SEI-Booklet-2014

Celebrating 10 years.
179 social entrepreneurs.
Looking forward to a bright future.

“From a little spark
may burst a flame.”
Dante

Contents
CEO Introduction 2
12 Months in Numbers 3
Impact 4
Impact Updates 5
SEI at 10 Years - The Journey to Date 6
Awards Sponsor - DCC plc 11
10 Years - Highlights 12
2014 Awards 14
2014 Awardees 15
Karen Leigh 16
Aoibheann O’Brien & Iseult Ward 18
Elizabeth Waters 20
Raymond Burke 22
Adam Harris 24
Mairead Healy 26
Joan Henderson 28
Jean O’Brien 30
Jennifer Ryan 32
Selection Process 34
Elevator Programme 35
Impact Programme 36
Alumni Network 37
The Impact Series 38
Social Entrepreneurs Exchange 39
SEI Connect 40
School for Social Entrepreneurs 41
Join Us 42
Our Partners 43
The Team 44

Back then we went on instinct to seek out and support
individuals that were developing big, new ideas to tackle
Irish social problems. We knew that these ideas might not
succeed, but we knew that if they did, the social impact
would be transformative.
This optimism is critical to bringing about any major change.
When you look coldly on the challenges that we are facing in
Ireland, it would be easy to give up in despair. The problems
we are facing can sometimes seem too great, too entrenched.
But optimism changes the way you see the world. It forces
you to focus on potential, to seek out opportunities as they
arise and take full advantage of them. Optimism empowers us
to find our own role in improving the society that we live in.
And social entrepreneurs are eternal optimists.
The 179 social entrepreneurs that we have supported over
the last 10 years are tackling some of the biggest challenges
in Irish society, challenges that to many would have seemed
insurmountable. They aren’t blind to the obstacles that
stand in their way but they choose to believe that they
can overcome them.
But optimism in isolation is just a pipe-dream. It requires
action to turn vision into reality. And this is where social
entrepreneurs set themselves apart. They show the courage
of their convictions not just to believe that things can be
better, but they take action to actually make it happen,
to turn their ideas into impact.
Back in 2004 our optimism was founded on hope, today it
is based on 10 years of experience, evidence and impact.
We are even more optimistic now because we know that
social entrepreneurship works.
So as we mark the journey so far and look forward to the
next 10 years, we are optimistic about the future for Ireland.
We know that social entrepreneurs will play a crucial role
in creating the society that we all want to live in. At Social
Entrepreneurs Ireland we have now laid the foundations and
created a movement that has already had a massive impact
across the island of Ireland. Now we want to further increase
that impact in the years ahead and do whatever it takes to
ensure that the best social entrepreneurs get the support
they need to succeed.
As we begin the next phase in our journey, I invite you
to join us.
We’re just getting started.
Darren Ryan, Chief Executive
Optimism
Ten years ago Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
took a shot in the dark. We knew there were
big challenges in Ireland that weren’t being
solved, and we saw an untapped resource
within Irish society. We were optimistic that,
given the opportunity, Irish communities
could provide the solutions to some of
our biggest challenges.
2

Number of towns/
cities visited on the
SEI Roadshow
(2013 = 0)
7
Number of followers on
Facebook and Twitter
(2013 = 9,176)
11,341
Number of professionals
who provided pro-bono
support to us and our
social entrepreneurs
(2013 = 207)
276
Number of hours
of assessment of
applications for
Awards Programme
(2013 = 526)
567
Hours spent in
individual workshops
(2013 = 396)
504
Number of participants
at Social Entrepreneurs
Exchange
(2013 = 69)
93
Number of entrepreneurs
at Social Entrepreneurs
Bootcamp
(2013 = 40)
50
Number of
news articles
(2013 = 65)
65
Number of
individual
workshops
(2013 = 175)
237
Number of interviews
held to select the
Award winners
(2013 = 66)
69
Number of attendees at
The Impact Series
(2013 = 387)
200
SEI Roadshow events
(2013 = 0)
156
Number of visitors to
socialentrepreneurs.ie
(2013 = 45,699)
50,546
Number of
Impact Series
events held
(2013 = 3)
2
Number of group
training workshops
(2013 = 10)
24
Number of
Social Entrepreneurs
Exchange events
(2013 = 2)
SEI Connect events
(2013 = 0)
48Number of
SEI Connect events
(2013 = 0)
2
3

