MENTORS QUESTIONNAIRE (BY) to be filled in by 13 December the latest
MENTORS QUESTIONNAIRE (UA) to be filled in by 13 December 2023 the latest
Are you an experience business professional/entrepreneur from Ukraine? Are you ready and feel the need to pass on your experience to young Ukrainian entrepreneurs who are seeking to solve important societal and environmental challenges using a business model?
Would you like to become a part of an ambitious international acceleration programme for young entrepreneurs from Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus in the capacity of mentor? If yes, we invite you to participate in the EU funded project “Greenhouse for Social Innovators” offering support to operating in the region social enterprises by bridging the gap between traditional and social businesses.
The global objective of the project is to foster active participation of youth in the labour markets and social economy of Georgia, Belarus, and Ukraine and contribute to sustainable and smart growth, social cohesion and reduction of inequalities in the EaP societies. While specifically we will be targeting at strengthening the local young social entrepreneurs' and trainers’ communities in project countries via launching and running an Acceleration programme with a special focus on sustainable green and digital social business models and international exchange of experiences, best practices and know-how.
What We Offer if You Chose to Become Our Project Mentor?
A two-week long TOT (training for trainers) programme divided in two sessions between January and May 2024 that will provide knowledge about:
1) the main trends in the development of social entrepreneurship in the world and the countries of the Eastern Partnership initiative, different models of social enterprises;
2) measuring, planning and managing the social impact of enterprises;
3) diagnostics of small and micro businesses using the 8K method;
4) green entrepreneurship and examples of clean-techs, as well as the so called green technologies available for the region, various opportunities for clean products and environmentally friendly services on the European market;
5) use of digital tools in business and examples of IT-tech
6) necessary skills for the work of mentors.
We will select 15 experienced entrepreneurs from each project country - a total of 45 people - to participate in the ToT and mentoring support programme for young social innovators. Future mentors will undergo special training as part of the trainer programme and, over the course of six months, will help 90 social entrepreneurs strengthen and develop their businesses, financially and impact wise.
When? The first two stages of the training will take place from January to April 2024 in Georgia and will consist of two face-to-face sessions lasting one week each.
The first session will be held from January 16 to 23 in Tbilisi and will be devoted to the following issues: 1) criteria and main trends in the development of social entrepreneurship, 2) measurement of social impact; 3) mediation, conflict prevention in different audiences; 4) diagnostics of business models of small and micro businesses.
Who are we looking for?
If you are between 18 and 36 years old, you have experience in successfully creating or running a business, skills in marketing and promotion, business planning, organizing your own production, online sales, etc. and you are ready to become mentors for social enterprises to share your experience, we invite you to take part in the acceleration programme “Greenhouse for Social Innovators”.
After completing the training for trainers’ programme, you will participate in the Bootcamp for young social innovators in Warsaw, which will take place in August – beginning of September, 2024. The week-long Bootcamp will bring together social enterprises from Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, as well as other countries (e.g. Poland and Lithuania), where Belarusians and Ukrainians social innovators work. As part of the Bootcamp, your task will be to get to know social enterprises, help them diagnose their business models using the 8K methodology, identifying bottlenecks and growth points, and, over the next six months, provide them with professional mentoring support to help the enterprises achieve - positive results. It is expected that the result of your joint work will be an expansion of product lines (goods, services); increasing the customer data base, increasing of average bill and social or environmental effect depending on the direction of the enterprise. The work of mentors with mentees in the project will be compensated.
The final stage of the project will be the organization of meetups for social enterprises and medium and large businesses in Vilnius (for Ukrainian and Belarusian participants) and Tbilisi (for participants from Georgia), where social enterprises will be able to present their development plans, receive additional mentoring support, and possibly the first investments, as well as being embedded in production chains.
The organizers cover the mentors' expenses associated with their participation in the programme.
Participation in all project events is mandatory, so we ask you to evaluate your participation opportunities in advance.
If you have something to offer social entrepreneurs and would like to participate, please fill out this form by 13 DECEMBER 2023 the latest and we will contact you for an interview.
Project partners
The Project is implemented by gGmbH IBB in Dortmund (Germany) in cooperation with the Georgian Crafts Heritage Association (Georgia) and non-profit organisation “Ukraine without Waste” with the financial support of the European Union.