Collaborate, learn & design in our inaugural social innovation two weeker this July!
_Hello
_WhoWeAre
We are a small group of young professionals who have been making our move away from the corporate sector in the last few years. Since then we’ve been notching up hours in volunteer management, international development, youth media, CSR & Social Enterprise. We have over 30 years of professional experience, managing over 200 volunteers along the way.
We design human-centred programmes that see the growth of social entrepreneurship in hard to reach places. And are looking for the right people to join us!
_SocialStarters works with two groups of people:
We take career changers and career breakers, post-grads and sabbaticalists, corporate learners and freelancers to amazing places, to work alongside grassroots entrepreneurs. In turn we help you get equipped to either launch your own game changing start up, bring more meaning into your work or move into the sector.
2. Entrepreneurs in developing countries who lack access to training in social entrepreneurship
Our mission for this Social Innovation Bootcamp is to bring together talented people from different worlds to create change. You will meet, learn from - and work amongst - some of the most exciting social entrepreneurs Rio has to offer. And we’re going to do it alongside some of the most incredible landscape and iconic scenery in the world.
1. International volunteers who want to gain hands on social entrepreneurship experience
We connect these two groups together to develop sustainable social impact ventures and launch new impactful start-ups. Our collaborative accelerator programme sees international volunteers become _ SocialStarters, taking all the current thinking around social innovation and design thinking to hard to reach places, developing along the way sustainable social impact ventures. Our 2 week Social Innovation Bootcamp will collaborate with the best that Rio has to offer across arts, culture, sport and social enterprise.
_WhoWeWorkWith We ran our pilot in Kenya with VSO Jitolee, the Kenyan arm of the UK government backed Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) to deliver social entrepreneurship training to their unemployed young volunteers.
This is an opportunity to take a break from your current life, and immerse yourself into a different culture whilst learning all about social entrepreneurship in a diverse and unique location.
We were then invited to India by UnLtd, and we found ourselves two programmes there with approximately 15 international skilled professionals, and roughly 10 Social Entrepreneurs.
Following a successful programme in India working with our partners, the global Social Enterprise incubator UnLtd Hyderabad, we are recruiting volunteer Trainee Social Enterprise Consultants for a unique programme in Rio in Brazil. We will be partnering with organisations supporting young people in urban communities in Rio de Janeiro.
In Sri Lanka, we’re working alongside the independently run, but government supported Social Enterprise Lanka. Brought to life by the British Council, SE Lanka are on a mission to promote social enterprise at the highest level and you would play an influential role in that process.
Our partnerships in Brazil take a different turn and will see our volunteers launching and developing creative start-ups and social impact projects with aspiring social entrepreneurs. We are developing a selection of partnerships with organisations who promote culture, creative and entrepreneurial activity across the city - keep checking our social media channels for as and when we can say more on this!
COLLABORATE On the Social Innovation Bootcamp you will be meeting and working alongside social entrepreneurs who are changing the face of Rio across arts, culture, sport and social enterprise. They might be grassroots organisations or leaders in their field. And you’ll help them identify problems, design solutions, test ideas & ultimately build sustainable brands and innovative solutions that make a positive impact.
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LEARN
_SocialStarters gives you the chance to spend time learning and living with a bunch of amazingly talented people, working alongside social entrepreneurs putting their hearts and souls into brilliant projects impacting other peoples lives for good. What’s not to like? You simply can’t put a price on this type of experience.
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_SocialStarters Graduate, India Feb 2015
DESIGN _SocialStarters gives you the tools and inspiration to design change in your own lives as well as others. Whether you want to develop your own start-up ideas, turn your passion into a business or move into a more meaningful career, we create space for you to explore your values and what it is that makes you tick so that you can return home feeling ready to make your next move.
During the Bootcamp you will learn about specific tools that enable you to devise, test and develop your own ideas for social change in your community. You’ll be introduced to social entrepreneurship, start-up methods, business modelling, financial sustainability and what it means to work with people who live on less than $3 a day. Plus you’ll take part in creative workshops, and immerse yourself into the community in Rio - getting inspired by incredible people doing amazing things.
“Bootcamp was a fun, dynamic approach to start-up concepts, with varied pratical tasks that sustain the interest and motivation.” Mary Bowden, UX Designer, Microsoft
_bootcamp
_WhatYouWouldLearn You will gain hands on experience of working with a start-up social enterprise (that’s us!) contributing to our own start-up journey. Helping us be able to show more people globally how to climb their own way out of poverty. Our collaborative accelerator programme sees international volunteers become _SocialStarters, taking all the current thinking around social innovation and design thinking to hard to reach places, developing along the way sustainable social impact ventures. The idea is that the skilled professionals (that’s you!) return to your communities, motivated and inspired to take the next step in your social impact career journey.