Our Investment
179
Social entrepreneurs supported
by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
since 2004
e5.82 million
Money invested in their
projects since 2004
IMPACT FIGURES
(based on our work with 10 social
entrepreneurs over a 12 month period)
44,959
Estimated number of people directly impacted
4,496
Average number of people directly impacted
by each social entrepreneur
e4.64
Additional funding raised for every
e1 invested by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
121
Number of people in paid employment with
these 10 social entrepreneurs
NATURE OF IMPACT
(Primary focus of the 10 social entrepreneurs
we worked with over the last 12 months)
Provided a
model that
others can
replicate
Created
awareness
of an issue
4
Provided
a new
service or
facility

Irish Men’s Sheds Association
2013 Impact Awardee
Having increased the number
of Sheds from 170 to 226 in the
last 12 months, the Irish Men’s
Sheds Association has expanded
its work to support over 6,500
men, with the organisation now
operating in every county on the
island of Ireland.
Neuro Hero
2012 Impact Awardee
The past year has seen
Neuro Hero expand their
operations into the UK, Spain
and the USA. With over 4,500
customers served so far this
year, the organisation continues
to provide life changing
support to people living with
communication difficulties at
home and abroad.
MyMind
2013 Impact Awardee
With two centres now open in
Dublin, and one centre each in
Cork and Limerick, MyMind has
worked with over 5,200 clients in
the past 12 months, up from 4,400
the previous year. MyMind’s work
is made possible through a team of
over 75 mental health professionals.
Soar
2012 Impact Awardee
The numbers participating in
Soar workshops have jumped
dramatically from 1,475 to 6,700
in the past 12 months. The
organisation is now operating
in 19 counties across the island
of Ireland, delivering early
intervention emotional well-being
programmes to young people in
Ireland’s schools.
CoderDojo
2012 Impact Awardee
Despite the departure of James
Whelton as CEO, the CoderDojo
Foundation continues to go from
strength to strength with 20,000
individuals impacted in the past
12 months, up from 7,500 in
2013. Operating at a global level,
the organisation is now active
in over 50 countries around
the world.
Impact Updates
Irish Community Rapid Response
2013 Impact Awardee
Initially based in Cork, Irish Community
Rapid Response has expanded its work
into Donegal, Mayo and Wicklow in the
last year. Having responded to more
than 300 callouts in the past 12 months,
the organisation continues to save lives,
operating as an additional support to
our emergency services.
5

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that
ever has’. So said the American anthropologist Margaret
Mead. Like so many of the organisations it supports, Social
Entrepreneurs Ireland did not start out with defined grand
plans or a clear route map. It started with an idea, a powerful
one at that, to support a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens. These citizens would, however, have a particular
edge; they would have the distinctive characteristics of being
entrepreneurs with broad visions and a deep passion for
systemic social change.
What we see as Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) today, is
the result of an evolutionary process, one that has examined
the context in Ireland, designing a route map strategically
along the way. Ten years on, as a movement of social
entrepreneurship has taken shape in Ireland, SEI has become
a pivotal player in the arena. Making an array of daring
decisions and with a belief in the impossible, SEI has
managed to ride the wave of one of Ireland’s deepest
recessions. In doing so it has supported 179 social
entrepreneurs to date and laid a solid path for more to come.
The Early Days
The idea emerged in an unusual context. It was 2004. The
Celtic Tiger was on the prowl, giving Ireland the veneer of a
prosperous, rapidly growing economy. But behind the scenes,
for those working on the margins of society and at the coalface
of social change, the picture was not so promising. Poverty,
social inequality, unequal educational standards, the lack of
adequate health services and the poor understanding of mental
health in particular - to name but a few - were problems which
the Tiger was so easily bypassing and which were clearly not
going away.
Declan Ryan and Deirdre Mortell from The One Foundation
knew this all too well. As a business entrepreneur, Declan had
a hunch that a business mindset could be used to address
these systemic challenges. He could also see that a local,
community response was required in tackling them. ‘I think it
would be remiss to say that we had this wonderful idea that
was going to become the powerhouse that SEI did’, explained
Declan, ‘but one thing we did feel was that there was
something community based that we should look at’.
Taking a chance to look back on the past
ten years, we asked 2007 SEI Award
Winner, author and social entrepreneur
Clare Mulvany to provide a retrospective
portrait of our journey. Here are her words.
6
SEI at 10 Years -
The Journey
to Date

