CHANGEMAKERS - CHANGEMAKERS 2009 & 2010

CHANGEMAKERS 2009 & 2010

Changemakers 2009

ASER started a project on social entrepreneurship, entitled Changemakers. Its mission is to spread the concept of social entrepreneurship among young people for them to acknowledge the existence of this form of entrepreneurship and the benefits it has for individuals and society.

We want more and more students to include social entrepreneurship in their future plans and we make available informational and educational resources to facilitate the transformation of this concept into reality.

Changemakers 2009 had 3 main components:

1. Changemakers Conference

It took place on the 24th of March and gathered over 300 students to listen to Raed Arafat (SMURD), Stefania Popp (Junior Achievement), Dragos Bucurenci ( MaiMultVerde ) among others.

2. Changemakers Club

The club organized over a 5-week period, consisted of weekly meetings and workshops, in which 35 students learned from trainers (Claudia Catana, Roxana Damaschin) and social entrepreneurs about social businesses, from planning to finance, and how to build a business plan starting from their own social entrepreneurship idea. In the end the best idea won.

3. On-line Platform, www.changemakers.ro

During the promotion time, the site gathered over 300 visits/day, it was the main informational outlet about the project, and also had a resources section where the students found social entrepreneurship examples and materials.

What happened then?
     • We built 1000 hand-made pinwheels and generated the social entrepreneurship vibe
     • We gathered more than 300 participants in a 4 hours conference with 6 motivational speakers.
       Photos from the conference
     • We selected 35 students for a 5 weeks Social Entrepreneurship club
     • 12 educational partners as mentors for our participants
     • 2 winning social entrepreneurship business plans in the Junior Achievement's National Competition: "Be a leader"
     • An unforgettable experience for both organizers and participants

Changemakers 2010

Changemakers 2010 wanted to be more ambitious, and it became an international project, developed with the support of UNDP.

Changemakers 2010 had 3 main components:

1. Changemakers Conference

It took place on the 20th April and it gathered 200 students to be inspired by Raed Arafat (SMURD), Leslie Hawke (OvidiuRom Association), Mircea Mocanu(UNDP), Cristian Ispas (Motivation).

2. Changemakers Spring School

For one week, 25 students, from ASE but also from Cluj, Estonia, Ukraine and Russia delved deeper into social entrepreneurship, conducting the SWOT analysis of the community, participating in workshops about business incubators, and even spending a day at Motivation to learn more about the life of a social entrepreneur.

3. On-line Platform, www.changemakers.ro

Starting with the second edition, we formed the Changemakers Community, a wave of young students prepared to change Romania politically and economically. We conduct periodic meetings and supply resources about social entrepreneurship.