The first stage of the selection process has been completed for the “Socio-Economic Sustainability in Local Communities” competition, part of the “Impulse” project implemented by the International Renaissance Foundation and the Eastern Europe Foundation with support from Norway and Sweden. The Expert Council of the “Democracy and Good Governance” program has selected three winners.
The competition is part of an early, people-centered recovery approach and aims to develop inclusive social entrepreneurship among CSOs. These are initiatives that simultaneously help address social issues in communities and create economic opportunities for women and vulnerable groups of local residents, including internally displaced persons, veterans, people with disabilities, single mothers and fathers of young children and children with disabilities, and older adults.
During the first stage of the competition, civil society organizations were selected that have experience conducting accelerators or training programs in the field of social entrepreneurship, as well as their own practical experience in creating and developing social enterprises. It is these organizations that will conduct the Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator Schools for CSOs.
The winners of the competition are:
- The “Business Women of Zaporizhzhia” Public Organization, Zaporizhzhia
- The “Gorikhovyi Dim” Charitable Foundation, Lviv
- The “Silab Ukraine” Public Organization, Kyiv
Congratulations to the winners of the competition. Representatives of the Foundation will contact the winning organizations shortly to coordinate the next steps.
Participants in the Schools will be public organizations working in local communities within the target regions and having a clear focus on strengthening economic self-sufficiency and social recovery. The accelerator format involves sharing practical experience, disseminating successful models of social entrepreneurship, and fostering collaboration between more experienced organizations and those just starting in this field.
The second stage of the competition involves an internal small-grant competition for the development of social enterprises. Civil society organizations that complete training at the Accelerator Schools will be eligible to participate. A separate announcement regarding the launch of the second stage will be published at a later date.