The next step was to hire Seán Coughlan to help investigate
the landscape. They quickly realised that an indigenous
response, one which takes in the unique circumstances and
conditions of Ireland, was needed. ‘We came to the conclusion
that the best way to do that was to roll up our sleeves and to
do it ourselves’, explained Seán, who would soon find himself
to be driving the first ever social entrepreneurship initiative in
Ireland. To him, one thing was plainly clear, ‘We would never
get to a depth of understanding sitting in the side wings and
writing cheques’.
It was indeed time to roll up their sleeves. Thus began the hard
work of building a support programme for social entrepreneurs
from scratch. What’s more, the term ‘social entrepreneur’ was
little known in Ireland and required both explanation and, to
an extent, a justification that the concepts of entrepreneurship
and social change were compatible. The justification came
quickly by way of the first round of Awards that were made in
2005. ‘The first Awardees were so good that it caused a ripple
effect’, said Declan, ‘There were loads of risks but when you
have a success they don’t feel like risks’.
Early Key Decisions
Early on, some key strategic decisions were also made
which set the course for the shape and pace of the support
programme. As Seán explained, firstly, investments would
be made to individuals and not necessarily formal structured
organisations. ‘I critically think that this engendered a very
deep relationship of trust between ourselves and our social
entrepreneurs. We were making big statements about
the integrity, passion and belief that we saw in our
social entrepreneurs’.
There were other key early stage decisions, one being that
substantial funding, in the region of €80,000, could be
invested. Seán again elaborated, ‘If you have a new solution
it requires investment early on, when you don’t have the
credibility, track record or the evidence. We were supporting
organisations before other funders would consider them.
So providing that significant seed capital was one of the more
helpful things we could do’.
George Boyle.
Social Entrepreneur. Independent Architect.
Founder of The Fumbally Exchange.
Seán Coughlan.
Former CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
(2004-2014).
7

Leverage
Providing an Award also proved to be a significant move,
with many of the social entrepreneurs reporting that the
backing from SEI meant they could rally additional funding,
supporters and credibility. ‘Getting an Award from a body
which was quickly seen to be a national level body and having
Declan Ryan behind it, also helped’ explained Colman Farrell,
who was one of the first Awardees for his work with Suas.
Niamh Gallagher from Women for Election reported similar
leverage potential from the Awards. ‘After we got the SEI
Award, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation and The Ireland
Funds funding came through. They could see, “here is one
strong pillar, we will not lose by backing these guys’”, she said.
Building Capacity
Alongside the financial investment, SEI – which set up as an
independent organisation outside of the One Foundation in
2007- went on to develop a capacity development programme
for all of the Awardees and organisations they invested in. For
Krystian Fikert from MyMind this form of support was pivotal.
As a clinical psychologist it helped him transition into the role
of an effective leader. He explained that it taught him, ‘how
to structure, how to develop an organisation and how to
execute strategy’.
For Niamh Gallagher this capacity development piece was
also crucial. ‘It was kind of gruelling, but really important’,
she laughed, knowingly. ‘They really helped us put the
right building blocks in place to be a proper functioning
professional organisation’.
Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
Alongside the Awards Programme SEI set out on a path to
strategically develop an ecosystem of social entrepreneurship in
Ireland and to bring the terminology of social entrepreneurship
into mainstream media and to government. ‘I don’t think that
we would have the level of social entrepreneurs or the visibility
of social entrepreneurs without SEI’, said Niamh. George Boyle,
founder of The Fumbally Exchange, is in agreement. ‘SEI has
brought the concept of social entrepreneurship to the living room.
They have taken it from the fringe’. SEI’s role in building the
social entrepreneurial sector has undoubtedly been aided by
the volume of support, funding and strategic alliances they
have been able to engage with organisations like The Iris
O’Brien Foundation, KPMG and PEI.
The Ireland Funds is one such example, which, as their
Director, Caitriona Fottrell explained, has been tracking the
progress of SEI since its origins. ‘I think that SEI has taken
some very traditional organisations or problems and helped
people to find a more entrepreneurial way, and I think that was
crucial’. The Ireland Funds has been investing in SEI from the
early days and this year they have committed a significant
investment. Why? ‘Because of the impact they are making.
I think they are so professional. I have never met a person
who I have thought wasn’t hugely committed and smart.
In ten years of knowing them, they have never failed to
impress me. I think they are brilliant and I can’t be neutral on
that. I think this is the One Foundation’s finest legacy. From the
Ireland Fund’s point of view, there is just a real synergy for us’.
Synergies
Synergy is a good word to describe some of the additional
alliances that have emerged over the years. As a law firm, for
example, A&L Goodbody represents many entrepreneurs and
start-ups, and so, when the opportunity to engage with SEI
emerged, there were ‘a lot of resonances’, according to Paul
White, who has championed the partnership. For Ann Keenan
from DCC plc, the flagship sponsors of the SEI Awards
Ceremony since 2011, the value lies in realising that they
too benefit from connecting with the social entrepreneurs,
‘We operate in a challenging commercial environment’, said
Ann, ‘Our involvement with SEI has added a different and
rewarding dimension to our working life’.
Many of the Awardees however would go beyond the word
synergy to explain the impact that the Award has had on them.
For Niamh Gallagher, it has been ‘completely life changing’.
For her, the recognition at the early concept stage, when she
was working from her kitchen table, affirmed her decision to
set up the organisation and gave her the confidence to push
‘Throughout history we have needed torch-bearers,
or luminaries, to help light and lead the way’
8

