The Awards Programme
The Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards Programme works to identify individuals or partnerships with an innovative idea for addressing a social problem or issue in Ireland and who take an entrepreneurial approach to making the change happen.
The programme began in 2004 with a pilot of two Awardees, Colman Farrell of Suas and Johnie K of School CAP and has grown steadily since then. As of October 2009, we have made awards to 142 social entrepreneurs, investing over €3.44 million in these individuals and the organisations they launch.
High Impact Programme
The experience of working with our talented network of social entrepreneurs has provided us with the insight and opportunity to review and enhance our Awards Programme going forward.
The High Impact Programme will provide a significantly enhanced programme of supports to give the additional time, skills and assistance to the social entrepreneurs we support to help them to succeed. Through this enhanced programme, we will provide €165,000 in funding as well as tailored programme of business, networking and personal support to three leading social entrepreneurs each year. Through this targeted support, our goal is to maximise the impact that leading social entrepreneurs can have when tackling those social challenges.
Programme Highlights
Application Process. We have just announced the 2010 Finalists. The next public call for applications will be announced in January 2011 and will be open to everyone across Ireland.
Finalists Programme. Following an in-depth review process, 6 Finalists are selected to go forward to a four month Finalists programme with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, providing them with the opportunity to work on a critical business issue. This consultation and engagement process will help determine the 2010 Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Award Winners. Three Awards will be made in October 2010 from this initial shortlist of six.
High Impact. The three winners will be part of the High Impact Programme. All aspects of the programme will focus on providing skills, strategies and support to help create high-impact, sustainable change in people’s lives
Previous Support Programmes
From 2005 - 2009, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland offered two levels of Awards, which are outlined below. Going forward, there will be just one, enhanced Award, called the High Impact Programme as described above.
Level 1 Awards were aimed at individuals or partnerships (2 individuals), who were at the early stages of development of their project, typically at proof-of-concept/pilot stage. Awardees receive a support package including €6,000 and access to training workshops, network events and membership of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Network.
Level 2 Awards were aimed at social entrepreneurs who already had a proven model and were ready to significantly grow the scale and impact of their project. Level 2 awards consist of an award of €80,000 over a period of 2 years plus practical support and training, a personal advisory group, one to one problem solving sessions and access to the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland network.
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland no longer offers the Level 1 and Level 2 programmes, which have been replaced with the High Impact Programme.
Examples of previous Award winners.
For more information on the Awards application process, please refer to our Awards Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
