On Monday, 18 February 2019 – as part of the 2nd module of the CAS «Global Social Entrepreneurship» – five selected social entrepreneurs («Pioneers») met for the first time with the «Explorers» – people from nonprofit organizations, foundations and companies who will support the Pioneers in the further development of their projects. The first day of the course at the Faculty of Economics in Basel was dedicated to getting to know each other. The highlight was undoubtedly the presentation of the social projects by the Pioneers:

• Oumaima Mhijir works for the nonprofit organization Amal in Marrakech (Morocco). She presented a project for training women in the catering sector in order to help them find jobs.
• Muhaimin Khan introduced the organization BetterStories in Dhaka (Bangladesh). The organization aims at handing young people in Bangladesh the skills they need to successfully create new social innovations.  
• Mohamed El Hossary presented the Giza Systems Education Foundation from Cairo (Egypt), which offers assistance for people with disabilities using digital technology (including 3D printing). 
• Lina Maria Mejía is the founder of Platohedro, an experimental and collaborative laboratory based in Medellin, Colombia. Her projects are aimed at young people and she focuses on the elements of art and technology to build collaborations, non-violence and community work.
• Bernard Makachia introduced the Karibu Foundation Tanzania. The organzsation's objective is to support children and young people who have been victims of domestic violence. He wants to strengthen the organization by establishing an environmentally friendly social enterprise.

The coming days offer the participants the opportunity to work intensively on the projects presented and to drive them forward. Or in the words of CEPS Director Prof. Dr. Georg von Schnurbein: «I'm convinced, we can learn from each other and benefit from everyone's knowledge.»

By the way: The participants acquired the basic knowledge within the framework of an online course. From 1 April 2019, the CEPS will be offering this course «Entrepreneurship in Nonprofits» free of charge via the FutureLearn learning platform. <link en ceps-news news online-course-entrepreneurship-in-nonprofits external-link-new-window internal link in current>Further information