Our Vision
An Ireland where people solve every social problem.
Our Mission
Find people with solutions to social problems and support them on every step of their journey.
Our story
The idea emerged in an unusual context. It was 2004 and the Irish economy was booming. More resources than ever before were flowing towards tackling our social challenges. Yet behind the scenes, and for those living on the margins of society, change wasn’t coming fast enough. Poverty, social inequality, the lack of adequate health services and the poor understanding of mental health – to name but a few – were problems that economic prosperity seemed to be bypassing.
We didn’t just need more resources to solve these social challenges, we needed new ideas. In the commercial world there is a well understood approach to bringing about change when change is hard. It is called entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs drive new ideas and create new products, disrupting existing industries and eradicating inefficiencies. In 2004 the huge value that commercial entrepreneurs contributed to our economic development was widely celebrated, but the potential of entrepreneurship in the social sector remained largely underdeveloped.
And so, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland was born. The first organisation in Ireland dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs, people who were developing new, innovative solutions to address the entrenched social and environmental challenges we face. Initially funded by co-founder Declan Ryan (via The One Foundation), the organisation today remains entirely privately funded by a wide range of prominent entrepreneurs, business leaders and corporates in Ireland, the UK and the USA.
What We Do
Our mission is to find people with solutions to social problems and support them on every step of their journey. Over the past 15 years, we have supported more than 300 social entrepreneurs through our support programmes.
We walk the path with a social entrepreneur from the moment they have an idea through to when they solve the problem at scale. Our support programmes are anchored to our three strategic pillars – STEP, LEAP, SOAR.
We support social entrepreneurs on every step of their journey.
STEP
We know that the first step of the journey is often the hardest one to take. We support social entrepreneurs from idea stage through to pilot stage.
LEAP
When a social entrepreneur has taken the first steps, the following stage often requires a leap of faith. We support social entrepreneurs as they navigate this risky part of the journey.
SOAR
For social entrepreneurs who have developed a scalable model, we help them to develop themselves and their organisations to deliver impact at scale through bespoke financial and non-financial supports.
“It has been an unimagined growth experience for me and for the VCC.
I am part of a community of social entrepreneurs and I have learned so much from the SEI team and from the other Awardees.”
Liz Waters
Virtual Community College - 2014 Awardee
Get to know Us
We have a dedicated team at Social Entrepreneurs Ireland who are committed to helping social entrepreneurs succeed.
Meet The TeamBoard of Directors
John Duffy
Managing Director, KBW
Paul Rellis
Former CEO of Microsoft Ireland
Caroline Keeling
CEO, Keelings
Julie Sinnamon
CEO, Enterprise Ireland
Chairman of the Board
Tommy Breen
Former CEO of DCC plc
Brian MacCraith
President, Dublin City University
Julian Yarr
Managing Partner, A&L Goodbody
Teresa Harrington
Former Partner, PwC
Iseult Ward
CEO, FoodCloud
How we’re funded
Individual and Corporate Supporters
We couldn’t do what we do without the support of these organisations, entrepreneurs and business leaders from across Ireland, the UK and USA. They are as passionate about supporting social entrepreneurs as we are.


























With Special Thanks to
David Bobbett
Evelyn Bourke
Vanessa Byrnes
Michael Caulfield
Kip & Peggy Condron
Alison Cowzer
Seamus Creedon
Faye Drouillard
John Duffy
Jim & Mary Flavin
Harry & Susan Hartford
Garrett Hayes
Maurice Healy
Conor Hillery
Adrian Jones
Roger Jupp
Michael Lee
Maurice Mason
Brian McCormick
Garry Moroney
Bart Murphy
Shane Naughton
Barry O'Brien
Sheila O'Malley & Joe Fuchs
Sheelagh O'Neill
Eamonn Quinn
Jim & Diane Quinn
John Rafter
Colin & Nikki Ryan