HOW TO SPREAD YOUR WINGS AS A YOUNG SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR?
As we’ve told you before, three of our Future Union members participate in the Starters4Communities (S4C) programme. Last February they started their journey in social entrepreneurship, working on a crowdfunding campaign and helping local initiatives take their next step. To learn more about the transition from graduate to professional, the Future Union interviewed Tess, Rosemarijn and Saskia about their experience as social entrepreneurs.
All three ladies graduated with a lot of ideas and ambitions, but no specific path in their heads. They chose to participate in the S4C programme to develop their personal and entrepreneurial skills before spreading their wings and fly into the labour market. For Tess, Rosemarijn and Saskia the first months of S4C were a wakeup call: their time at ILS was just for practicing, social entrepreneurship at S4C is the real deal. Time management for all kinds of appointments, workshops and their crowdfunding campaign was challenging (Saskia even had to go and use an agenda for the first time in forever). Together with the other Starters, they learned the art of balancing between work and private life.
During the S4C programme, all starters get connected to local initatives. Tess and Rosemarijn worked with 4Women, an initiative supporting women, while Saskia worked with the volunteers of Stadscamping Tilburg, a city camping for events. Instead of doing a pre-thought assignment guided by teachers, they had to help these initiatives professionalise using their own knowledge and skills. Working with the local initiatives helped them to become independent young professionals.
The crowdfunding campaign was their first assignment. In a couple of weeks, the Starters collected over 10000 euros to finance their programme. The perks of sponsoring them were, amongst others, delicious cheesecakes and trendtours in the Spoorzone.
Most notable are the outcomes of the S4C programme now it’s coming to an end. Upfront, the starters’ biggest goals were to broaden their network and create sustainable career opportunities. While working with 4Women and Stadscamping Tilburg, the ladies gained new and unexpected insights. Society can be harsh, but there are a lot of great initiatives to support the vulnerable. Starters4Communities proved to be the perfect spot to learn more about yourself as part of a bigger community.
PS. Starters4Communities still has an ILS sponsored spot left for the new programme starting in September! The next information evenings are on August 23rd and September 6th. So be quick and send an email to goedele@starters4communities.nl.