‘What we
see as Social
Entrepreneurs
Ireland
today is the
result of an
evolutionary
process’
through the initial hard times. ‘You are asking people to buy
into this idea - it is a notion, it is nothing more. But then
when an organisation like SEI says, “we think what you are
doing is worthwhile”, then the spur it gave to me personally
was enormous’.
Part of building the ecosystem of social entrepreneurs has
also been the building of a network of Alumni and wider
supporters. For George Boyle it was the network which
SEI introduced her to which has been vital. ‘First it is the
community it introduces you to - I think that the alumni they
have gathered is where the real gold is’.
Risk Taking
It would be remiss too in writing a review of the last ten years
not to mention the challenges and the risks taken. Of all the
projects that were invested in, many are still operating, but
some are not. But that is the risk when taking on early stage
projects, there will be an inevitable ‘failure’. For Caitriona
Fottrell, this is an indicator that they have stayed true to their
mission. ‘I hope that they have a bucketful of failure. That
will show that they were willing to take risks’. Seán Coughlan
puts it a slightly different way, ‘You can not generate
innovation unless you are ready to invest in new ideas at
some level. The ones that create real value, grow, and the
ones that don’t, die out’.
Key Learnings
For the Awardees and the team in SEI there has been huge
learning along the way too. As Seán highlighted, keeping
focus has been critical to both the growth of SEI and for the
organisations which it has supported. One of his own key
learnings was about keeping this focus clear, and adapting
it as you go.
For Declan Ryan, some of the learning has been about the
importance of investing in the team. There is an almost
paternal tone in his voice when he speaks of the success
of Seán Coughlan, and an equal fondness in speaking of
the team of ‘rock-stars’ which were hired subsequently
including Lynda Stopford, Annalisa O’Carroll and Darren
Ryan. ‘I think it is all about the team. The risks were the
team’. For Declan, the risk paid off and the dividend
was trust in them, especially around the times when
new strategies were being developed and subsequently
implemented.
Niamh Gallagher.
Social Entrepreneur.
Co-Founder of Women for Election.
Krystian Fikert.
Social Entrepreneur. Psychologist.
Founder of MyMind.
9

