HELLO ITALY LAUNCHED AND IT'S CHANGING THE NARRATIVE!
"Yesterday in Turin 15 entrepreneurs working in the migration sector, both Italian and non-Italians, were presented by Ashoka, a network of global social entrepreneurs, as part of the 'Hello Europe’ Program. […] A new reality that maybe people shouting “Italians first” won’t like, but a reality made of models of positive integration that is making its way, to challenge the propaganda." - Huffington Post, Apr 13, 2019
The launch event of Hello Italy was held in Turin on April 12th where 15 of more than 100 social entrepreneurs were selected for their innovative solutions aimed at reversing the negative paradigms existing in the world of migration.
The 15 organisations selected by a jury created by Ashoka Italy presented their projects at the launch event and 8 progressed, continuing the journey that is transforming their social innovations into a real proposal for change that will be presented to the new MEPs elected this year.
From the national mapping that involved more than 100 entities from across Italy, eclectic personalities emerged who were able to convey new perspectives for action and social change, including Chris Richmond N'zi, who through his start up Mygrants, was able to convince the jury of the importance in mapping talents and skills of foreign citizens living in Italy, placing it among the 8 finalists.
The other participants were Mamadou Lamine Ndiaye with his Mama Venture; Wajat Abbas who with his social platform Il Grande Colibrì provides support to young homosexuals in fragile conditions; Donatella Forconi, with her company Cuochi a Colori, who works for empowerment of foreign women through the art of cooking; Mara Alacqua, creator of BeeMyJob, that hires migrant workers in the beekeeping sector; Samantha Musarò from Semino, her Zero-Kilometer venture; and finally Luca Iacovone who works with Silent Academy to enhance the artisan knowledge of refugees in Italy.
It emerged through the mapping that Italy is a country where social innovation aimed at migration is a fairly recent phenomenon: innovative entities are in poor contact with each other and a functioning ecosystem is missing. However, a strong desire for collaboration has emerged, combined with the relief of finding an alternative mindset to the issue: one that advocates that with migration brings innovation.
This learning is what also clearly resulted from the surveys given to the audience
62% of participants stated that there is a very high probability that their organisation or individuals will start collaborating with the social entrepreneurs met at the event.
80% of them feel more confident after the event that Italy can successfully face the challenges of migration and 90% said they had much more awareness about the complexity of the issues and the possible solutions to address the migration phenomenon.
The eight winners are now participating in a mentorship and acceleration programme that will guide them towards stronger strategies for scaling impact and greater collaboration. The outcome of this programme will be shared in the next Quarterly planned for the Autumn.
"It was a wonderful experience, short but intense, not heavy but full of insights, meetings, new perspectives and new solutions" - event attendee.
