But we should better give the floor to Ovidiu Condurache of Ashoka Romania:
From the first 3 years of Ashoka in Romania we have many beautiful memories, around our projects that aimed to bring impact and systemic solutions.
We started in May 2017, when we presented the Map of social innovators and their supporters. It was the first time when we brought to the attention of people involved in solving problems in Romania a hat suitable for them, that of a social innovator. It was also the moment when we brought to Romania Ashoka Fellows from Europe as examples of models with systemic impact.
Because we have access to a network of 3,800 Fellows from all over the world, we really wanted to open their solutions to Romanians who wanted to replicate them. We are very happy to see how the network Și eu reușesc grows, based on a model taken from an Ashoka Fellow in Spain on the subject of domestic violence. Equally, the infusion of expertise on the subject of green energy cooperatives brought by us has led to the coagulation of the first energy cooperative in Romania.
When we started looking for the first Ashoka Fellows in Romania, we discovered many stories of success, struggle and perseverance that made us fall in love with our candidates. The first 3 fellows were Dorica, Florin and Paul, and the fact that after their selection we were able to explain with local models what a social entrepreneur means to us was a great joy. We are lucky that they come from different fields, which means that their stories are just as rich in diversity. They have in common the desire to understand problems, to analyze them in depth, with empathy and with a creative, innovative energy, which can inspire anyone who wants to listen to them, but to really listen to them.
Their solutions show that innovations that generate change are not only products and services, but also processes of redefining roles, ecosystems, interactions. The things that make the changes they generate irreversible. It is a broader perspective on interventions in society. They are able to identify unusual people and organizations with whom they are generating change (e.g. priests as barriers to human trafficking, librarians as research partners in investigations, citizens setting up parks).
“For an organization like Ashoka, which does not have a niche field in which it operates, it is essential to have strategic partners who see value in pursuing impact, and who adhere to a vision of systemic change. Enel was our first corporate partner, with whom we chose the first Ashoka Fellows, we brought to Romania more knowledge about energy poverty and, most importantly, we laid the foundations of an ecosystem that builds the new narrative about the social entrepreneur identity. ”
Social Impact Award & Future Makers. Here are two competitions/projects organized by the same people, Social Innovation Solutions, which collaborates with other partners to organize these two competitions for young people under 30. The Social Impact Award competition is focused on social entrepreneurship, and Enel has been a partner since 2016, since its beginnings in Romania. Future Makers is dedicated to courageous entrepreneurship that explores the trends of the future in terms of sustainable, technology-based business, and we have joined this year's project.
Both projects bet on education, networking, resources and mentors to accelerate from idea to presentation to potential investors or direct market launch. These projects generate valuable experiences for young people, who go from a dream to a concrete prototype, acquire more practical skills, calibrate their expectations, sometimes even clarify their career plan, as they choose to study entrepreneurship. The dream translates into a business plan that is constructively scrutinized by experienced investors, whose point of view becomes easier for young people to understand. More than anything, young people gain confidence that they can start their own businesses, which propels them with new energy forward on the path of entrepreneurship.
“We can't help but continue projects like Future Makers or SIA, because we, the team, the jury or the mentors, also learn a lot from the thousands of young people we work with. In a country where mistrust and lack of hope predominate, we find every year, in over 25 cities, young people who have that ‘urge’ essential to entrepreneurship and who have confidence in the power of their generation. We find in them the energy, passion and ideas of social innovation that give us new hope for a better future.”
We give the floor to Ciprian Stănescu, coordinator of Social Innovation Solutions:
I remember, from one of the first entrepreneurship workshops in the Social Impact Award, in the spring of 2016, a group of young people who wanted to change the way exact sciences were taught in school. They were high school students and they also won the SIA with a business called the Experiment Factory, which still operates today. A young man wrote to us the other day that he started a very successful application in health because he was inspired by a similar idea in a SIA workshop a few years ago. There are hundreds of stories we have about young people in Social Innovation Solutions programs to whom we have been able to offer those types of appropriate learning experiences and who also pass on, through what they do, either in education - IziBac or The Adventures of Tzitzi Little, the environment - EcoTree, Dendro IT, Veltra Bicycle or health - Im Fine.
When you feel you have a solution to a social problem or a business idea for the future, talk to friends, teachers, or other young entrepreneurs. I think feedback is most important at the beginning of the road, along with the flexibility to change your mind. I think it's helpful to get out of the pressure that many young people feel to have a new idea: it is more important to find a solution to a problem or a product that people really need and buy. Alexander Osterwalder, the man behind Business Model Canvas, says we shouldn't fall in love with the first idea and keep improving it.
There are very few areas in which young people fail now. Even if you are not an expert in agriculture, information technology or education, you can build a way of thinking that will help you find the best answers and key people. If I were 20 years old and starting a business now, I would look more closely at online education, distance health services and green energy.
Speaking of key people and other partners, there's an African proverb that I really like: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to get far, go with someone.’ In Romania, entrepreneurship is underdeveloped - although more than one third of young people want to become entrepreneurs, less than 5% start up a business or organization. It is important to find the resources, confidence and role models to take this step from desire to action. However, it must be followed by a much friendlier relationship with the state and local authorities, but also by a greater openness of investors towards young entrepreneurs. The role of Enel and other companies is crucial for the development of the business environment for three reasons:
1. We need financial resources to invest a lot of time and energy at the base of the pyramid - in conversations with thousands of young people about what entrepreneurship means, what the future looks like and how we can contribute together to healthier and more prosperous communities.
2. We need the strength of the brand of companies like Enel, which inspires confidence and stability in an increasingly unstable and distrustful world.
3. We need the business know-how and strategy that a global company like Enel has gathered and that it can offer to young entrepreneurs.
Are you one of those who want to change our society?
Explore the projects we support and, if you are left with some useful ideas from this article, get to the facts, first of all, and pass it on to the young people you are talking to about entrepreneurship. Who knows, maybe this is the exact time when they need encouragement!