Caitriona Fottrell.
Director of the Ireland Funds.
‘The opportunity
is for government
to really engage
and harness social
entrepreneurial
thinking’
10
Colman Farrell.
Co-Founder of Suas and
Co-Founder of The School for
Social Entrepreneurs.
Onwards
And so, 10 years on, it is fair to say that, yes, a lot has been
done, and yes, there is a lot more to do. For Declan Ryan, his
gaze is still on the future, ‘10 years is great, but it is a marathon.
I understand why it is good to look back at the 10 years, but I
think when you are 10 years old, you look at your teens quicker
than looking backwards, so I would hate SEI to get stuck in
history’. Darren Ryan, the newly appointed Chief Executive,
shares a similar view ‘We’re taking this opportunity to reflect on
the past ten years, but we’re not patting ourselves on the back
just yet. We know there is such a huge task ahead of us and that
the first ten years was just the beginning’.
For the Awardees, the future also presents some very interesting
challenges, and with their patent-worthy optimism, exciting
opportunities.
For Awardees like Niamh Gallagher, George Boyle and Krystian
Fikert, part of the opportunity is for government to really engage
and harness social entrepreneurial thinking. Social entrepreneurs
can offer new skill sets and insights to government, from getting
involved in key policy decisions and in strategic planning for
long-term problems, to seeing task forces populated with social
entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs also offer exceptional value
for money and a strong return on investment, often finding
solutions to problems at a much lower cost than traditional
methods and models.
For Colman Farrell the field of social entrepreneurship, and the
work it engages in, touches upon a very deep, philosophical and
fundamentally human question: ‘it is about choosing our destiny,
choosing where we want to be in a conscious way and taking
responsibility for the world we have inherited’.
Choosing consciously and taking responsibility are undeniably
enmeshed in determining a positive future. There will
undoubtedly be dark and challenging times. There will be
successes and there will be failures. Throughout history we have
needed torch-bearers, or luminaries, to help light and lead the
way. Could those torch-bearers be the social entrepreneurs of
this generation, thoughtful and committed, guiding us forward,
innovating and adapting each step of the way? It is unlikely that
Margaret Mead would doubt this. Nor do Social Entrepreneurs
Ireland. And with that conviction they are willing to invest and roll
up their sleeves. Ten years on the marathon has commenced.
Now the work really begins.
Clare Mulvany

“We in DCC are proud to continue with our
support of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
Awards. It is a great privilege to play a role
in supporting Ireland’s brightest and most
ambitious entrepreneurs working to have a
positive impact on our society”.
Tommy Breen, CEO, dcc plc
Ann Keenan and Tommy Breen at the
2013 Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards.
DCC plc is an international sales, marketing, distribution and
business support services group headquartered in Dublin
with revenues of €13 billion and employing 10,000 people in
13 countries. DCC, a public company since 1994, is listed on
the London Stock Exchange.
Awards Sponsor - DCC plc
2014 will be the fourth year that DCC plc has sponsored the
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards. The journey began five
years ago when a number of the DCC team attended the 2009
SEI Awards. Impressed by the social entrepreneurs they met and
looking for new ways to become actively involved in supporting
positive social change in Ireland, DCC began a collaborative and
mutually rewarding partnership with SEI.
‘As business people, entrepreneurship is at the core of our
DNA’, Ann Keenan, Head of Group HR, (pictured left) explains.
‘So when we first met the team from SEI we immediately felt
a close affinity with them’.
Alongside significant financial support, DCC staff have also
applied their skills and talent to support SEI and their social
entrepreneurs. They take part in all stages of the Awardee
application process and have also had the opportunity to offer
expertise and advice through the Social Entrepreneurs Exchange.
‘We operate in a challenging commercial environment’, said Ann,
‘and we have been inspired by the commitment and tenacity of
the social entrepreneurs we have worked with. Our involvement
with SEI has added a different and rewarding dimension to our
working life’.
Following the success of the initial three years of investment, last
year DCC decided to extend its sponsorship by at least a further
two years, maintaining its strong support for and commitment to
social entrepreneurship in Ireland.
11

2004 2006 2008 20092005 2007
One Foundation
supports
the social
entrepreneurship
theme which in
time leads to
the foundation
of Social
Entrepreneurs
Ireland.
SEI commits to a
5 year partnership
with Ashoka
Ireland to support
an Ashoka -
SEI Fellowship
programme.
Launch of the first
ever SEI Awards
programme
and the first SEI
Awards event is
held in DCU.
SEI leaves the
One Foundation,
sets up as an
independent
organisation,
moves to new
offices on St.
Stephen’s Green.
First SEI Board
Meeting held.
The Iris O’Brien
Foundation, comes
on board as the first
funder outside of
The One Foundation.
NTR comes on
board as SEI Awards
Sponsor in a 3 year
partnership.
SEI partner with
Diageo on developing
a new social
entrepreneurship fund,
the Arthur Guinness
Fund, committing a
€2.5 million
investment into social
entrepreneurs in
Ireland.
The President
of Ireland, Mary
McAleese is guest
keynote speaker at
the SEI Awards held
in The Exchange.
179 social entrepreneurs supported since 2004.
e5.82 Million invested in their projects.
12
SEI has now
supported over
25 Awardees
SEI supports
2 Awardees
and hires its
first full time
employee
SEI has now
supported over
100 Awardees
and now has
4 employees
SEI has now
supported over
50 Awardees
and has 2
employees
10 Years -
Highlights

