PROJECT AHEAD AT THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE OPEN CAMP
The wonderful St. Anna dei Lombardi Church in Naples has hosted the Social Enterprise Open Camp, an international event focused on the study of social entrepreneurship and gender equality as investment value, promoted by Fondazione OPES-LCEF Onlus and by Consorzio della Cooperazione Sociale (CGM). Among the partners, there was also Project Ahead.
The event, for the first time in Campania, brought together more than 250 participants from all over the world: entrepreneurs, visionary individuals, young talents, experts in the field, NGOs, social cooperatives, investors, business angels, institutional and academic representatives.
The winners of 7th edition of the Social Change Wave, a competition organized by Project Ahead and dedicated to social innovation that take place few months ago at Dialogue Place, took part to the event.
The Open Camp was held from 21 to 25 June both in Naples and in Salerno and divided into plenary sessions in which speakers and successful social entrepreneurs took part.
Concerning the workshops and the case studies, the participants could improve their knowledge about:
- The access to capital and fundraising;
- The development of enterprises with a positive impact and the scalability and repeatability of these business models;
- The relevance and value of human capital;
- The storytelling and branding;
- The technology and supply chain.
The file rouge of all moments of reflection was the Gender Smart Investing: from the analysis of women’s role in the governance of social enterprises and in the working decision-making to the necessity to close the gender gap.
According to the McKinsey report, global economy could grow up to $12 trillion by 2025 as consequence of narrowing the gender gap.
Among the case studies:
MAAM Life Based Value is a business that creates digital solutions for the development of human capital; the first and only program of digital training course that transforms life transition and caregiving activities (as maternity and paternity) into a master in soft skill aimed at professional growth.
CavaRei is a social enterprise working in the field of disability; women are the majority in its governance that represents all social categories as expected by the Reform of the Third Sector: workers, users, volunteers and partners of profit companies.
NaTakallam, USA and France is a social award-winning enterprise aimed at offering job opportunities in the linguistic sector to political refugees. Currently, more than 130 refugees have self-generated $500.000 thanks to their translations or language courses. NaTakallam has been presented in several media events, among them Fast Company, PBS, NPR, Al Jazeera, Reuters and UNHCR.
This year, the Social Enterprise Open Camp bas been won by NaTakallam. Project Ahead has contributed to the victory thanks to a workshop of some young women who won the Social Change Wave 2019 with GIVE CHANCE, a social enterprise aimed at offering job placement to female refugees, creating an ethical fashion brand.
BABIPLAN is also a son of the Social Change Wave, but at the Social Enterprise Open Camp participate to the Enel Challenge – Gender Smart Investing and Innovability. Energy is everywhere.
Maria Letizia Esposito
