Tipperary woman is graduate of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Ideas Academy

“People-powered social change is at the heart of communities across Ireland” – that is the message from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) as it recognises the efforts of 30 early-stage projects graduating from its Ideas Academy.

The programme supports budding social entrepreneurs with an idea to solve a social problem, to move from idea to action.

The 2023 graduates are tackling some of Ireland's most pressing social issues including mental health, gender equality, period poverty and household textile waste.

Tipperary woman Donna Fletcher is working on developing an online community platform for persons with intellectual disabilities (PWID).

The Ideas Academy programme is part of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s €500,000 investment towards early-stage social entrepreneurship, with additional programmes supporting those ready to scale. 

Over the past three months (July-September) participants have received training, consultancy and peer mentoring to refine and progress their solution and build core social entrepreneurial skills.

The graduates, from all corners of Ireland, will now have opportunity to apply to pitch for a portion of a €20,000 seed fund to pilot their idea.

Bank of America is the corporate partner of the Ideas Academy. This year marks the sixth anniversary of SEI and Bank of America's partnership and the Ideas Academy’s seventh year in operation.

The programme has consistently drawn over a hundred applications annually, clearly demonstrating the need for support for social entrepreneurs at this early stage.

A graduation event was held this week at Bank of America’s Hatch Street office in Dublin.