2010 2012 2014
Looking
forward to a
bright future
2011 2013
Major 3 year
new strategic
plan agreed,
signalling
significant
changes and
enhancements
to SEI’s support
for early
stage social
entrepreneurs.
SEI helps to
bring the 8th
European Venture
Philanthropy
Association
(EVPA) Annual
Conference
to Dublin.
Seán Coughlan
steps down as
Chief Executive
after 10 years and
passes the baton
to Darren Ryan.
School for Social
Entrepreneurs Ireland
Incubator Programme
is launched with
the support of
SEI, JP Morgan
Chase Foundation
and The Atlantic
Philanthropies.
SEI partners
with The Atlantic
Philanthropies to
support the launch
of Wave Change to
support socially-
committed and
civic-minded
under 25s.
DCC plc comes
on board as SEI
Awards Sponsor
in a multi-year
partnership.
An Taoiseach Enda
Kenny, attends
the SEI Awards in
The Exchange.
Minister with
responsibility
for social
enterprise
announced.
President of
Ireland Michael
D. Higgins is
guest keynote
speaker at SEI
Awards held in
Christ Church
Cathedral.
Over 290,000 people impacted.
Over 970 employment opportunities created.
13
SEI has now
supported over
150 Awardees
SEI has now
8 employees
A record
217 applicants
apply for this
year’s support
Programmes

At Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, we believe it is
very important to recognise and celebrate the work
of our Awardees. Each year we bring the Impact
and Elevator Awardees together at the annual
Awards Ceremony to celebrate their achievements
and introduce them to the incredible network of
supporters of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland.
This year we celebrate the 10th annual Social
Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards. At this event, we took
time to look back and celebrate the social entrepreneurs
who have carried the torch for social change in Ireland
over the last decade. As we look forward with great
optimism to the next 10 years, we congratulate the
new Awardees who are ready to start the next chapter
of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s journey.
This year’s Awards Ceremony took place on 12th
November 2014 in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
with the keynote address delivered by Tony Griffin,
2012 SEI Award Winner & Co-Founder of Soar.
14

‘Children
deserve
a better
future’
16

Karen Leigh
Sensational
Kids
A child development
centre helping children with
additional needs to improve
their skills and maximise
their potential.
The Challenge
A lack of affordable support services for children who are
experiencing developmental delays, or those that have special
educational needs, means that too many children in Ireland are
struggling to reach their full potential. The figures themselves are
startling; 1,940 children waiting more than a year for speech and
language assessments, 2,090 children waiting more than a year for
occupational therapy services, and more than 18,900 individuals,
most of them children, still waiting to receive an appointment
for speech and language therapy. Identifying and treating these
difficulties at a young age will give a child a much better quality of
life, but with lengthy public waiting lists, often the only alternative for
families is expensive private sector care.
The Idea
Experiencing these difficulties first-hand, Karen became frustrated
with the lengthy waiting lists her family faced in Ireland, not to mention
the €120 an hour fees they had to pay for private occupational
therapy. Determined to make a difference, she set out to create an
affordable and accessible service that families like hers could benefit
from. Established in 2007, Sensational Kids operates as a child
development centre, providing three key offerings for children and
their families; subsidised services for children in need of additional
support, a child development and learning store providing a range of
skill building toys and therapy products, and development training
workshops for professionals working with children with special needs.
Collectively, these services are ensuring that the children benefitting
from them can improve their skills and maximise their potential.
The Impact
To date Sensational Kids has worked with more than 2,250 children
in their Kildare town centre, with an average of 180 children availing
of their services every month. Thanks to the fantastic work of Karen
and her team, these children are now being given the opportunity
to excel. With their online store and retail shop helping to subsidise
their services, Sensational Kids has already saved families in Ireland
over €500,000 in therapy fees alone, providing a practical, accessible,
and affordable service for those in need. Planning to expand its work
over the coming years, Sensational Kids hopes to become Ireland’s
leading non-profit child development and learning centre.
www.sensationalkids.ie
@SenKidsCharity
17

