired by dental disease. One of the most effective and efficient means of preventing dental disease is daily tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste. The benefit is not correlated to proper technique of brushing or the quality of the toothbrush. The other most common causes of absenteeism in schools include diarrhoea, and upper/lower respiratory infections. The incidence of these diseases is greatly reduced if children use proper hand washing technique with soap on a daily basis.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

The Healthy Hygienic Habits (3H) program educates children about the benefit of regular hand washing and daily tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste. These two basic activities drastically reduce the incidence of the leading cases of school absenteeism: dental disease, diarrhoea, and respiratory infections. The cost per student of a 3H program is estimated to be US 50 cents per year. This includes buying a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap for the child to use in a daily activity. Because the cost is so low, even governments that are not rich in resources can afford to get involved in an effective prevention program. A program of daily hygienic practices in the schools will also impact the habits of the surrounding community resulting in an improved Human Development Index (HDI). Governments in developing countries hoping to move toward achieving Millenium Development Goals (MDG) by positively impacting the HDI will find the 3H program to be an affordable and effective option.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

The 3H program that will be developed in primary schools consists of two main activities which are daily hand washing and tooth brushing. The approach is focused on intersectoral collaboration and makes use of the existing structures of the educational sector to institutionalize evidence based preventive measures every day in public and private primary schools. The 3H Program will require contributions from all stakeholders, i.e. teachers, parents, local and national government leaders, companies, and most importantly the SHECB. PartnerAid International acting in conjunction with the SHECB will work to ensure the sustainability and success of the program. The SHECB will play a leadership role and facilitate coordination between stakeholders and supervision of the implementation of 3H. The teachers in primary schools will facilitate the implementation of the program under the authority of the SHECB. The parents will play a role as supervisors and supporters of the activities through contributing to the building of facilities for tooth brushing and hand washing. Companies will play the role of supporting the activities through donations of needed materials (CSR) or through providing high quality, low cost materials for purchase to be used in the program. PartnerAid International staff will play the role of training teachers, advocacy with parents, local and national government leaders, monitoring the implementation of 3H, evaluating the impact of 3H, and networking the participation of other interested parties in the 3H activities in conjunction with SHECB.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

PartnerAid International will work closely with the SHECB and also with teachers as daily implementers, parents as supporters and supervisors, and with companies as supporters and providers for some of the materials and training activities. Competitors will not likely exist because other organisations can jump-in to contribute according to the roles that will be appropriate for each different organisation. Our approach gives special emphasis on intersectoral cooperation and coordination in developing and implementing the 3H program. Since 3H activities do not generate income for stakeholders, there are not likely to be competitors but only potential partners or organizations that are interested in supporting the improvement of the health of primary school children in West Java.

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

Over the past two years Dr. Walker has visited dozens of schools across West Java along with the SHECB. Each year there is a contest for the schools who are implementing the School Health Education Program (SHEP) and champions are determined on a national, provincial, and county/city level. Schools that win the SHEP contest do not necessarily have healthier students than in other schools. Particularly in primary schools, the lack of daily hygiene is evidenced by the lingering presence of dental disease and dirty hands which leads to a high rate of absenteeism. The SHECB recognizes this deficiency even though they have prescribed in their manual that daily hygiene is important. In the vast majority of primary schools tooth brushing or hand washing takes place on a quarterly basis at best. With the support of Parner Aid International a 3H program would provide a needed boost to the emphasis on the practice of daily hygiene resulting in a measurable impact on student's health.

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

The practical goal is a reduction of 40% in absenteeism from illnesses that are preventable. The overall goal of the 3H Program is to improve the health and education outcomes of school children in selected schools through the implementation of effective and sustainable practice of good personal hygiene. The 3H program will play a role in supporting the development of the intersectoral program of the SHECB. It is expected that a program of daily hygienic practices in the schools will also impact the habits of the surrounding community resulting in an improved Human Development Index (HDI). Governments in developing countries hoping to move toward achieving Millenium Develpment Goals (MDG) by positively impacting the HDI will find the 3H program to be an affordable and effective option.

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

The 3H program is still in the advocacy stage where important stakeholders have been meeting to plan for the implementation phase. During this phase Dr. Walker has met local SHECB teams in each of the selected areas for pilot programs. The head of the department of education in West Java has verbally committed to supporting the purchase of locally manufactured materials for scaling up the program in the future. Partner Aid International has facilitated the formation of an MOU between SHECB and a large local manufacturer of toothpaste. The corporation is interested in providing high quality low cost materials in the future for purchase to be used in the program. Dr. Walker has been networking with other NGOs that are interested in impacting the health of children through school based initiatives. Several meetings have been held for heads of primary schools where the principles and expected outcomes of a 3H intervention have been explained generating interest in the program.

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

The projected impact is a reduction of 40% in absenteeism from preventable causes in the pilot schools covering approximately 2,400 students in the first year. These pilot programs will be conducted in 2 different areas in the first year and for succeeding years the program will be piloted in 4 new areas. A pilot program can be developed in 18 of the 26 counties/cities of West Java with at least 4 pilot schools in each area covering approximately 21,600 students. Partner Aid International will provide funding during the pilot phase of the 3H program. In successive years the pilot programs will be taken over by the SHECB and additional schools will be added in the third year by the SHECB. The total number of students participating in the program is expected to be 43,200 in 5 years.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

A shortage of funding could hinder the success of the program in the pilot phase. However, a successful pilot program will open resources from the government, private companies and parents to support the program. The committment of school principals and teachers is another crucial factor which will determine the success of the program. Regular consultation, monitoring and advocacy in partnership with the SHECB will provide additional support for the expansion of the program even without any further outside funding. A successful pilot program will generate interest in surrounding schools who will seek to procure support from the SHECB in order to begin a 3H program. Since the program is not expensive to expand, it is expected that scaling up in each area will be achievable by the SHECB.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

3H pilot programs will be established in two areas each with four pilot schools for a total of 2400 students

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

MOU establishment with schools and local governments in the two counties/cities

Task 2

Training all of the teachers in each of the pilot schools to implement the program

Task 3

Construction of washing/brushing facilities in conjunction with the support of parents and local governments

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Reduction by 40% of absenteeism from highly preventable causes in the eight pilot schools

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Implement and closely monitor the 3H program in 8 pilot schools along with the SHECB

Task 2

Measure the impact on absenteeism in schools where the program is being implemented well

Task 3

Continued advocacy with all stakeholders to develop future support of 3H outside of the pilot phase

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

We are currently working in conjunction with the Department of Education and the SHECB. In each county/city there is a local SHECB that is responsible for developing the program in primary schools. The provincial SHECB has already facilitated the introduction of Dr. Walker to the local SHECB in one of the targeted cities. With coordination occurring from the provincial SHECB it is expected that the program will be received well from the beginning. We are also fostering the involvement of other key stakeholders including corporations, other NGOs, and international sources of funding.

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?

The population of West Java is around 43 million and around 90% of them are from the Sundanese ethnic group. There are around 6 million primary school students. The first pilot program will be implemented in 4 schools in Banjar City and 4 schools in Kuningan County. The local government leaders in Kuningan and Banjar have given verbal committment to support 3H. Currently there is no plan to expand outside of West Java in the first five years. However it is expected that interest will be generated in the program for expansion into other provinces and funding can be sought in that case.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

3H will focus on collaboration and intersectoral cooperation between the local and provincial levels of SHECB, the department of education, and other important stakeholders. Dr. Walker has spent the last nine years developing good working relationships working as a consultant with the department of education. He is frequently involved in public speaking engagements (using Indonesian language) in school environments and government meetings. The country director of PartnerAid International, Mr. Ageng, is a native Indonesian with an MBA from Germany. Both have a high appreciation of the local culture and will guide the implementation of 3H. PartnerAid International values the appreciation of the local culture and good working relationships as the keys to the sustainability of 3H.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

Pepsodent Dentibus & School Program

Created on 02/12/2012 by Naheyan Hye

Pepsodent Dentibus and School Program is a social project to increase awareness on the importance of oral health among the mass people of Bangladesh

About You

Organization: Unilever Bangladesh Limited Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Abdullah Mohammed Naheyan

Last Name

Hye

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Unilever Bangladesh Limited

Organization Website

Organization Country

Bangladesh, DHA, Dhaka

Country where this project is creating social impact

Bangladesh, Rolled out at a national scale

Is your organization a

For‐profit

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

Unilever Bangladesh Limited has been awarded by leading organizations in the country. It received the prestigious Daily Star Bangladesh Business Awards in the special achievement segment in 2004. The Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services (BASIS) has also awarded the company for its role in excellent implementation of IT. HR agencies have also awarded the company as the best employer in the country on several occasions.
Internally within the Unilever world, Unilever Bangladesh Limited has been awarded the best operating company in 2010.

References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each

• Sami Ashraf
Product Group Manager – Skin Cleansing, Unilever Bangladesh Limited. He has been working in Unilever for the last 8 years in the Brand Building function.
Email: sami.ashraf@unilever.com Mobile: +8801730001816

• Abdullah Rashed Mahmud
Company Activation Manager, Unilever Bangladesh Limited. He has been working for more than 8 years and has cross functional experience. After serving the sales and the brand building teams, he currently looks after the activation projects in the company.
Email: Abdullah-rashed.mahmud@unilever.com Mobile: +8801714047211

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)

How long have you been in operation?

Operating for more than 5 years

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Cost.

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Most people in Bangladesh do not have proper oral health & hygiene practice awareness. In rural Bangladesh, the most common format of oral care product is toothpowder. Few years ago, it was black toothpowder (powder made mainly from ash). These black toothpowder provided whiteness to teeth by “rubbing off” the enamel of the teeth. As a result, people would lose their teeth and suffer from all sorts of oral health complexities.
Often, these complexities would lead to other health problems. By the time they realize they require treatment, the ailment has already reached an advanced stage and the high cost of the treatment cannot be borne by them.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

The primary objective of the Pepsodent Dentibus & School Program is to communicate the importance of oral health awareness, together with the proper oral hygiene practices, such as using toothpaste, using toothbrush, brushing twice a day, visiting a dentist, dietary habits, etc to the mass people of Bangladesh.
Dentibus is a bus equipped with all modern dental amenities with a dentist on board, which travels to the deep rural areas of Bangladesh to provide free dental checkups to the mass people of the country , who otherwise do not have access to basic health care facilities.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

We believe behavioural change has to be inculcated from an early age. The best media to mould young minds is teaching at schools.
The Pepsodent Dentibus and School Program team goes to specific geographies of the country and approaches the schools in that locality. Then a team of dental experts narrates an interactive story to the students in a classroom. Through that story, students are taught about dental anatomy, common oral care practices – such as brushing with toothpaste twice a day, and avoiding betel leaf and other tobacco product consumption that may harm their oral health. As the whole exercise is done in a classroom environment, it is taken in as knowledge and accepted with strong credibility. Then a classroom quiz is taken of all the students to check if the message has been transferred. After the quiz, brochures and class routine stickers are given to the students so that the messages transmitted in the classroom are also available to them in a tangible form.
Post the classroom session, a free dental check up is given to the students at the dentibus and students with good oral health are given a certificate from the dentibus.
After the school sessions, the team heads towards bazaars (small marketplaces) within that community, where people gather for socialising. During these sessions in the bazaars, the whole exercise is repeated, only this time the target audience are adults. This way, we ensure when a child goes home after attending the Pepsodent School Program, the parents can relate to the knowledge being shared with them.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Currently, no other peers or competitors operate to address oral health issues and promote oral hygiene in Bangladesh. However, there are other activities carried out by Pepsodent such as oral health week where dental health camps are set up all around the country and free dental checkups are given, courtesy of the support from Bangladesh Dental Society.

