Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a social entrepreneur? Do you want to create social and economic opportunities for you and for others around you? Do you want to improve intercultural relations in your community and across the Mediterranean? Do you have the courage to challenge yourself?

Then you might be who we are looking for!

Entrepreneurs for Social Change 2015

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and Fondazione CRT are organizing an 8- day training which will bring together 20 young people from the Euro-Mediterranean region to enhance the skills needed to boost a business idea with a social mission, and be a powerful motor of economic development and social inclusion.

Curriculum

The training will focus on two main aspects of social entrepreneurship:

The business aspect, i.e. the framework of the social enterprise:

• creating a solid implementation plan;
• defining the target audience/clientele and finding the appropriate partners;
• being strategic and efficient in the search for funding / capitals;
• understanding the need to continuously network;
• ensuring sustainability of the social enterprise.

The social aspect, i.e. the content of the social enterprise:

• fully understanding the cultural and religious diversity of the context in which the social enterprise will be implemented;
• being strategic (finding a niche, responding to a need) in either leveraging this diversity or addressing challenges related to it;
• being equipped with the skills to prevent and address tensions or conflicts with links to cultural or religious diversity.

In addition to this training, the selected 20 young adults will receive feedback from peers, mentoring from experienced social entrepreneurs and will be matched with potential investors.

Eligibility

A total of 20 young social entrepreneurs will be selected through a competitive call for applications. The application form (see online under APPLY) is composed of two main sections: the applicant’s profile and the social enterprise/idea. Applicants must meet all of the following criteria in order to be considered eligible for the program.

The applicant:

• Has a social enterprise (or be in the process of establishing a social enterprise) which is either leveraging cultural and religious diversity or promoting broader social change and can potentially create economic opportunities and social inclusion for a specific community or across communities. The social enterprise can already be established or be in its initial stages, the applicant must demonstrate how its idea is grounded and sustainable.
• Has a date of birth between 15th October 1979 and 15th October 1997.
• Holds a passport valid until at least 30th April 2016 (for a visa to be issued, a passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months after the expected date of entry into the country issuing the visa).
• Lives in and be of nationality from a Euro-Med country.
• Is fluent in spoken English.

Organisation

The event will be organized at Fondazione CRT premises in Torino (Italy) from 18 to 25 October 2015. The organizers are looking for young adults between 18 and 35 years old from the Euro-Med region, who either already have a social enterprise and need to learn how to develop it or who have taken steps to start a social enterprise and want to learn how to build their business forward.

There is no participation fee, and all participants will be provided with round-trip tickets to Torino as well as accommodation, meals and visa support. Interested? Continue to read this document and complete the application form.

Please note that the application deadline is 11:59 PM, New York time, 30th July 2015.

Application

Interested? Apply here. If you have any questions, check out this guide or email to info@e4sc.org.

Opportunity Summary

Entrepreneurs for Social Change 2015
An 8-day training program for outstanding current or future social entrepreneurs
Deadline: July 30, 2015; 11:59pm New York Time
[Oops, the opportunity has already expired. Sign up to AlphaGamma weekly newsletters to stay ahead of the game]
Dates: October 18-25, 2015
Venue: Torino, Italy