Social entrepreneurs are society’s problem solvers. They are people with courage, insight and ambition to put forward a solution to a social problem, and act on it. Broader than social enterprise, we see social entrepreneurs as people who are driving new approaches to solving social problems, regardless of the business model being used. Social entrepreneurs are mission driven rather than profit driven.
About
Our Programmes
Our upcoming supports
Our National Call for Applications will run from 13 February to 24 April 2024.
Applications for the 2024 Ideas Academy will be open from 13 February to 12 March.
Applications for the 2024 Impact Programme will be open from the 13 March to 24 April.
Our mission is to harness the cumulative power of people to accelerate social change. We do this through our programmes, direct funding, and our incredible community of alumni, funders, and sector leaders.
Our work is underpinned by our three core beliefs:
- The potential of people to create lasting change,
- The power of human-first relationships
- The force of community to accelerate impact
Ideas Academy
Drawing on our 17 years of experience of walking the journey with social entrepreneurs, we’ve created this toolkit to help you take the first steps from idea to action.
In the seven sections, we take you from the ideation and research stage through to piloting and sharing your story. We have also tried to demystify the technical and legal elements around setting up an organisation whose mission is to solve a social problem.
Ideas Academy
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, and beyond. If you are looking to take the first step, check out our Spark Toolkit and our Ideas Academy programme.
We also run a follow up programme, the Action Lab, for graduates of the Ideas Academy to support them as they pilot their solution.
Impact Programme
Often the initial stages of the social entrepreneur journey demand your passion, creativity and bravery to take those difficult and crucial first steps. However, for those at the Impact Programme stage, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland recognise the need to develop and lean on other strengths such as planning, teamwork, collaboration, bigger picture thinking and decision making.
Ready to expand your impact and take your organisation to the next stage? If your project or organisation is currently operational, having progressed beyond the pilot stage, explore our Impact Programme for support in achieving your goals. Learn more here.
Changing Ireland Accelerator
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. Our Scale Partnerships programme provides bespoke support and investment to social entrepreneurs who have completed a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland programme and are ready to receive further funding and development support to scale and grow their impact.
Community
Wrapped around every stage of the journey is the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland community of alumni and supporters. Social entrepreneurs who have completed a Leap or Soar stage programme are invited to join our Community Programme where they can access further supports, training, and networking opportunities. Action Lab participants are also invited to take part in our Community Programme for a period of one year following the end of the programme.