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

The Pepsodent Dentibus and school program was launched way back in 2005. Back then, toothpaste usage in Bangladesh was very low and household penetration was among the lowest in Asia. The idea was to come up with an innovative media to communicate with the media dark rural population (due to very low levels of electricity penetration) of Bangladesh. Therefore, choosing any mass communication tools (such as TV or radio) wouldn’t have been effective. We had to physically reach our target audience. As presence of dentists in most of rural Bangladesh was very low, it was important that an actual dentist with dental facilities be present during the program. Therefore, the “Aha” idea was to have a mini dental chamber on wheels that could access all parts of the country. The power of the idea was immediately realized as its scalability and potential to be adapted in different parts of Bangladesh and in other countries made the idea even more practical.

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

The objective of the program is to increase awareness of oral health and hygiene and conversion from tooth-powder to toothpastes.
In terms of what we are trying to achieve can be outlined in two ways:
1. Penetration increase of toothpaste and toothbrush
2. Reduction in the degree of oral health related diseases

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

To date the program has managed to achieve its most important deliverable: penetration increase of toothpaste. Since the beginning of the Pepsodent Dentibus and School Program to date, the household penetration rate has tripled.
In terms of qualitative parameters, research shows that students attending the Pepsodent School Program go home and share their learning with their family members (mostly parents) and influence their product purchase and harmful product consumption decisions.

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

Over the next five years penetration is expected to further increase to take it up to a respectable level. The project will also work to promote twice a day brushing, which is still a message that has not been well established among the recipients.
Moving forward, once the importance of brushing with a fluoridated toothpaste twice a day is established, the people will also be informed of other advanced oral health care facilities and practices they may avail to maintain their oral health.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

Due to lack of funds, scaling up the project has not been possible. Under the current modalities, one person becomes the recipient of the project once every 2 - 3 years. However, for a message to be firmly established in a person's mind, it has to be repetitively communicated.
The current project infrastructure and funding does not allow for such an expansion.
Support is being actively sought from government and non government organizations to help scale up the project or to come up with similar projects. However, to date, no support has been received and the entire project is being funded by Unilever Bangladesh Limited alone.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Reaching 1 million people all over Bangladesh within 6 months with a multiple contact modality.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Develop a communication platform to ensure multiple contact is possible.

Task 2

Increasing the number of teams by developing new human resource to ensure quantitative target of 1 million people is contacted.

Task 3

Developing modalities to enter people's homes to deliver the message, rather than delivering at in public places.

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Penetration increase of toothpaste and toothbrush

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Scaling up the project with the introduction of further teams and 2 additional Dentibuses.

Task 2

Going beyond schools and bazaars to other educational institutes (such as - madrasah, orphanages, etc) and places of work

Task 3

Ensuring availability of affordable toothpaste and toothbrush to generate trial

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

Pepsodent is the only oral care brand recommended by Bangladesh Dental Society and recognized by FDI – World Dental Federation.
Through partnerships with Bangladesh Dental Society, Pepsodent has been working for over a decade to improve oral health and hygiene in Bangladesh.

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?

The geographic scope of this project is currently limited to Bangladesh only. However, we strongly feel the model can be easily adapted across countries and for various causes (other than oral health & hygiene) with minimal effort.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

The existing team have a very good understanding of the specific region wise requirements of the project by gathering the experience over the years. Also, they have developed a very good network with the schools all around Bangladesh making it accessible for the project in the future.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

The biggest offer from our end is the experience, which we have accumulated over the years in running this project. Moreover, research data relevant to Pepsodent Dentibus and School Program can also be shared, which will help to clarify the impact of the project.
With established modalities, the marketing plan to promote the project can also be easily adapted.

'Growing Me'

Created on 02/12/2012 by Kathryn Rivai

Our program is an education program focusing on character building and a basic education. This is a model that can be rolled out in similar circumstances.

About You

Organization: ProVisi Education Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Kathryn

Last Name

Rivai

About Your Organization

Organization Name

ProVisi Education

Organization Website

Organization Country

Malaysia, SB, Keningau

Country where this project is creating social impact

Malaysia

Is your organization a

Non‐profit / NGO / Citizen sector organization

Your role in Education

Administrator.

The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with

Private (tuition-based)

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)

How long has your solution been in operation?

Operating for 1‐5 years

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

The issue is to provide an holistic education for children marginalised from education in Sabah, Malaysia. More than 330.000 Indonesian workers in Sabah working in the plantation industry (oil palm, rubber and timber). Sabah depends on these foreign migrant workers as the local population is not enough to support these industries yet these families are denied access to education and other basic requirements. There are more than 53,000 illiterate Indonesian children who are denied access to education in this state alone. They need to know and practice good skills like: social and emotional; academic, moral, values and life skills.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

My focus is to provide learning centers on estates so these children can receive a holistic education providing learning skills and life skills so that they too can make a difference. To make a difference they need values of tolerance; empathy; cultural understanding. In our teaching we cover a curriculum that is heavily weighted on a values program, building character through literature/reading and through exposure by experience. Although we have implemented some of these programs we have a long way to go and many changes to the programs need to be made but we have made a start. We currently run 3 learning centers in Keningau, Beaufort, and Mendulong. We want to document the good practices and spread the model throughout Sabah.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

A specific program is our on-going reading program. Almost all children who come to our learning centers are illiterate or have minimal literacy. We have received donations of books depicting good character from Indonesia and Malaysia. Children need reading for it is through stories that they learn about character and choice in making decisions. They can put themselves in the shoes of the character and wrestle with difficult situations the protagonist is in and then problem solve as to choices. If they can find good examples in literature they will model this behaviour in their lives. Our children come from homes that are poor and parents who are illiterate so they need the role model of the teachers and story characters to help them discover empathy and of good values for their future lives. Reading good literature exposes a whole new learning paradigm. We use readers that portray decisions children have to make and how they learn from their mistakes and how they help others. My teachers read every day with our children and the older ones can retell the story to their younger students. I am very proud of their progress and the empathy they show despite their background. In terms of sustainability of the model, there are two ways how the learning centers are currently managed. In one learning center all expenditures are covered by a minimum fee paid by the parents/migrant workers. In another one the expenditures are covered by fee paid by the parents and contribution from estate company where the parents are the workers of the company.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

There are other learning centers with different approaches assisting illiterate children. I work closely with them, they are not competitors. We frequently share ideas and problems together looking for better ways of addressing our problems. Learning centers can only benefit from working together for the betterment of the lives of these children. Many people comment our learning center is a model for others and we receive frequent and welcome visits from other learning centers and overseas observers. We are different because we do not focus on an academic curriculum but lean towards creating good citizens driven to help their communities.

Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.

Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

We are learning centers where the children of migrant workers grow good values for the betterment of their future and their communities

Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]

Respect, dignity, empathy are keys to the abilities to create a better future and to contribute to community. These are our core goals.

Social Impact

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This Entry is about (Issues)

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

We are now running 3 learning centers, i.e., in Keningau (101 children), Beaufort (90 children), and Mendulong (20 children). JAVA Community Development Center in Keningau is our first learning center. Since its inception it has gained quite a wide community response even deserving an article published in Singapore's New Straits Times, December 2011. But most importantly is the impact on the students and their families giving hope and dignity for a better future knowing that people care about them. They understand themselves and their capabilities. All children are literate now. They are learning to differentiate right from wrong, to think about choices and they know about getting on with others of different backgrounds. The school has also impacted the families opening opportunities and providing a new outlook on life. This school has been a life-changing experience for many children and families opening their eyes to what can be.

What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?

The school will continue its work and roll out the model to other areas where children need education and values education. We plan to open one new school each year. I am confident that the children going through our school program now will become leaders and be able to assist those thousands of children still with no access to education. My projected target is to improve the quality of the school offering more opportunities to children to achieve their dreams. And to start a community service project where they give back to their own community to help others. Another way is to help other existing learning centers learn from our model. We believe this would be beneficial because most existing learning centers focus mostly on academics and less with social emotional skills development.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

Hindrances to the program are mainly political. Our learning centers were illegal until November 2011 when the Malaysian government decided to tentatively permit them legally. Foreign workers are transferred and children suffer the consequences if the transfer is to a place with no school. There are few hindrances if we are fully committed and don't get too pulled down by political issues. We will keep going no matter what happens for nothing is more important than to prepare these children for their life. Another challenge is teacher capacity. Most of our teachers are volunteers who do not have sufficient background to teach. To overcome this challenge we want to develop a standardized training module for newly recruited teachers.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Create an induction training module for newly recruited teachers

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Document current good learning practices according to our past a couple of years experience

Task 2

Identify necessary and sufficient abilities of a good ‘teacher’ to be able to implement good learning practices

Task 3

Create a development program for newly recruited teachers to develop their capabilities

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

One new learning center accommodating about 240 children

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Develop an economically sustainable replication plan that would enable the model of existing learning center be imitated

Task 2

Develop a supporting system for several learning centers to ensure quality standard

Task 3

Approach estates that are interested to build learning centers for the children of their migrant workers

Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]

This moment was in September 2009 when I was asked by the timber mill to set up a school. I never thought I would have the courage to set up schools alone at that time against the national system. But I knew these children needed an education and I knew they needed signposts for their lives so I said, yes I would do it. At this moment I had the courage and became more determined to insist these marginalised children had access to education. As time passed and that school became a success it was easier to set up other learning centers. I know I need to keep going and fight for the right for all marginalised children to access school because it is life-changing. . The saddest thing about the children is not that they cannot read and write, but because they never realise they have the power to change their lives once they learn being empathetic to others and themselves. Disconnectedness and negative belief systems are two important components we are fighting against in this endeavor.

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

In Indonesia and Malaysia we have networks with various good schools and educators. We are a member of Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, U.S.A. We are also a founding member and a member of the board of management of AKSI (Indonesia Social Entrepreneurship Association) where we share ideas of social changes through entrepreneurial solutions. In Malaysia we maintain good relationship with PACOS (Partners of Community Organisations), a community based voluntary organization which mission is to improve the quality of life of indigenous communities since 1987.

What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]

To achieve the intended social impact we will need a team consisting of a creative curriculum specialist, a system developer, and a financial controller. While a creative curriculum suitable for development of empathy and other socio emotional skills is needed, such curriculum needs to be embedded in a well designed organisation and management system. Such management must be economically sustainable according to its financial model. The team will be lead by an education administrator.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

Some learning centers would be able to sustain themselves, in which case we would replicate it through social impact investment. Others would still need to use donation based models, in which case we expect funding and donations. Thus we would appreciate information, referenced networks and contacts and mentorship to enhance our work.

Enjoyourplanet.com

Created on 02/11/2012 by Enjoyourplanet.com

With 'Jip & Pip' children are in an active and surprising way dealing with rubbish. This will raise awareness how to enjoy our planet.

About You

Organization: Enjoy our Planet Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Jan-Willem

Last Name

Jongmans

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Yes.

Country of residence of entrepreneur

The Netherlands

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

'Leave the planet better than you found it.'

We have so much skills as a human being but nowadays the focus is on making money fast in stead of develop as a civilization. That's why we need to change our goals and trive to sustainable business.

Since I got my senses together :) I tried this and had an online shop in surf/snow-lifestyle brands. These were all brands with a strong passion to enjoy and be good for the planet.

After I discovered lacking some entrepeneurial skills I picked up my study, Small Business & Retail Management. Last year we were crowned 'Winner Most sustainable Student Company' and in june I will graduate.

Meanwhile I work as head designer for a company who makes others online succesful.

