Not surprising the focus of our work in April has been the SE Outreach Accelerator program. Eight social entrepreneurs from different parts of the world, working in different sectors have all been challenged, given opportunities and delivered results over the course of three weeks.

Having had the participants with us for the last three weeks has provided us with the opportunity to really understand their businesses, working with some of the world’s toughest challenges such as sanitation, financial literacy or energy poverty. Our role is to help and support them in succeeding with their initiatives. And we do that through questioning, challenging and giving them the right tools to achieve their ambitious goals. I guess you might call it tough love. Here’s what two participants said in the two week evaluation:

It’s been more than I ever expected. Well coordinated and I love the clarity in communication and planning. It’s what I needed to reflect on our business!

After the second week, I feel privileged to be part of this program and so much knowledge and experience sharing in such a short time.

To give you a flavor of the people and organisations we’ve connected with during the past month I would like to name a few; Kivra, IKEA, Hand in Hand, Shifo, God dryck and God El, Centigo and Norrsken House in addition to the many trainers and mentors who are part of our network. For us it’s vital to connect the participants with different business models, experts and peers. We can all learn from different views and ideas, and SE Forum is the lens that filters out the noise and bring quality in business development through vetted content, people and networks.

However, in the end it’s the participants themselves that create the change they want to see in the world. They are the ones who need to fight to overcome the next challenge presented to them during their entrepreneurial journey.

Next step is for the participants to go home for four months, work on the goals they’ve set up for themselves, report to us how they’re going before they come back to us in September. What will happen then is for another ED letter, but let’s just say that they will experience a whirlwind of opportunities coming their way.

Happy spring
Nick