Did you know that between 2008 and 2013 our foundation was among the first social enterprises in Romania supported by NESsT and, since 2015, we are partners in a project which, in turn, supports the development of other social enterprises in Romania? We fully support an participate in the planning, managing, and execution of the project “Enhancing Social Entrepreneurship, Building Bridges” as proposed under the Partnership Block Grant. Main Swiss partner to this project is Social Enterprise Initiative & Foundation (SEIF). The project is financed by the Swiss Government, as part of the cooperation program between Switzerland and Romania.
As part of the project, our mission follows:
• helping in organizing and leading roundtables discussions;
• revising of up to 5 business plans;
• leading workshops and providing consultancy during portfolio retreats
• providing lectures and workshops during Social Enterprise Day
In the last newsletter, Nicole Etchart and Loic Comolli, NESsT Co-CEOs, are sharing their view on #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving for individuals to share their time, resources and talents to address local and global challenges.
Over the past 20 years, NESsT has invested in social entrepreneurs creating jobs for those most in need because we’ve learned that this is one of the most effective solutions to poverty. Why should you make social entrepreneurship a part of your philanthropy? Retalhar is a social enterprise that upcycles used textiles, offering job skills and income to women from low-income communities, while also providing blankets to the homeless.
Through their work, they recycle 10.5 tons of textiles annually and have reached 2,950 underserved individuals. Jonas Lessa and Lucas Carvacho, Founders of Retalhar share their experience in the NESsT Portfolio. The best part about being in the NESsT Portfolio is having a foothold from which to face challenges of high complexity. Being surrounded by the expertise and experiences provided by NESsT has been really important for us.
With the guidance of NESsT’s professional team and the tools they have supplied, we have strengthened our company’s strategy. What we have learned and achieved with NESsT is deeply rooted in Retalhar’s culture and is setting us up for greater growth and social impact. We are entrepreneurs because our dream is for sustainability to become a basic market rule, not just a competitive advantage.
Our dream is to transform, to change reality into something fair for all. This will not be possible without increasing people’s awareness of social inequality, environmental justice, and sustainability. Supporting NESsT is an investment in society. By guiding and providing social entrepreneurs tools to pursue their dreams, NESsT is able to help them to improve their businesses while finding solutions to socio-environmental problems.
You can help build the dream we share with Jonas and Lucas. Become a Supporter!