In this concept I combine my skills and am dedicated to help the world change.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Enjoy our Planet

Organization Website

Organization Country

Netherlands, NB, Eindhoven

Country where this project is creating social impact

Netherlands, NB, Eindhoven

Is your organization a

Not registered

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

The terms waste, sustainability and green gain popularity every year. And this is a good thing, since the environment is an important part of our existence.

Enjoy Our Planet embraced this and has the mission to learn children from childhood to deal with waste. Young people are often labeled as "notorious polluters' and in order to address this we go back to the basics. Learned young is done old eventually!

With the concept of "Jip & Pip 'children are in an active and surprising way aware of rubbish. In this way, they'll be aware and help to do good for the planet.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Our concept consists of 2 bins with a sound-module and attractive design, an educational game and curriculum.

Our characters 'Jip & Pip' will become friends and learn children to deal with the planet wisely in all kinds of ways.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

Jip & Pip (different names in different countries) will replace normal bins in classrooms/playgrounds/etc. With our playful design and sound ('thank you') when using the bin. Our characters will be noticed and gain trust of the children. This way 'Jip & Pip' can appear in schoolbooks learning kids all kinds of important environmental lessons.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Our competitors are 'dead' bins that don't trigger kids. We our innovative concept we're entering this market with something completely new. Our production costs will be higher at first. But with expanding business the difference between a plain basic bin or our playful bin will be closed. Our main challenges is to get awareness that this concept works and startup money to start producing. We already noticed that kids loved our prototypes (see pictures/video).

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

Kids will enjoy waste management, get smiles on their faces and make classrooms or playgrounds a little more playful.

If they start seperate trash at an early age it's likely they will continue doing this later on in life. We can measure this by keeping track of the waste management done by users.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

Startup money to start production > solution > winning this competition.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

The concept's retailprice will be no more than 99euro per pair (incl. lessons) in the beginning. Schools are cutting costs so we can't sell at an higher price, looking at the price of normal bins.

The price of 99euro will decrease when production increases. Herefore we have a document with production costs (source: Deltashan, Shanghai)

Because we're not running the business yet the only evidence are mails/letters of interest.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

Not to let to focus get to making money and growth of wealth again. These countries still have the chance to stay close to the core values in life, and social entrepeneurship will contribute by that.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

Last weekend I went to Maroc and saw how the right way of collaboration has a positive effect on Berber communities. We need to share our knowledge and capabilities with developing countries as these Berber communities and Uganda. This way they will be protected to the mistakes we made and suffer from the upcoming years.

Changeshop

This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: Triple Effect.

Triple Effect

Created on 02/9/2012 by Anna Dimitrova

Sustainability project committed to solve the blood issue in Egypt via health awareness and empowering individuals to contribute to their communities.

About You

Organization: Takatof Foundation Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Anna

Last Name

Dimitrova

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Takatof Foundation

Organization Website

Organization Country

Egypt, QHR

Country where this project is creating social impact

Egypt

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

How long has your organization been operating?

Please select

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

N/A

References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each

Ayman Shehata is CSR manager of PricewaterhouseCoopers Egypt. He has extensive experience in social work and development, as founder of Injaz- educational organization, that bridges the gap between education and private sector.Email:ayman.shehata@eg.pwc.com
Phone:+2 (0) 2 2759 7719

Tarek Mansour-PwC Egypt Senior Partner, also part of Ashoka Support Network in Ashoka Arab World. +2 2516 8027
tarek.mansour@eg.pwc.com

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)

How long have you been in operation?

Operating for 1‐5 years

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Quality.

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

The main problem, tackled by the Triple Effect is the lack of quantity and quality of blood in Egypt.WHO claims that a minimum of 3% of a country’s population is needed to sustain nation’s blood supply.The National Blood Transfusion Services in Egypt currently estimates the number of donors to be an alarming 1% of Egypt’s total population.Moreover, more than half of Egypt’s donors come from high-risk groups (family replacements, obliged donors, etc.)that threatens the safety of the blood supply. As a result,patients who need constant blood transfusion(Thalassemia patients for ex.) not only struggle with getting enough amount of blood to sustain their lives, but also live with transfusion transmitted deiseases.This is resulted by the lack of culture for regular voluntary blood donation.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

The Triple Effect is a sustainability project that is committed to triple the number of regular voluntary blood donors in Egypt from 1% to 3%.We empower organizations and youth groups to fulfil their role as active citizens by adopting the Triple Effect program, a low-cost and high-impact blood donation initiative.By this approach we are trying to address the quantity, quality and sustainabilty dimensions of the issue.Youth groups and organizations are low-risk communities with regards to non-eligibility and/or blood contamination. Because of this, they hold much potential in being a safe source of regular blood donors for the nation.This is why we approach companies and universities and empower them to take ownership of the initiative, to adopt and develop it, to spread awareness and to contribute to their respective communities.We develop the Triple Effect as a plug&play CSR initiative to be adopteb by corporates and as an empowering model for university students.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

The Triple Effect Program empowering model is focused on active citizenship through blood donation.It has 3 main dimensions that work towards sustainability:GET,GIVE,PAY IT FORWARD.Get:Become active citizens through awareness and know-how on health and blood donation, via our awareness programs.Give:Adopt the Triple Effect and run a blood drive in your organization and join us in solving the blood issue in Egypt.Pay it forward:Sread blood donation and health awareness in your respective community and help create a ripple effect. The model aims to empower individuals to adopt the cause as their own, to develop it and to bring it to their communities. The model is a linking point between organisations (corporates and universities)and communities. The model functions via Blood Chamapions- volunteers in the respecitve organisations,whom we support and empower to adopt the program as their own (university clubs, CSR projects), to impact their peers by spreading health and blood donation awareness, to organize blood drives and to contribute to their communities via health awareness or community engagement. Currently we are targetting universities in rural and urban areas and launching the Triple Effect competition which aims to give knolwledge,mentorship and seed funding(via our corporate partners)to university students which would develop their entrepreneurial spirit,creating innovative approaches to solving the blood issue.These ideas will be implemented accross 8 universities accross Egypt and will bring business and universities working together for solving the blood issue.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Our peers are are all enitities, collecting blood on national level- blood banks,other NGOs and governmental structures. Our main differenciating factor is our approach of targeting organisations and youth groups as a low risk target groups and our empowering model which targets a basic need through developing sustainable solution, relying on active citizenship.The current situation of blood donation and transfusion in Egypt is characterised by a multitude of steakholders and lack of unified database, information system and unified process,applicable to all entities. There is a need of collective action and united efforts in order to create sustainable solutions.The main challenge would be unwillingless from the other steakholders to collaborate in terms of building an unified process.

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

When Takatof Foundation was first created its main focus was charity activities and support of cancer patients. At first the creators of the foundation were buying blood bags for the ones in need. But it appeared that even if you have the money, there would be not enough blood available or the quality of the blood would not be guaranteed. These problems can be resolved by creating a culture of regular voluntary blood donation, which would increase the number of blood bags available but also will diminish the risk of transfusion transmitted diseases or defferral of unsuitable donors. The key to acieving this is spreading awareness, but also involving the identified key players - companies and universities, by empowering them to get awareness of the issue, by enabling them to take action towards its solution (via mentoring and through the blood champions model) and motivating them to create a ripple effect by contributing to their respective communities.

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

Our goal is to tackle the blood issue in Egypt from two perspectives- the lack of quanity and lack of quality. We are working on providing basic needs through creating a sustainable solution relying on an empowered community of active citizens who take ownership in sustaining the community well being through health awareness.We aim to solve the blood issue by bridging the gap between the needed 3% of regulary blood donors and the 1% existing curently in Egypt. Our aim is to create a cutlure of regular voluntary blood donation which eliminate the need of obligatory donation which currently poses risk for the quality of the blood donated.The goal is to get all steakholders on board-donors, blood bank, patients and communities and to empower them to work towards solving the blood issue.

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

Since October 2010 we have run 57 blood donation campaignsin over 25 companies and 1 university, we have collected 3,352 blood bags that can affect up to 3 people each. We have run awareness sessions and blood donation campaigns in over 25 comapnies, empowering their employees to take ownership of the idea and spread awareness in their communities through our toolkit.Since May 2011, Suez canal university adopted the Triple Effect, which resulted in two campaings, collecting over 1200 blood bags and srepading awareness to more than 3000 students. We are working on partnerships with the corporate sector, with universities and NGOs in order to spread awareness and change the mindset of Egyptians towards blood donation. Via our health awareness programs we are emphasizing not only on the need of blood but also on the need of leading a helathy lifestyle in order to be a safe and regular blood donor.

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

Our projected impact is to bridge the gap between the current 1% of population regular blood donors and the needed 3%.In order to achieve this we should recruit and retain more than 1 million and half people. Our aim is to achieve this by creating a culture of regular blood donation and creating the mindset via spreading awareness and via our empowering blood champions model.To achieve this,we shall increase th enumber of corporates, adopting the project, approach all universities in Egypt and work with governmental institutions in order to create environment for expansion.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

One of the main challenges in the Egyptian reality in terms of blood donation and blood transufion is the lack of a centralyzed blood collection and blood transfusion system and database, unifying all the existing blood banks, exisitng under different institutional units. This poses big problems in terms of transparency and accountabilty, as well as in terms of donor retention. This results in unclear statistics of the stocks of blood available nationwide, as well as unclarity about the recipients of blood bags.In order to resolve this issue and to create sustainable solution, we are currently working with Microsoft Egypt in the creation of a national database which would collect all the data and will facilitate the whole pocess of blood collection and distribution.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Launching a successful university campaign via Youth to Business Forum and a year long social entrepreneurship competition

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Identify corporate partners who would act as mentors during the social entrepreneurship university competiotion

Task 2

Provide seed funding to be distributed to the university teams in order to implement their ideas in their respective university

Task 3

Build on partenrship with WHO to celebrate the pre-selected ideas on World Blood Donors Day after the 1st blood campaingns.

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Outreach to communitites, work with communities, schools and governmental institutions

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Double the number of universities engaged, use university clubs and outreach to communities and schools

Task 2

Use employee volunteering models and enhance partnerships with NGOs to create collaborative paltform for community outreach

Task 3

Engage governmental institutions in order to otreach to schools and communities

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

We have a broad network of partners-comapnies, universities, NGOs, etc.we are workin with NBTS and Microsoft on building a national database. We are working with AIESEC and SIFE in the organization of a forum which will bring business to students and enhance their skills in social entrepreneurship, by trying to solve the blood issue.We are also working with NGOs like CARE, UN volunteers, Johns Hopkins University for our health awareness programs and outreach to communities.We are also planning to involve more media as our partners, in order outreach to communities and spreading our messages.

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?

We are currently planning the expansion of the project in the Middle East and across Africa and Asia.In partnership with PwC we are planning to implement the project in all the PwC offices in the Middle East, so that they can run blood drives this spring and join the celebration of the World Blood Donor Day in June 2012.Also, in partnership with Orascom Telecom we are planning to implement the project in Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Burundhi and Zimbabwe.This will give us a chance to replicate the model in other countries.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

The blood donation issue in Egypt involves a multitude of stakeholders. In order to achieve sustainable solutions we should engage diversified partners that allow us to outreach to as many people as possible.One of our main partners is the national blood transfusion center (NBTS). In order to make our innovation successful, we are also working on enhancing the functionning of the institutions involved- building a national donors database for NBTS, for example. We are also working on our collaboration with World Health Organisation and UN Volunteers in order to create joint action towards solving the blood issue.Our network of corporate and university partners is also crucial for outreaching to individuals, this is why we need their willingless to join efforts with us.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

The issue of insufficient blood donation is a problem present in many countries.It involves different stakeholders and in most cases the solution is in collaborative action. This is why, we think we can always benefit from innovative ideas, coming from different environment, as well as mentorship or just help in spreading our messages. On the other hand we are open to contribute with ideas.

