FEATURED ITALIAN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS
Chris Richmond, Mygrants
Chris Richmond, born in the Ivory Coast and who came to study in Europe, has a data analyst background, and worked for the European Commission. Dealing with migratory flows and seeing the numbers and statistics on young people coming to Europe's shores, he created an application capable of screening the skills and talents of migrants through games and quizzes. The Mygrants app provides a six-month training course at the end of which the migrant is supported to enter the job market, putting the candidates in contact with interested companies.
The social problem addressed is the underemployment and dispersion of talents and skills of immigrants, who are all digital natives and 60% of whom are able to read and write in English or French.
Right now thanks to Mygrants there are about 25 new hires per week, and in total since 2017, Mygrants has made 950 placements.
Find out more at www.mygrants.it
Wajahat Abbas Kazmi, Il Grande Colibrì
Il Grande Colibrì offers support to people who are persecuted at home because of their gender identity or their sexual orientation. One of the cultural battles over which the association focuses is the acceptance of homosexuality by Muslim people and it does so through cultural events and legal assistance. Today, the organisation is made up of people from very different backgrounds: heterosexual and LGBTQIA; Africans, Asians and Europeans; agnostics, atheists, Christians and Muslims, united by respect for this diversity and the desire to share.
Il Grande Colibrì wants to tell and prove the importance of all those other differences (ethnic, national, cultural, religious, social, relational, sexual) that intersect with those related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Find out more at www.ilgrandecolibri.com
"On the one hand intolerance, and those refusing entry to immigrants, on the other hand pitiful welcoming. The debate over migration is often flattened by two extreme positions. Is there a third way? Looking at Hello Europe Italy projects, it seems so. And it’s already happening: it’s embodied by migrants bringing innovation through social entrepreneurship." La Stampa, Apr 12, 2019.