‘No good
food should
be wasted
where
people are
hungry’
18

FoodCloud
An online platform that
matches businesses that
have too much food with
charities that have too little.
The Challenge
Ireland generates approximately 1 million tonnes of food waste annually,
making us the 5th largest waster of food in the EU. What makes this
problem even more alarming is the reality that 1 in 10 Irish people
currently live in food poverty. Supermarkets, restaurants, cafés and
caterers contribute significantly to the problem, but they are not solely
to blame, with uncertain demand from consumers resulting in food often
going unsold. This is perfectly good food that, as a consequence of the
modern food system, fails to reach those that need it the most. With
450,000 Irish people going hungry, and businesses keen to improve
efficiencies and reduce costs, Ireland is missing an exciting opportunity
to resolve these two complementary challenges.
The Idea
Determined to find a solution, Aoibheann and Iseult came together in
2013 to establish FoodCloud, an organisation committed to bringing
the business community and charities together to reduce food waste
and food poverty in Ireland. Using a smart phone app and website,
FoodCloud makes the redistribution of surplus food as easy as possible,
matching businesses with too much food, with charities that have too
little. Retailers and businesses use the FoodCloud app to upload the
details of their surplus food, with local charities receiving a text message
notifying them of the availability of the donation. The charity can then
collect this donation and distribute it to the individuals they support.
The Impact
Since its foundation, FoodCloud has rapidly expanded operations.
Following a successful pilot programme with 38 charities and 18
stores, the organisation signed a partnership agreement with retail giant
Tesco, allowing for the rollout of the FoodCloud app to their 145 stores
nationwide. Tesco Ireland expect this partnership to be cost neutral,
cancelling out the costs traditionally associated with the disposal of
their surplus food. To date, FoodCloud have facilitated the redistribution
of 123 tonnes of surplus food to a growing network of charities right
around the country. Motivated by a desire to ensure that no good food
goes to waste, Aoibheann and Iseult are perfectly positioned to become
leaders in the fight against food waste not just in Ireland, but around
the world.
www.foodcloud.ie
@Foodcloudire
Aoibheann
O’Brien &
Iseult Ward
19

‘Education
lifts whole
families out
of poverty’
20

Elizabeth
Waters
Virtual
Community
College
Bringing transformative
education to communities
struggling with poverty
through a 21st century
virtual learning environment.
The Challenge
Educational inequality remains a significant and substantial problem in
Ireland, with research showing particularly high levels of educational
disadvantage in communities struggling with poverty. With more than
750,000 people now living in poverty in Ireland, the economic crisis
threatens to isolate an entire generation from the opportunities of a
quality third-level education. While cost can often be a deterrent, other
factors such as childcare and location of educational institutions all
play a role in preventing an individual from engaging with the system.
Although education continues to be revolutionised by technology, those
with a poor history of education struggle to access learning online
without the structure of a facilitated learning environment. As a result,
the technological revolution in education has failed to improve the
outcomes for those that need them most.
The Idea
As CEO of An Cosán, Elizabeth has always recognised the power of
education to lift whole families out of poverty. Having overseen a major
period of development for the organisation, Elizabeth is stepping aside
after 13 years in charge to commit herself full-time to the development
of the Virtual Community College, a new initiative that combines the
tailored support of community education with the low-cost of online
learning. Making the curriculum available through an online platform,
the Virtual Community College provides local facilitators to deliver the
coursework in a community setting, no matter where in the country
that might be. This approach doesn’t just provide increased access to
educational opportunities for disadvantaged communities, but actually
improves the quality of learning outcomes for those who participate.
The Impact
The Virtual Community College has already completed a Special
Purpose Award (Level 7) in Transformative Community Education,
providing tutors with the skills they need to facilitate a virtual education.
Spread across three centres in Dublin, Limerick and Longford, the 27
students involved have all completed their coursework successfully.
With this early success under her belt, Elizabeth is now ready to scale
this solution to the national level. Aiming to work with over 150 students
in an additional 6 centres over the coming 12 months, Elizabeth is on
course to provide an information-age solution to one of Ireland’s most
entrenched social problems.
www.ancosan.com
@an_cosan
21