Point1

Created on 02/6/2012 by jonminchin

A unnoticeable amount for a noticeable change. Sustainably, socially and lovingly imparting change.

About You

Organization: Point1 more ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Jon

Last Name

Minchin

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

I have been fortunate enough to be brought up in a environment that allowed me to be socially aware. I have been privileged to see and experiance what a difference people can make when they invest their most valuable resource - time, into one and other.

I think that we have got an opportunity like never seen before to make a difference to those who are less fortunate and feel that it is not an obligation but a honour to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Point1

Organization Website

Organization Country

United Kingdom

Country where this project is creating social impact

United Kingdom

Is your organization a

Please select

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Providing for the poorest 0.1% of people on the planet, there are 1.4 billion people in poverty. Those experiencing the worst of this have life expectancies more than 30 years less that those from MEDC's. We will always have the poor but we can increase the quality of life for those who would otherwise suffer the worst neglect.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Place an optional charge of 0.1% of the value of the good. This would begin with fast moving consumer goods(FMCG's), much like fairtrade does, however much smaller in comparison but hopefully on a much larger percentage of goods. For example if you buy a £10 football, 1p goes to Point1, this money is then invested in clean water, food, shelter, medical aid, microfinances and other life improving tools for the poorest 0.1%. By partnering with Save the Children, Christian Aid and others we will look to give 100% of that recieved.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

As this is such a small percentage companies will be less reluctant to give this nominal amount but it will add up to create a significant impact. Using the football as an example, 1.5 million balls are sold each year, assume 1p is made from 10% of those sales. This means from footballs alone would bring in £1500 those in greatest need. If you add everything from jam to toothpaste I believe this could have a monumentally significant impact on the lives of 1.4 Million poorest.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

There are may orginistations that look to help the poor like Save the Children, Fair trade, Oxfam and Christian aid. All have established supply chains but are always lacking funding, this is a sustainable method of funding. We are their to form partnerships and build relationships where applicable not to compete.

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

Currently this has just been a thought that I have been playing around with so to date I have not taken this any further. I am using this as a way to first shed light on the idea and hopefully get some feedback which I can begin to build upon.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

A lack of backing by large corporations in the FMCG’s industry and if people are so stretched financially due to the economic climate. A cost effective marketing scheme/system would have to be employed to ensure costs are as low as they can be but consumers are still educated.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Financial sustainable is address through the constant buying and selling of products, MFCG's are bought in their millions everyday worldwide, people need to but things to keep the economy's moving so as they do this they sustain the giving.

This is also socially sustainable as the money is not simply being given over to those in need. It is being invested in sustainable programmes like building wells, providing a source to supply microfinances from, it will pay for medical and education. If you give a man a fish you will feed him for a day, if you teach a man to fish you will feed him for life.
This will have very little environmental impact as it will utilise existing networks, there may be some CO2 generated from flights and transport but this will be minimised wherever possible. . It will be a case of nurturing what potential the land and natural resources have to offer in a sustainable way instead of irrationally taking without planning for the generations to come.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

This idea/model is to do exactly that. It is to improve the lives of those who exist in LEDC's. It will look to provide financial assistance through the distribution and accessibility of basic needs supplied by those who have the networks but not the finances.

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

Experiencing the differences in culture and being able to invest in those people. Going with a humble attitude to learn about a lifestyle that we are not accustomed to as well as building bridges for future investments.

Stoked professional beauty

Created on 02/4/2012 by stoked professional beauty

Fun B2B brand that manufactures, retails and distributes salon-quality beauty products.

About You

Organization: stoked professional beauty more ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Ros

Last Name

Perry

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

I love people, travel, sport and having fun...
I set goals, work hard and enjoy making a difference in people's lives.
Since school I have undertaken a degree and 2 diploma's whilst in full-time employment or maternity leave.
I have a great family, home and job... But, now it's time to make my mark on the world... And channel my energy into "stoked professional beauty"

About Your Organization

Organization Name

stoked professional beauty

Organization Website

Organization Country

United Kingdom, Nottingham

Country where this project is creating social impact

South Africa

Is your organization a

For‐profit

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Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

There is a famous quote:
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away." Anon
People in third worlds deserve thrills and excitement in their lives. It takes them away from their situation and provides them with great memories and energy.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

A percentage of "stoked professional beauty" company profit will go into a fund that will provide "stoked" activities for kids in the third world: street-dance, beat-boxing, sand-boarding, surfing, quirky nail art etc.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

"stoked professional beauty" will be a fun B2B brand that manufactures, retails and distributes salon-quality beauty products.
Putting words like "stoked" and "beauty" together is almost an oxymoron, but that will be our USP. There are numerous B2C brands that deliver on this, but B2B brands tend to take themselves very seriously.
The distribution channel will be limited to professional salons, and therapists will need to undertake "stoked professional beauty" training prior to performing treatments.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

People in the West indulge in salon-performed beauty treatments (and Ben & Jerry's ice cream). "Stoked professional beauty" products will be a talking point for 2 reasons: product quality and social enterprise. When people are relaxed (during a beauty treatment), they come up with great ideas.... This may stimulate more people to become involved in socially enterprising activities in the future (or at least have more fun themselves!).
The competitors vary depending on the product. I'd like to start the product portfolio with a homogenous product, like semi-permanent eyelashes. Competitors therefore would be:
ABC Beauty Ltd
ABX Beauty Group
Beauty Express
Lash FX
Lash Perfect
Market information can be found here: http://www.ehow.com/about_6546178_beauty-salon-industry-analysis

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

I have organised and undertaken voluntary work myself.
Whilst in South African townships, I managed to source football kits from my home-town football club (Nottingham Forest), and health and beauty products from the organisation I worked for.
I also personally paid for the South African class to go water-skiing.

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

"The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people" Randy Pausch

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

The company will start small, and will evolve through a viral campaign. It will be profit making and I will listen to the advice of mentors.
I am a project manager and a full PESTLE analysis will be undertaken prior to making any financial outlay

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

It's the only way forwards

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

The experience will only enrich my life to date.
I can't wait to meet team Uganda!

Elevation Networks

Created on 02/2/2012 by Barbara Soetan

Elevation Networks (EN) is an award winning youth employment charity that seeks to develop the leadership potential of young people to increase their employability.EN works with young people aged 11-25 specifically focusing on groups that are traditionally underrepresented within the labour market and in certain industries. We identify these groups as ethnic minorities, women, young people from low socio-economic backgrounds, students from non-Russell group universities and young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).

About You

Organization: Elevation Networks Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Barbara

Last Name

Soetan

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

Barbara has worked in 9 countries, met 6 heads of state, worked with over 20 organisations, contributed to 3 publications, and has worked with over 3,000 young people in the last 4 years. She represented the United Kingdom in the 2010 G8 and G20 summits respectively; meeting Prime Minister David Cameron. She is currently a consultant for the Commonwealth Secretariat, and sits on the Diversity Board for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG). Barbara is an Associate of the National Youth Agency (NYA), and has had many speaking engagements including at the recent International Award council meeting in the presence of HRH Prince Edward and Lord Paul Boateng. She is the 2009 UK Young Activist of the Year! She is also up for this year’s Women of the Future Awards for public service.
Barbara is the founder of the Visible Women (VW) Campaign, and has held the role of Head of Programmes & Strategy at Elevation Networks in recent times. Having completed a first degree in Politics at Queen Mary University of London; Barbara has recently completed studying a Masters in International Public Policy at University College London (UCL).
Barbara has been a youth consultant for the Department for International Development- Civil Society Youth Working group; supporting the implementation of the “Youth Guidance Project”. She has also been a member of the international steering committee for the Commonwealth Youth Forum that feeds into the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Barbara previously sat on the Young People’s Local Grants Committee for the Big Lottery Fund, was a member of the Youth Leadership Team for the Big Challenge, and was on the school governing board for Highshore School in South London.
In 2009, Barbara finished her tenure as Regional Coordinator for the Student Volunteering Network and as a Youth Advisor for Oxfam GB, where she ensured that young people remained on the agenda with Oxfam’s campaigns and policy work. As a trainer and facilitator Barbara has worked with reputable organisation such as the Scottish Youth Parliament and the British Youth Council. Barbara was previously selected to be a Young Advocate for the Changemakers Foundation where she worked with think tank of the year; Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) to help to improve the LGIU’s practice and policy regarding the inclusiveness of young people.
In 2007 Barbara was selected as the Commonwealth Youth Representative for the election observer mission for the Kenyan General Election in December 2007, chaired by former President of Sierra Leone Dr Kabbah. In 2008 Barbara chaired the international steering committee for the Royal Commonwealth Society’s Youth Leadership Programme that took place in Cyprus on the theme of “Youth and Peacebuilding”. Whilst in Cyprus Barbara met with President Demetris Christofias and also with the leader of the Northern Republic of Cyprus. She also met with UN agencies including UNDP and the UN Peacekeepers to assess the reconciliation efforts.
Barbara has been recognised as a Global Changemaker by the British Council and invited to attend the African Youth Summit in Cape Town, South Africa alongside the World Economic Forum which was hosted by Kofi Annan GCMG. Ahead of the G20 meetings Barbara co-facilitated the Department for International Development (DFID) White Paper Youth Consultation. She also attended the 16th Commonwealth Education Ministers Meeting and Commonwealth Youth Forum which was included in the Queen’s Speech.
In her spare time Barbara enjoys writing poetry and performing original spoken word pieces; previously hosting bi-monthly social events at the Rich Mix arts centre dubbed the ‘cultural hub of London’. She won the WordUpSlam at Theatre Royal Stratford in November 2007 for her work. Barbara’s was shortlisted for the Third Sector Young Thinker of the Year Award 2009 where she was highly commended for her piece on ‘young people, entrepreneurialism and gang culture’

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Elevation Networks

Organization Website

Organization Country

United Kingdom, LND, London

Country where this project is creating social impact

United Kingdom, CMD, London

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

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Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

I am attempting to tackle the level of youth unemployment in the UK. We currently have over 1 million young people unemployed, and young people from marginalised groups are suffering more. There is also great inequality when it comes to students that study at universities lower down the league tables, and women continue to be underrepresented within leadership positions in society. Unemployment is also linked to crime, mental health, and other adverse situations that affect society as a whole

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

I am to build the largest youth led network in the UK that helps to make young people from underrepresented groups more competitive within the labour market. This will be done through the provision of schemes in association with major corporate organisations. This includes: mentoring schemes, internships, networking events with professionals, recruitment activities, and an online hub for exclusive opportunities. Above all, my organisation will focus on young people developing the skills that they need to progress within the world of work through direct involvement in social actions. Young people will be making a difference to other people’s lives and will be demonstrating the skills that employers look for at the same time

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

A good example would be work that we recently did with professional services firm Deloitte LLP. They needed us to help attract more females to their firm. We created a first class mentoring scheme with over 20 talented young females. The females will be mentored for six months, and will be set a number of tasks that help to build their skills. They will also be support through the application process for the firm with the hope of some of them becoming employed by Deloitte. We have done similar work in partnership with over 30 major corporations and look forward to expanding

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Our main competitor is a company called SEO. They were founded by bankers in New York, and now have a UK base. They focus on banking, and because they are former bankers pose a threat to how we are able to penetrate that market. However our model is a lot stronger as we are run by the same demographic that will use the services. This is why we now have over 8000 members and are expanding our membership every day. Our competitors are also those who operate within the welfare to work industry. This is an industry in the UK worth over £8 billion. However, because we niche to working with young people and graduates there is a lot of room for partnership

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for 1-5 years

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

We have over 8000 members, and have worked with organisations including Deloitte, IBM, BBC, London 2012, HSBC, Deloitte, Youth Justice Board, and other organisations to provide employment opportunities and training for young people. We are run by a core team of 6, and over 70 student and graduate volunteers. We have two university societies in Leicester & Coventry Universities, making us one of the largest networks of its kind. We have trained over 4500 young people since we started, and have placed many young people into places of employment that continue to do well today

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

Finance is a core challenge for organisations like mine. To combat this I have created a financial model that has three streams of income: corporate partnerships, grant funding, and government contracting. We have had some success with corporate partnerships, have begun to apply for funding, and recently secured our first local government contract in the London Borough of Barnet. Another one of our challenges is our age. To overcome being seen as too young we have focused heavily on our branding, and have successfully one professional awards to support our credibilityApproximately 80 words left (600 characters).