We’ll be supporting you through career coaching and ideation workshops to enable you to feel ready to tackle your ‘what next’. This programme means you can travel with purpose. You’d see the best that Rio has to offer across arts, culture, sport and social enterprise. Over the two weeks, you’d collaborate, learn and design solutions to real social challenges in Rio alongside likeminded, talented, international peers. You’d meet incredible social entrepreneurs who are changing the face of Rio and you’d get to take part in workshops and sessions that broaden your knowledge and experience of start-up methods and social entrepreneurship.
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I’ve attended dozens of training courses and workshops in my time, and I have to say that the format, style and quality of the training has been exceptional. I’ve learnt more than I ever could have imagined on topics such as social enterprise, lean start-ups and the local market. It’s been a fully rounded and immersive experience.
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Paul Goff, Former Supply Chain Consultant, Deloitte, UK.
I took on this journey looking to learn more about social enterprise, entrepreneurship, all in a new place far away from home, and it’s exactly what I got. I’ve worked with some incredible people, and have learned so many valuable skills that will stick with me my entire life. This trip was worth every penny spent, and I have no regrets about participating in this experience. Would recommend it to anyone looking for something “different” in their lives, and want to take part of something more meaningful.
_SocialStarters Graduate, India Feb 2015
_ProgrammeFee: £1280.00 _Includes: Accommodation x 14 nights (4th July to 18th July) Social Entrepreneurship Training Career Development Coaching Social Innovation Toolkit Sessions Social Start-Up Workshop Ideation Workshops Minimum 2 days of volunteering with a Social Enterprise Minimum 4 excursions within Rio 1 x Social Enterprise trip to the favelas All programme related travel WIFI
_Doesn’t Incliude: - International flights - Tourist visa - Vaccinations - Insurance
“Life’s too short” is repeated often enough to be a cliche, but this time it’s true. You don’t have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It’s not just pointless, it’s painful. Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” - Seth Godin
_HowWeStarted Anna and Andrea started this in Kenya as an experiment to test whether social entrepreneurship training with hard to reach people can empower them to climb their own way out of poverty. Follow a successful pilot, and new launches in India, Sri Lanka and Brazil, we are confidant about our methodology and approach to bringing people together to create change. We have ambitious aims! We do expect with your help, that aspiring social entrepreneurs will be able to strengthen their solutions to serious social issues. And we look forward to seeing your ideas for creating change in your community. Could this be the start of a sustainable volunteer programme that truly creates change? You will be instrumental in helping us find out.
_TheTeam
_Eddie Capstick _Programme Director
Eddie is part of MakeSense a 20,000 strong community of social entrepreneurs around the world. He’s just returned from 10 weeks in India, where he joined the _SocialStarters Immersion Programme in Hyderabad as a Social Enterprise Consultant, working alongside and supporting our client, UnLtd. A self confessed tech nerd and digital strategist with a PHD in social computer games, Eddie loves travel and bringing people together to create change.
_Jiselle Steele
_Teresa Keohane _Industry Advisor Leaving behind a telecommunications career at Centrica, Teresa went to Brazilian Charity REDEH (Network for Human Development) to offer educational and social enterprise programmes in socially disadvantaged communities in Rio de Janeiro. She then founded Jingando Travel, an ethical travel company offering group and tailor-made travel and volunteering experiences to Rio; and then started Jinga Footwear – a social enterprise footwear brand with ethical manufacturing operations in Brazil, retail operations in the UK and international distributors in Japan, Australia, Canada, Germany and Spain.
_Anna Buchman
_In-Country Director
_Programme Co-Ordinator
Part of the team who ran and delivered the biggest cultural legacy project for young people after the London 2012 Games, Jiselle went to Rio a number of times to explore how social entrepreneurship could change the fortunes of young people and fell in love with Brazil. Funded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust in 2014 during her sabbatical she spent two months in Rio researching the impact of social entrepreneurs who use creative arts as an engagement tool, and is now running our six week Immersion Programme in Brazil!
Soon to be graduating from studying Economics at the University of Edinburgh, Anna was born and raised in Germany and then left at 16 to finish her education in Australia. She met the _SocialStarters co-founders whilst volunteering in Kenya working alongside micro-entrepreneurs. She has her own fitness and lifestyle YouTube Channel and is qualified to give professional manicures! She wants to work in the field of development economics, and wrote her dissertation on entrepreneurship and the effects on economic development and growth.