Tipperary changemaker amongst graduates of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Ideas Academy accelerating social change

“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 native 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. 2023 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 last night (25.09.23) at Bank of America’s Hatch Street office in Dublin. 

Commenting, CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Tim Griffiths said: "The Ideas Academy is a unique opportunity for social entrepreneurs to develop their early-stage ideas into sustainable solutions that can tackle some of Ireland's prevailing social problems.

"We are delighted to see the progress made by this year's graduates and look forward to supporting them as they continue to accelerate positive social change nationally and contribute to Ireland's progress towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.” 

Fernando Vicario, CEO of Bank of America Europe DAC and Country Executive for Ireland added: “At Bank of America, we are committed to promoting economic and social mobility within our local communities, as part of our focus on Responsible Growth.

"We are incredibly proud of our longstanding partnership with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland and the Ideas Academy’s track record of empowering early-stage entrepreneurs to address key societal challenges. We congratulate the latest cohort of graduates and look forward to seeing the change they inspire.”

Alumni of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Ideas Academy include Together Academy, Refill Ireland, Gorm, The Mindful Cycle and The Colour Club. For more info check out the website: https://www.socialentrepreneurs.ie/