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

We aim to be a financially sustainable entity through supplying very specialist services to corporate clients. Our clients so far include major corporations like Deloitte, the BBC, and HSBC. We aim to expand this rapidly, and will also ensure we offer attractive service ranging from brand awareness to end to end recruitment. We have also begun to focus on government contract work which is a huge industry, and are looking into applying to more foundations. With over 1 million young people unemployed, there is certainly a need for our work. In addition to this, we see our work diversifying to helping to rehabilitate young offenders who are more likely to reoffend, and we hope that we can work with environmental organisations to supply internships and volunteer schemes.

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

I believe social entrepreneurship will allow people from developing countries to develop a more non judgemental conversation with countries that need support. Social enterprise encourages results and relationships. It also means that more people can be involved in supporting social change. At the moment support can be seen to be marginalised to philanthropists and large government institutions. But empowering entrepreneurially minded people (both from abroad and within the host states) will encourage things to move faster from the bottom up. It would also encourage innovation and competition. This will hopefully speed up growth and quality

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

The most challenging part of my time in Uganda will be when I see young people that are far worse off than those in the UK. Poverty is relative, but seeing a new type of poverty will certainly be something that I believe will stay with me for the rest of my life. The most rewarding part of the trip will certainly be the time that I get learning about a new country, and meeting people that have also been in the competition that are from different cultures and backgrounds

RUN for a CAUSE

Created on 02/2/2012 by Maja Krog

We help the world become a healthier and better place, by using runners as media in the wealthier worlds, to raise money to NGO's!

About You

Organization: KaosPilot Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

Background Information

First Name

Maja

Last Name

Krog

The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you

Country of residence of entrepreneur

UK

Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?

We have a vision of helping NGO's raise money by making people healthier while running

About Your Organization

Organization Name

KaosPilot

Organization Website

Organization Country

Denmark, AR, Aarhus

Country where this project is creating social impact

Denmark, AR, Aarhus

Is your organization a

Government

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Innovation

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The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

In this time of resession, there is a need for the companies of the world to take a higher responsibility of making the world a better place. There is also a need in the western world of exercise and a healthier everyday.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

We provide urban responsible CSR media-space for companies. The companies then pay the runners by giving funds to a NGO.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

We contact the company, set the event where they meet the runners that are going to run in the T-shirt. We administer the size of the petition and connect the NGO's to the petition

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

We have a twosided business plan:

PETITION COMPETITORS:
Better Now
Ecco Walk
AidsRun

MEDIA/PR/CSR COMPETITORS:
Advertising agencies
Local PR agencies

Select the stage that best applies to your business

Operating for less than a year

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?

Making more people run is having an impact on the health of these people. As for today, we are 7 people running, but our goal for the end of this month is 30 people improving their health with our project.

On the other side of the business plan we have the NGO's which creates social impact for the causes they are funding. As for today, we have not fundraised any money, but our goal for this month, is to submit 3000 Dkr. to Kræftens Bekæmplese, and we are THIS close as to getting the companies in on it!

What barriers might hinder the success of your business? How do you plan to overcome them?

The greatest barrier is to get the companies to buy in on this idea. They are the ones that have the money, but they are also careful in using them. To overcome this, we have an ancle of sustainable, responsible outdoor media space taht the runners provide to the company to spreed the word of the companies good doing.

Sustainability

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How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?

Financial: It is using runners as media
Social: It is about making the world a healthier place by running
Sustainable: It is a long-term investment in lowering the ecological expenses of hospital use of ressources

Awareness & learning

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How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?

By making the local know about how to create sustainable businesses, we are helping them helping themselves, which is ultimately the aim-goal!

What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?

I have never been to Africa, and I have heard a lot of assumptions about how NGO's fail to help the local societies down there. I am hoping to get rid of those prejudices.

Liwa International School

Created: 01/31/12 by Zainab Shakeel

Location

Al Ain
United Arab Emirates

To enable all students to become productive, responsible learners in the ever changing world through cultivating the students’ core academic knowledge and core values.Stress independence and individual responsibility.Identify the needs of the school community to improve school climate.Encourage tolerance of diversity and acceptance of individual differences.

Unity High School

Created: 01/23/12 by Zainab Shakeel

Location

Khartoum
Sudan

It exists to provide all its students, whatever their gender, nationality, religion or ethnic origin, with an education of the highest quality. Emphasis is placed on enhancing and developing potential whilst encouraging self-discipline and mutual respect. Above all, the School aims to lay the foundation for each individual to enjoy further study and to achieve a happy and successful life

Doha British School

Created: 01/19/12 by Zainab Shakeel

Location

Doha
Qatar

Prepare all pupils through a relevant, challenging curriculum and well-resourced facilities to become lifelong learners contributing to a global community.

Changeshop

This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: NAYA JEEVAN: Transforming Lives Through Health.

Beyond Borders: Building BOP Markets & Empowering the Marginalized by Leveraging Corporate Supply Chains

Created on 12/11/2011 by ashnab

NAYA JEEVAN is the emerging world's first health plan for the marginalized and committed to sustainable socioeconomic empowerment at the bottom-of-the-pyramid.

About You

Organization: NAYA JEEVAN Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

asher

Last Name

hasan

About Your Organization

Organization Name

NAYA JEEVAN

Organization Website

Organization Country

United States, CT

Country where this project is creating social impact

Pakistan, S

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

How long has your organization been operating?

1‐5 years

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

Ashoka Changemakers Making More Health Competition - Early Entry Prize Winner; October 2011

• 2008 NYU Stern Business plan Competition; Winners – Social Entrepreneurship Track ($75,000 1st prize)
• 2009-11 Draper Richards Fellowship ($300,000)
• 2009 TED India Fellowship
• 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Invited Membership
• 2010 Asia 21 Young Leader
• 2010 Robert Wood Johnson TEDMED fellowship
• 2010 Clinton Global Initiative Invited Membership
• 2010 Opportunity Collaboration Cordes Fellowship
• 2010 Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)
• 2011 Ashoka Fellowship (USA)
• 2011 Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship
• 2011 World Economic Forum/Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year - Asia

References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each

Mr. Zulfi Jafri- CEO, American Technology International; Entrepreneur/Investor; Former Finance Director GE, zjafri@gmail.com, 203-517-5193

Mr. Saad Amanullah Khan- CEO Gillette Pakistan; Vice-President American Business Council; khan.sa@pg.com; +92-

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Scaling (the next step will be growing impact on a regional or even global scale)

How long have you been in operation?

Operating for 1‐5 years

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Quality.

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

In Pakistan and India, at least 800 million earn less than $3 a day. Like other developing nations, South Asian governments spend just 1.7%-3% of GDP on a woefully under-resourced, overwhelmed public health sector. Consequently, 97% of all health care expenditures occur out-of-pocket and ‘catastrophic’ medical expenses (e.g. for heart attacks, pregnancy complications, etc) are a major precipitant of generational poverty.
The three priority issues that low-income, marginalized populations have to contend with are: (i) Access, (ii) Affordability and (iii) Quality.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

An entire ecosystem of multiple hybrid value chains (HVCs) can be structured around multinational corporations that can potentially serve the needs of approximately 660 million lives globally (including 50 million uninsured lives in the US). Both contractors, small businesses and SME employees that are integrated in the supply chains of MNCs can be protected under a national scale health insurance plan catalyzed by the corporate sector that rewards suppliers, distributors, retailers, customers, etc. with affordable access to quality healthcare, co-financed by the corporation as part of a loyalty/incentive program.
A good illustration of the above is our ongoing project with Proctor & Gamble (P&G) where P&G’s distributors are in the process of identifying the top 40,000, high-performing small-retailers across Pakistan. These small retailers and their employees/dependents will all be enrolled in the NAYA JEEVAN health plan as part of a tiered loyalty/incentive program.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

NAYA JEEVAN’s accessible, affordable, quality healthcare plan for underserved communitie has been cascaded by Kansai Paints (a Japanese industrial/residential paint company) to over 200 small business painters who lie at the end of Kansai’s supply chain. Kansai has financed the annual health insurance program costs ($30/life/year) of these painters and their dependents in a tiered loyalty/incentive program in which the corporation has fully subsidized the health insurance plan of their loyal customers. This model can be replicated globally with a varying degree of Corporate co-financing/subsidy which is contingent on: (i) the strategic value of these supply chain partnerships (ii) the cost of the health plan in that specific market and (iii) the impact on their bottom line – i.e increased revenue/sales per dollar invested in this loyalty program

NAYA JEEVAN’s health insurance plan includes:
• Annual medical check-up, which promote the early detection of disease
• A 24-hour telemedicine helpline managed by doctors available to all beneficiaries to handle any concerns or emergencies that may arise.
• A Health Rescue Fund, which assists beneficiaries for uninsurable conditions or when their hospital management/health care exceeds the maximum annual insurance coverage.
• Preventive Health workshops that detail the causes, symptoms, treatments and prevention against most common maladies to allow individuals to be better able to protect themselves and their families. Our workshops include: Healthy Heart – Keep your Heart Happy & Nutrition – How to Eat Right

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

NAYA JEEVAN collaborates with MNCs to cascade our health plan to their 3rd party contract staff, through their corporate supply chains (e.g. retail pharmacies) or to the domestic, household staff of corporate employees.

NAYA JEEVAN's potential competitors include large health insurance companies, but we have strived to pre-empt this competition by positioning ourselves as their customer.

Emerging academic partnerships with research universities allow for the rigorous assessment of both the financial, social and environmental impact of this cross-border initiative. This enables us to prototype novel ideas/approaches in a real-world community setting while developing an evidence-based approach to transforming lives through health.

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

The founder and CEO of NAYA JEEVAN is Dr. Asher Hasan, an ASHOKA fellow who strongly believes in the universal right to healthcare.

Raised in the UK where everyone has access to healthcare, Asher was troubled to see the disparity in access to quality health care in Pakistan and India on his frequent trips to the subcontinent as a child. The poor living conditions of the base-of-pyramid (BOP) population coupled with complete lack of sanitation and poor hygiene awareness led to rampant infectious disease and maternal/infant mortality. Given his training as a medical doctor in the US, Asher was exposed to the best and worst aspects of the US healthcare system and felt there must be a better way to finance and deliver quality health care. He resolved to try a new approach to healthcare accessibility and financing for low-income families which would bring about a unique convergence of CSR, social entrepreneurship and institutionalized citizen philanthropy.

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

By scaling this “health plan for the marginalized”, our organization aspires to help developing countries such as Pakistan make progress towards the UN MDGs by significantly decreasing the rate of preventable maternal and neonatal deaths and infant mortalities/morbidities.

Other business objectives include:
• Poverty alleviation – by reducing the financial impact of catastrophic medical expenses
• Reduction in Maternal/Child Mortality - through timely intervention and 24/7 access to ambulances, medical doctors, ERs, trauma centers, etc.
• Improvement in Primary Health Outcomes - through preventive health education and behavioral change workshops

• Mitigation of Child Labor/Sexual/Physical Abuse - healthy breadwinners will enable
children to

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

NAYA JEEVAN has successfully enrolled nearly 14,000 low-income members from over 100 corporations and SME organizations. Our member profile consists of five sectors: the corporate, academic, NGO, and SME sectors plus the informal domestic household staff sector. Amongst our newest enrollees are approximately 7500 NGO school children, faculty, and staff.
We have already enabled over twenty critical, life-saving interventions and over 1500 urgent medical consultations by mobile phone.

Other indicators of success would be improved health and socioeconomic outcomes in our beneficiary population. These outcomes are being monitored closely over time and will likely take 2-5 years to demonstrate a substantial effect. In the interim, surrogate markers such as decreased incidence of infectious disease and e.g. time from medical helpline call to revascularization in unstable angina patients should be indicative of positive health outcomes.

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

Over the next five years, NAYA JEEVAN plans to replicate its “HMO for the Marginalized” health plan model in neighboring countries including India, and the UAE. There is also a possibility that we may grow by franchising our model or entering into joint ventures in other developing markets such as South Africa, Indonesia, Philippines, etc.
(i) NAYA JEEVAN plans to replicate its health care model in India followed by the UAE. There are large pools of low-income laborers in the UAE who have family members/dependents back in India and Pakistan. These workers can be a a very attractive target market to sponsor the health care of their loved ones.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

Barriers to the success of NAYA JEEVAN include a cultural/national mindset of ‘guilty until proven innocent’
Another major barrier is the legacy of a post-colonial, hierarchical, social structure that discriminates against low-income workers – especially informal, household employees such as drivers and maids, etc. Thanks to globalization and the internet, nowadays workers are much more aware of their labor rights and no longer submit to the abuse that was perpetrated on them in the past. Beyond this, NAYA JEEVAN continuously challenges this informal system of ‘socioeconomic apartheid’ between rich and poor as part of its corporate value system.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Enroll 25,000 lives over next 6 months across 125 organizations

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

1. Increase awareness about NAYA JEEVAN around Karachi, from multi-national companies to other NGOs and urban slums

Task 2

2. Run fundraising campaigns to enroll marginalized children of NGO schools into our health plan

Task 3

3. Launch the P&G supply chain initiative with an initial target enrolment of 10,000 lives

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Enrollment of 100,000 lives across 250 organizations

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

• Open regional offices in Lahore and Islamabad

Task 2

• Activate the Pakistani diaspora in US, UK, UAE to enroll their dependents/relatives in our health plan in Pakistan

Task 3

• Increase the amount of doctors on staff to cater to increased number of beneficiaries

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

NAYA JEEVAN partners with major insurance companies such as Allianz-EFU who underwrite our health plan for the marginalized. In addition, NAYA JEEVAN has collaborated with Unilever, GSK, P&G, Pfizer, Deutsche Bank and others in terms of delivering value-enriched services to our low-income beneficiaries. NAYA JEEVAN is also a member of the World Economic Forum/Schwab Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, TED, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), the Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship and Ashoka and seeks to leverage these networks to enhance the social impact it is making.

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?

Our beneficiaries are predominantly from low income marginalized communities (average income less than $5/day), which inhabit urban slums. These communities typically retain archaic social taboos regarding diet and obesity (which is often viewed as a sign of prosperity and not disease), limited access to health care for women, family planning/contraception, and numerous other health related issues. Previous efforts to provide medical care have ranged from mediocre to none with little government assistance, intervention, or representation.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

NAYA JEEVAN leverages corporate distribution channels which results in a win-win partnership for the beneficiaries, MNCs, supply chains and the overall healthcare ecosystem.

The health insurance industry in Pakistan (and many other developing countries) is still in its nascent stages but growing at a robust 35%-40% per annum. This positive 'halo effect' is conducive to NAYA JEEVAN's rapid growth.

NAYA JEEVAN's internal corporate values are encompassed by the acronym 'RISE ABOVE' which embodies R- Respect, I - Innovation, S -solidarity, E - Entrepreneurial, A - Action-oriented, B - Beneficence, O = Open, V - Vocal and E - Ethical

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

Community Health Initiative, Maharashtra

Created on 12/6/2011 by Neelam Kshirsagar

Impact India Foundation is an International Initiative Against Avoidable Disablement. It is a catalyst for Action Today to prevent Disability Tomorrow.

About You

Organization: Impact India Foundation (IIF) Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

Zelma

Last Name

Lazarus

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Impact India Foundation (IIF)

Organization Website

Organization Country

India, MM

Country where this project is creating social impact

India, MM

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

1993: The United Nations Grand Award and the IPRA Golden World Award for
Excellence in Public Service worldwide.
1994 : Rotary Club of Bombay honours Impact India’s Mrs. Zelma Lazarus
with a Public Award for her leadership in creating India’s first mobile hospital on
track – the Lifeline Express.
2000: Expo Award Hannover, Germany.
2009: National Postage stamp and First Day Cover released by the
Government of India honouring the Lifeline Express.
2010: Honoured with the AmeriCares Spirit of Humanity 2010 – Jury’s
Choice Award for outstanding contribution towards improving health care and
empowering a healthier and stronger society....and more.

References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each

(1)Mr. K. R. Sreenath, CEO, Volkart Foundation, Mumbai 400 021.
Email: krsreenath@volkartfoundation.in
Tel: +91 22 2283 6336 / 2283 6338
Mr. Sreenath's experience in the Social Development sector is in the field of women and Children, health and welfare, income generation and empowerment of women and vocational training for youth. He was for 12 years with All India Radio and Song and Drama Division of Government of India's Information & Broadcasting Ministry, 26 years with Family Planning Association of India, and the past 8 years serving at Volkart Foundation.

2.) Mr. Girish Mittal,
Past President (2007-2008), Rotary Club of Mumbai, Borivali East.
1305 Dhruv, Ashok Van, Borivali East, Mumbai 400 066
Email:mittalgirish@gmail.com
M:9323462428
Mr. Girish Mittal is a BTech in Engg and is currently running a small software company specializing in mathematical and statistical modeling.

He is very interested in societal issues and invests considerable amount of time and energy in issues such as availability of low cost health care, water & sanitation etc. He is also involved in improving the governance structure of the Government and corporate sector. His new hobby is training hard to run a 21 kms-marathon in Mumbai in early January, 2012.

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)

How long have you been in operation?

Operating for more than 5 years

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Cost.

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

The rural disabled population in poor countries is neglected and seen as a social and economic burden. Rarely do persons living in India's remote villages have access to qualified medical and surgical health care... a distant, unachievable dream. They end up relying on the dubious methods of local traditional medicine practitioners and quacks. The end result: a silent and depressed acceptance of life; a fatalistic and self-defeating outlook.

A Baseline Survey commissioned by IIF and conducted by a leading social research agency in 2004 in Maharashtra revealed - Infant Mortality Rate: 80 per 1000 live births; Child Births at home: 84.80%; Child Malnutrition: 62.40%. Distribution of the disabled were: 37% Orthopaedic disability, 32.8% hearing loss, and 28.4% vision impairment.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

In 2005 Impact India Foundation (IIF) launched an ambitious project in Thane District of Maharashtra - the Community Health Initiative (CHI) in eight, remote, tribal blocks covering an area of over 6000 square kilometers and a population of almost two million. IIF is creating a replicable and sustainable model for the Government’s National Rural Health Mission using available delivery systems and existing infrastructure, developing appropriate monitoring systems and methodologies.
This is in support of the Government’s goal to set up a sustainable, fully functional, community-owned health delivery system.

The CHI reinforces the Right To Health for vulnerable communities in deprived under-served areas, by creating a demand for better health services and addressing gaps in the Government's health delivery system.

After an independent Evaluation and a professional Process Document by Tata Consultancy Services, the CHI is planned for replication by the Government throughout India.

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

The Community Health Initiative aims at disability reduction through cure and prevention.

Curative programmes include restoration of sight, hearing, locomotion and repair of facial deformities in partnership with nearby hospitals for surgery and follow up, as well as, distribution of Aids & Appliances: spectacles, hearing aids, braces, calipers etc. All services at Government and partner hospitals are free of cost to the beneficiaries.

Preventive programmes include reduction in Infant and Maternal Mortality Rates - Ante and Post Natal Care; Immunisation against childhood disease to achieve 100% coverage of the Government's programme; Information, Education & Communication or Health education using diverse media: posters, films, street plays in the local Warli art form for change of behavior; Home Gardens focusing on low-cost nutrition, distribution of seeds, saplings and horticultural training to promote the use of fresh vegetables in schools and households for much-needed micro-nutrients to control Anaemia; Health check-ups for school children through the School Health Monitor programme for early detection of signs of illness; De-worming for anaemic adolescent girls, in addition to conducting Haemoglobin estimation and holding talks on Nutrition and Health; Water Management: IIF builds check dams, trenches, repairs wells, cordons springs etc. to raise the ground water table and provides drinking water systems with community participation.

Capacity building of Government health staff and community volunteers is ongoing and vital for project sustainability.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

In Thane District no other organisation is working on as many health components on this scale. IIF's unique role and biggest challenge is in being an effective catalyst, bringing together the Government, corporate sector, NGOs, professionals and the community in large replicable health projects. In the Community Health Initiative IIF has mobilised Foundations (Volkart, Mattel Children's Foundation) Rotary & Lions Clubs, companies (HDFC Bank, HPCL, Tata Consultancy Services, Syngenta..) NGOs (Vatsalya, Population First, Tulsi Eye Hospital & Charitable Trust..)and medical professionals (Opthalmologists, Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeons, Nutritionists, ENT Surgeons etc.) to reduce existing disabilities by 65% and is firmly addressing future disabilities through systemic preventive programmes.

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

The unprecedented success of IIF's other major project, the Lifeline Express - the world's first hospital train, has medically served (from July 1991 till December 2011) more than 700,000 rural disabled over 130 projects in 91 Districts across 17 States of India, underscored the reality that disability needs to be addressed - in terms of both: cure and prevention. The magnitude of the Lifeline Express's success is small in relation to the extent of prevailing disabilities. At least 70 million persons in India are disabled and a major portion of this disability could have been prevented.

Hence, late Mr. A. H. Tobaccowala, Chairman of Impact India Foundation, (1983 to 2010) conceived the Community Health Initiative in 2004 as a dramatic, replicable pilot model for disability reduction through prevention and cure, using available infrastructure and existing delivery mechanisms, in partnership with the community, NGOs and the Government, as a comprehensive solution to disability.

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

Earlier termed the "Disability Reduction Project" the project was re-named "Community Health Initiative" (CHI) as its activities ensure the health of the community as a whole. The objectives of CHI are:
-Reduction by one-half in the incidence of future disability through prevention.
-Reduction by one-half of existing disability through curative measures.
- To develop systems, methodologies and monitoring arrangements that can be successfully replicated in India and developing countries.

The areas of concentration include Safe motherhood, Nutrition, Immunisation, Water quality, Health education and community mobilisation.

Goal: Provision of integrated, primary health care in rural areas to improve the health of future generations, and thereby social inclusion in India's progress.

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

To measure the impact of CHI activities, India's leading I.T. major, Tata Consultancy Services, designed an online Management Information System. Achievements against targets (calculated against a fresh Baseline Survey)showed that reduction of existing disabilities was dramatic (till June, 2011): Almost 80% in correction of vision impairment, 60% in correction of hearing loss, 100% in cleft lip and palate repair and 25% in orthopaedic impairment (multi-phase treatment). To this, add 60% in Dental treatment, focusing on students in Ashramshalas (tribal residential schools).
Prevention activities conducted in selected Primary Health Sub Centre areas showed achievements as: 90% in immunisation, 99% in Ante Natal Care, 70% in Anaemia Control, and 60% in IEC or Health Education.

IIF's Lifeline Express Mobile Clinics (Diagnostic Vans) in the CHI screened & referred over 91,000 persons for vision problems.

Direct CHI beneficiaries number 208,788; more than half are female.

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

Over the next five years IIF seeks to reduce existing disability through
Cure: 100% in vision and hearing impairment, 50% in orthopaedic (multi-phase & transport-challenged areas)
Prevention: 90% increase in institutional child births, 100% pregnant women complete four ante natal check ups, 90% anaemia reduction in adolescent girls (Hb>10gms/dl),100% immunisation of infants against disease, 50% malnutrition controlled through Health education and Kitchen Gardens, 1800 health education sessions for 500,000 attendees resulting slowly in behaviour modification;
50% success in Capacity building of Government and community volunteers to sustain health gains - improved public health delivery mechanisms and improved belief in healthcare priorities.
See IIF' brochure: www.impactindia.org

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

The barriers: (1) Access to health care for remote villages with no transport to Health Centres. IIF will enlist private sector to provide Emergency Ambulances and simultaneously move Rotary Clubs etc. to lobby for enhanced connectivity through increased frequency of Govt public transport; (2) Belief in Bhagats or Traditional Medicine Practitioners. IIF will increase medical camps by Specialists (Paediatricians, Gynaecologists, Orthopaedicians etc) to diagnose and treat with demonstrated results. (3) Capacity building of Government service providers. IIF is intensely engaging with Government from field to policy level for health cooperation, use Public, Private Partnerships to upgrade health facilities (4) Mobilise community through patience and perseverance creating health volunteers.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Reduction of existing disabilities by above 15%; increase in institutional child births by 20%.

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Motivate the private sector to actively support the rural disabled in remote areas addressing gaps in Public Health

Task 2

Mobilise the community to place health as a priority and a prerequisite to improved livelihood

Task 3

Enlist active Government partcipation to upgrade Health Centres and delivery mechanisms.

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Reduction of existing disability by 30%; increase in institutional births by 40%: improved health care

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Community is motivated and has increased access to Government's primary health centres

Task 2

Government is upgrading Health Centres: manpower, equipment, infrastructure and services

Task 3

Systems for health care delivery are being put in place.

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

Impact India Foundation acts as a catalyst to bring together business houses, NGOs, the Government and the community to implement health programmes of national priority. The Community Health Initiative (CHI)comprises partnerships with private sector, supported by Government health machinery, NGOs, medical professionals and community (Gram Sabhas).

The CHI uses available delivery systems and existing infrastructure, for sustainability, in support of the Government’s National Rural Health Mission's goal to establish a fully functional, community owned, integrated, health-delivery system.

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?

The Community Health Initiative (CHI) was launched in 2005 in five Blocks of Thane District, Maharashtra and was later expanded to seven Blocks. Impressed by its success the Government requested IIF to extend the CHI to an additional eighth tribal Block thereby expanding its coverage to a population of nearly two million.

Private Trusts have already demonstrated interest in replicating the project in other under-served Districts of Maharashtra. In addition, IIF will present the CHI Process Document to the Government of India for the project's replication in deprived areas of the country.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

An open door policy followed by the Chief Executive Officer welcomes ideas; the presence of a Brainwave Box calls out for new ways of doing; we have flexible work hours, when required; a policy of high written appreciation exists; we have supportive, active and appreciative Trustees who also actively fund raise and suggest avenues.

An overall atmosphere of giving and helping exists, seeking consensus and expressing gratitude rather than censure and being punitive, which helps a lot. Clear Management practices are enunciated in Impact India's HR document "Ten Commandments" citing honesty, transparency and integrity, gender parity and mutual respect.

IIF actively seeks and promotes community participation and ownership, embodying the role of a facilitator and enabler, for community.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

IIF has immeasurable in-house Talent in Public Relations.
IIF's tracking of individual cases, such as pregnant mothers through Ante Natal Care, child births and Post Natal Care, provide data for research.
Collaboration/Networking with other NGOs working on health related issues (water/horticulture)
IIF staff is always available to brainstorm on ideas for health issues of national priority.

Changeshop

This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: Introducing the School Management Database 1.0 .

Introducing the Community Health Unit Database Networking systems

Created on 12/3/2011 by PDKelly

MAHSRA -TECH moving African institutions to the next dimension with ICT networking parameters.
Introducing the Community Health Unit Database 1.0

About You

Organization: Modern Advocacy, Humanitarian, Social and Rehabilitation Association Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

KELLY

Last Name

NGYAH

About Your Organization

Organization Name

Modern Advocacy, Humanitarian, Social and Rehabilitation Association

Organization Website

Organization Country

Cameroon, NOT

Country where this project is creating social impact

Cameroon, NOT

Is your organization a

Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

MAHSRA has received distinguished appraisals and acknowledgements, pertaining to the innovative and successful implementation of its regional grassroots project titled “Rights of PLWHAs” from the British High commission to Cameroon. Ref : http://ukincameroon.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=409680682

References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each

Abel Akara Ticha: former communications manager to the British high commission in Cameroon and presently working as Communication Officer for the UN Economic Commission for Africa – Central Africa Regional Bureau, in Yaounde– Cameroon. Worked with MAHSRA as project partner. Email: akaraticha@gmail.com, tel: 0023775984062

Samuel Chemuta: chief of bureau for the registration and regulation of associations and political parties in the Mezam division of the northwest region of Cameroon.
Currently acting as regional supervisor of MAHSRA’s activities within the Mezam division.
Email: samchem2005@yahoo.com tel; 0023775615393

The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..

Innovation

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Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)

How long have you been in operation?

Operating for less than a year

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Cost.

The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?

Lack of accessibility and a follow up control of patients’ medical records, difficulties in settling health bills by concerned parties for patients admitted in distant community health units, the enormous time and money involved in regular health control visits paid to distant community health units and the ineffective and/or poor health services rendered to patients in local community health units.

The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!

Our proposed solution involves the development of an appropriate user friendly database software the community health unit database 1.0 that will serve to facilitate the accessibility of patient health and physician records, improve on health data communication links; introduce distant e-consultations and health bill settlements, improve on the medical ICT networking usage capacities of health service personnel and impressively facilitate distant central management procedures such as; work planning, follow-ups, monitoring and reporting including a dynamic staff assessment and development evaluation plan within a single health unit and amongst an aggregate group of health institutions

The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities

The dynamic ICT networking parameters within health units is a system that operates at 2 levels cutting across all patient consultation information, physician analysis, the health units institutional work plans/reports and financial involvements from an installed database software.
At the first instant, when the community health unit database 1.0 is installed within a health unit base, all the involved health personnel undergo brief capacity building sessions for effective usage and management of the system. At the second instant all subordinate health units using the system are linked up through a secured internet tunnel/VPN to their head quarters. The administrative headquarters then structures the received data to provide read only information for the entire networking subordinate health units within the system.
The system involves dynamic evaluation forms for health personnel and the activity reports of the health units thereby granting the central administration a direct and regular access to the quality of health services provided by their subordinate units. Linked up to affiliated banks it also grants the possibility for third parties to settle patient bills for distant locations.
Our major activities will involve organizing ICT health networking training workshops, regularly monitoring and evaluating the system performance from both the technical and the consumers view points and developing firm institutional partnerships with national health ministries.

The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Presently in Cameroon; the kick off nation for the project, there are currently no competitors. The national ministry of health seldom organize periodic health service field checks but our present initiative provides a medium for regular online networking checks. The project theme: “Fostering Dynamism and effectiveness in patient data keeping and distant financial service delivery/control for community health systems in sub-Saharan Africa” is an innovative venture we are introducing to the market in the quest to promote e-governance initiatives in Sub Saharan Africa. Only the banking sectors operate within a similar networking plat form. We are neither challenged nor moved by others but rely mostly on the user relationship with their affiliated banks so as to boost the initiative’s growth

This Entry is about (Issues)

Social Impact

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Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.

Initially after an online social networking site project development meeting held on January 30th 2011,I thought of the possibility of assessing and sharing actual constrains and health needs information directly with the local community health units through an online initiative network within vulnerable communities. With the conceived ideas at the back of my mind and as the CEO of MAHSRA, I scheduled a technical meeting and shared the new development initiative. During a 4 hours long deliberative meeting, we adopted the proposition for developing a dynamic database software for health units that could effectively link up and communicate the patient care and health personnel management activities/needs within a unique health institution and amongst a broader range of aggregate institutions. I then later delegated a software development analyst to some targeted community health units who then gathered for us the required information necessary to begin work on the database system

Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

The goal is to build and institutionalized a cost effective patient data storage, health care delivery reporting, health personnel management plan and a facilitated distant health bills regulatory system through dynamic ICT networking parameters within local health care delivery units and major urban affiliated health care supervisors, geared at;
- Facilitating the accessibility of health records and drastically cutting down on the expense rates involve in keeping and sharing patient health data
- Improving on the control, privacy, security and health data communication links for patient electronic and medical health records within and amongst health units
- Facilitating distant e-consultations and health bills payments for family members and other concerned other third parties.

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

The project is still at its development phase but up till date it has been able to train and employ 4 community youths on on ICT Networking parameters and changed the health management authorities' development views for their health health institutions

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

Through vigorous community youth training programs on ICT networking parameters for the community health unit database software maintenance and development and also via acute advocacy campaigns for the implant of national e-governance policies promoting effective healthcare management measures within the sub Saharan African states, in 5 years time I expect to have;
- Trained over 400 community based youths who have become actively employed professionals in the development and management of the health database system
- Installed the health database system and networked over 400 health institutions in Cameroon and also reduced over 75% of states healthcare follow up budget
- Introduced our program initiatives in over 10 sub Saharan states’ health ministries

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

The sub Saharan African close government policies are our first hindrance for they may be very reluctant to inculcate e-governance policies such as our health unit’s online networking parameters for fear of external exposure of their corrupt practices.
The next hindrance is the cost of hiring highly qualified trainers to provide adequate training for the community youths towards the development and management of the system and also the cost of purchasing the start up equipments for the system within very poor community health units.
Also there is the problem of very slow internet connections in some areas, thus making it difficult to effectively use the VPN networking prerequisites for the distant communications

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact

Research, get development partners and set up a firm start up base for the project

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone

Task 1

Send a professional software development analyst to targeted health units to analyse and carry out the feasibility study

Task 2

Organize meetings with the patients, families, health personnel and the software developers to ascertain the system need

Task 3

Build the community health unit database software and organise proper testing phases with the targeted health units

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone

Get both the government and the private health administrative authorities involved in the work plan of the system

Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone

Task 1

Organize advocacy and system show case workshops with influential health authorities to gain administrative sup

Task 2

Set up policy strategy proposal for the system and forward it to the national ministries in charge of health

Task 3

Set up a strategic online website designed to reach and influence other health sectors in sub Saharan African states

Sustainability

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Tell us about your partnerships

Presently we have developed a partnership consensus with the regional delegate of health, the senior divisional office of Mezam division of the northwest region of Cameroon and the Presbyterian health secretariat of Cameroon.
We have also forwarded the proposal initiative to the innovation price for Africa sponsored by the Economic commission for Africa and the Africa Innovation foundation

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?

Yes, we are currently targeting the Presbyterian health units in Cameroon.
Situated all over the vast territorial limits of the country, the over 30 Presbyterian health units in Cameroon play host to well over 100,000 admitted and consulting patients most of whom are often remotely situated thereby requiring the need of distant support from families and friends. The PCC health units also happen to be the most prominent health service providers for the less privileged/most unfortunate remotely situated populations in the North West and South West regions of the country.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

MAHSRA is a non-governmental institution that has strict governing rules and a constitutive body made up of a board, technical ad hoc committees and a general assembly of members.
Decisions prior to building and funding of her projects stems up from her board with the advice of the chief executive officer and the consultative approval of other technical committees. The board’s decisions are final and this gives the lead force to carry the project to its objective tail.
The technical ad hoc committees consulted upon by the board are often highly specialised experts in the initiative domain who carry out intensive research works to ascertain the feasibility of the initiative before granting their consultative approval to the board

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

We need large capital investments and development partners to be able to cover vast rurally situated health units; including a wider spread of internet connectivity and networking hard and software equipments. We are also disposed to provide research information on health needs and assessments in the community health units located at our targeted areas and more

NWCC SEM WEST Program

Created on 11/23/2011 by ezweck

Some educational programs are hyped as being life-changing learning experiences; however, few deliver on that promise. Yet the students at Northwest Community College’s (NWCC) School of Exploration & Mining (SEM) who have completed the Workforce Exploration Skills Training (WEST) program are saying their lives were changed at Ganokwa Camp.
“This program is life altering,” says Cody Joseph, a 25 year-old graduate of the WEST program. “I haven’t graduated from anything in my life, and here I am today graduating.”

About You

Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hide

About You

First Name

elizabeth

Last Name

zweck

Confirm a user name that will be displayed publicly to identify your entry

NWCC SEM

About You, Your Group, or Your Organization

Name

Northwest Community College School of Exploration & Mining

Website

Country

Canada, BC

Please confirm that this project could benefit First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples

Yes

Twitter URL

Facebook URL

Youtube URL

What categories best describe who your group or organization serves (check all that apply)

First Nations people, Métis people, Other.

What best describes your group or organization

University, Technical Institute or College.

How long have you, your group, or your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

Innovation

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Name Your Project.

NWCC SEM WEST Program

Tell us the story of your idea or project

Some educational programs are hyped as being life-changing learning experiences; however, few deliver on that promise. Yet the students at Northwest Community College’s (NWCC) School of Exploration & Mining (SEM) who have completed the Workforce Exploration Skills Training (WEST) program are saying their lives were changed at Ganokwa Camp.
“This program is life altering,” says Cody Joseph, a 25 year-old graduate of the WEST program. “I haven’t graduated from anything in my life, and here I am today graduating.”
The WEST program, a first-of-its-kind program in northern British Columbia, is a seven-week training program delivered in a remote bush camp north of Smithers. It features hands-on, experiential employment skills training for careers in exploration, mining and other resource industries.
Internship opportunities are available to eligible participants who demonstrate an interest and aptitude in one of four chosen areas: camp maintenance and safety, office administration, cooking in a camp environment and cultural skills coaching. A resident elder provides mentorship to the cultural skills intern.
Students arrive at Ganokwa Camp from all corners of British Columbia, some having left their communities for the first time. The student body includes broad representation from many of the province’s First Nations and Metis. Participants live in a drug- and alcohol-free wall tent camp, sharing accommodation with three others. Good health and fitness are mandatory as students go on field trips that include hikes of up to 10 kilometres up and down steep terrain. Essential skills training is embedded throughout the curriculum, teaching conflict resolution, communication skills and leadership, to name but a few.
Upon successful completion of the program, participants receive an NWCC School of Exploration & Mining certificate, a host of safety certificates and an employment reference. SEM staff also provide WEST participants with pre-employment counseling and job search assistance. The program, which ran twice during the summer of 2011, is provided at no cost to eligible participants through funding provided by the Canada-BC Labour Market Agreement.
“Graduates of our mining programs are in very high demand, and industry often asks us when the next group will be ready to hire,” states NWCC President, Dr. Denise Henning.
Judi L’Orsa of the Smithers Exploration Group recently advised the students at their Celebration of Learning, “You are leaving here today armed with new technical knowledge, health and safety skills, knowledge of best practices, environmental awareness, and a better understanding of the modern minerals industry. I would like to congratulate you on your achievements and welcome you to our industry.”
Indeed, Ida Prince just landed the first job of her life at the age of 38 as an archaeological field assistant doing field work near Prince George, BC.
But possibly most powerful of all are the testaments from WEST graduates:
Mason Berg: “Without this program, I’d be working as a dishwasher or who knows what, but with this program, I know I won’t just have a job, but a career. I’m leaving camp a changed man.”
Brandon Felker: Dear lucky chosen ones, you are in for a super positive life changing experience. I can promise that if you dedicate yourself and fully embrace this once in-lifetime opportunity you will be creating memories forever and endless new opportunities. Good luck and enjoy.
Beatrice West: “The best moments were when we were at the top of the mountains, smiling at each other, saying, “We did this!’ This is an amazing feat in our lives.”
SEM also offers other similar programs and can develop customized curricula to meet client needs. To date, the programming has been strongly oriented to First Nations audiences and their learning style (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bp-vefkB7A & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Lc8QPnwfk).
The WEST program will be offered again in 2012.

Define your idea / project in 1-2 short sentences

To provide accessible experiential pre-employment field training that is responsive to, and credible with, industry, and empowers individuals to gain employment

Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Established (it has been running for a while, has grown and know it is making a difference)

Social Impact

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This Entry is about (Issues)

Please tell us about the social impact of your idea or proect

The WEST project has been life changing for the participants, developing individual and community capacity, providing employment, building economic capacity and understanding of industry and developing leadership skills. Many participants left at the end of the program talking about how their fellow students were now 'family', a level of support that they will hopefully continue to draw upon throughout their lifetime.

Your Future Goal(s): Tell us what you hope to achieve with your idea or project in the next year

To finetune the program and run it more often; also to work with clients to provide customized training to meet their needs

In 5 years, what will be different as a result of your idea/project?

There will be more First Nations employment in industry (in exploration & mining, and in other resource fields as well); more First Nations pursuing further education; greater social and economic capacity in communities; more mentors to guide youth toward employment and education. Resource industries will have a larger trained entry-level pool of employees to draw upon directly from our program, and more highly trained employees from those who choose to continue with further education after our program. The integration that is inherent within our program will break down cultural barriers and lead to greater understanding.

Sustainability

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Tell us about the people/ partnerships that are already involved and why they are important to your idea or project.

Provincial and federal government partnerships
Industry partnerships
First Nations
All of these partnerships are important to us, both in terms of providing funding and in providing credibility and support for the work that we do.

If there are other people/partners that you will reach out to tell us who they are and why they will be important to your idea or project.

Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).

Describe the kinds of support you receive (other than money) or will need to support your idea or project (e.g.: donated, space, equipment and volunteers)

Approximately 100 words left (800 characters).

Do you currently have funding for your idea or project?

Yes (answer the next two questions)

A Basic Human Right

Created on 11/7/2011 by Indigenous Wonder Woman

According to a report prepared for The Assembly of First Nations (2006) titled, "Protecting Our Gifts and Securing Our Future - First Nations Children and Obesity: A Growing Epidemic" - over half of First Nations children are either overweight (22.3%) or obese (36.2%).

About You

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About You

First Name

Julia

Last Name

Valencia

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Indigenous Wonder Woman

About You, Your Group, or Your Organization

Name

The Miss Fit Girl

Website

Country

Canada, ON

Please confirm that this project could benefit First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples

Yes

Twitter URL

Facebook URL

Youtube URL

What categories best describe who your group or organization serves (check all that apply)

First Nations, Métis and Inuit people.

What best describes your group or organization

Other.

How long have you, your group, or your organization been operating?

Less than a year

Innovation

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Name Your Project.

A Basic Human Right

Tell us the story of your idea or project

According to a report prepared for The Assembly of First Nations (2006) titled, "Protecting Our Gifts and Securing Our Future - First Nations Children and Obesity: A Growing Epidemic" - over half of First Nations children are either overweight (22.3%) or obese (36.2%).
I want to help reverse this epidemic. This idea came to me through first hand experience by changing my lifestyle from bad eating habits to clean eating and exercise. I have the knowledge to prove that what I do works and feel very strongly that the knowledge I have gained needs to be implemented across all First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities. I am planning on changing my blog into a website where my niche will focus on Aboriginal families. I also plan to get organizations involved by mass marketing myself to go in and speak to schools and communities about the health epidemic First Nations, Metis and Inuit people are facing as a Nation across the board - tell them my story and encourage and inspire them to change their eating and exercise habits. I have figured out a plan that will work for Aboriginal families. I know how to feed a family on a budget that is still healthy and nutritious through facing my own financial hurdles as a single mother and I know how to exercise at home so there is no need for a gym membership for families.

Define your idea / project in 1-2 short sentences

First Nations, Inuit and Metis children and their families will succeed in all aspects of their live if they are provided with knowledge and inspiration.

Select the stage that best applies to your solution

Start-Up (a project that is just getting started)

Social Impact

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This Entry is about (Issues)

Please tell us about the social impact of your idea or proect

Unless something is done to prevent childhood obesity amongst First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, the future health of this population will suffer immensely potentially costing society an enormous amount of financial and material resources that could easily be controlled if these children were given the basic human right of healthy nutritious meals in school and at home. Having access to nutritious meals will increase their attention span, improve learning, decrease behavioural issues related to lack of nutrition and increase school participation and attendance. No other resource can benefit these children, whether it's a computer, access to sports activity or a truckload delivery of books, without access to nutritious food first.

Your Future Goal(s): Tell us what you hope to achieve with your idea or project in the next year

Every school that serves First Nations, Inuit and Metis children along with their families will gain knowledge/inspiration

In 5 years, what will be different as a result of your idea/project?

First Nations, Metis and Inuit children and their families will have significantly lowered their chances of becoming overweight and obese. They will have improved school marks as a result of consuming foods that will assist them in their ability to becoming successful adults. They will know and understand the meaning of healthy eating and the positive impacts healthy foods have on their overall well-being. Those diagnosed with health issues (ie. diabetes) will have learned to control their sugar levels because of the knowledge they and their families have gained from learning about the nutritional benefits of clean eating and exercise.

Sustainability

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Tell us about the people/ partnerships that are already involved and why they are important to your idea or project.

At this time, this is a single handed mission, but there are potential people and partnerships who can play an important role in supporting this idea.

If there are other people/partners that you will reach out to tell us who they are and why they will be important to your idea or project.

Aboriginal Chef David Wolfman who has begun touring across Canada providing workshops to adults about healthy foods and how to prepare healthy meals. Children are no exception to this mission.

Describe the kinds of support you receive (other than money) or will need to support your idea or project (e.g.: donated, space, equipment and volunteers)

Because this idea is in the beginning stages, a website will be developed where any First Nation, Metis or Inuit family will be able to gain full access to what I do and how I do it. This will include daily breakfast ideas, workout videos they can do in the home, information pertaining to health issues being faced and a contact page that will give them and their communities the option to have me come and speak to them about the obesity epidemic, my story and how they can change their lives too.

Do you currently have funding for your idea or project?

No (skip next two questions)