‘Adventure
can change
lives’
22

Raymond
Burke
Active
Connections
Providing support to young
people at risk and their
families through adventure
based activities.
The Challenge
Every year in Ireland around 21,000 young people receive some type of
social work support, usually in the form of foster, residential or secure
care. With many of these young people in care suffering from mental
health or behavioural difficulties, additional services are often provided
in an effort to improve outcomes. These services can range from art and
drama therapy to traditional psychotherapy, but regardless of the type
of intervention provided, they are not always effective. It’s estimated
that 31% of young people leaving our care system are still suffering
from a mental health problem and 53% are still struggling to cope with
behavioural difficulties. All of this means that despite significant state
investment, many people are still leaving Ireland’s care system with
lifelong issues that are extremely difficult to overcome.
The Idea
From an early age Raymond was motivated to do something
meaningful with his life. Having travelled to the United States in 2000
to take up a leadership role at an adventure based therapy company,
Raymond witnessed the profound impact that this therapy can
have in helping participants develop the life skills they desperately
needed. Determined to bring his learning back to Ireland, Raymond
founded Active Connections in 2011, offering young people in care the
alternative option of adventure therapy. Adventure therapy involves the
combination of physically and psychologically demanding activities,
often in a group setting. This type of therapy involves high levels
of engagement, challenging participants to confront their negative
behaviours and to address their thought processes.
The Impact
To date Active Connections have delivered their adventure therapy
programme to 30 young people, with each participant needing to
address a specific issue, ranging from attention deficit disorder to
suicidal behaviours. With a 92% success rate amongst this initial group
of participants, the organisation has helped the majority of these young
people to reach their goals and reduce referring behaviours. As a result,
more care placements have been maintained, eliminating the need
for long-term, more expensive interventions. With so much promising
work done to date, Raymond believes that Active Connections is well
positioned to become Ireland’s number 1 adventure therapy provider
by 2016.
www.activeconnections.ie
@Actconn
23

‘So
everyone
with Autism
can live and
succeed
“as they
are”’
24

Adam
Harris
AsIAm.ie
Promoting inclusion and
challenging perceptions of
autism in Ireland.
The Challenge
Despite affecting approximately 1 in 100 people, autism remains a
relatively misunderstood condition in Ireland. Presenting significant
challenges with issues such as communication, imagination, interaction
and sensory processing, autism impacts the lives of individuals in
various ways and to varying degrees. Despite its prevalence, those
with the condition frequently feel isolated and disconnected. Parents
who receive a diagnosis for a child often don’t know where to turn, and
those living with the condition find it hard to come to terms with the
challenges they face. While there is undoubtedly a responsibility on the
medical and political professions to provide for this community, there is
also a need for society at large to change how they see those with
the condition.
The Idea
Adam was born with Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition on the high-
functioning end of the autism spectrum. He considers himself extremely
fortunate, having benefitted from early intervention, allowing him to lead
an extremely full life today. Despite this positive outcome, he remained
conscious of those that were unlikely to receive such support, and felt
that he had a duty to give back. AsIAm.ie was established in 2013 with
the goal of encouraging a society of inclusion. The organisation does
this in four ways; Education, Empowerment, Advocacy, and Community
Participation. The online platform allows the autism community across
Ireland to communicate with each other, sharing knowledge and advice.
In addition, AsIAm.ie is working with schools and businesses nationally,
supporting individuals in these sectors who are committed to improving
inclusion standards.
The Impact
AsIAm.ie is already impacting the autism community in Ireland. In the
past 6 months alone the website has received over 17,000 visitors.
Having recently launched its ‘Back to School’ Awareness Handbook -
a tool for parents and teachers to deliver more effective lessons -
AsIAm.ie is soon to rollout a workshop to over 200 schools across the
country. Adam has also recruited 20 local liaison officers to help carry
out the organisation’s mapping of national and local services for those
in need. This combination of practical support and information sharing
provides AsIAm.ie with the opportunity to substantially impact the lives
of thousands of individuals and families around Ireland.
www.asiam.ie
@AsIAmIreland
25

‘Every
young
person
should
have the
opportunity
to flourish’
26

Mairead
Healy
Future
Voices
Ireland
Providing young people
from the most marginalised
and dysfunctional
backgrounds with the tools
and knowledge they need
to build their self-esteem.
The Challenge
Despite the various economic and educational improvements in
Ireland in the last 30 years, a simple fact remains – your place
of birth and where you live continue to dictate the scale of your
opportunities. A young person growing up in the postcode of
Dublin 6, for example, is over 6 times more likely to participate
in third level education compared to their counterpart in Dublin
17, despite the fact that they are living less than 10km apart.
Often young people growing up in these most marginalised
backgrounds experience low self-esteem, poor support networks
and have little hope for the future. This type of inequality severely
diminishes their ability to identify the opportunities they have to
build a better future.
The Idea
Growing up in Derry, and raised in a turbulent household, Mairead
and her siblings had a difficult childhood. It was this upbringing,
in part, that later led to her brother’s suicide, a life-changing
event that inspired Mairead to establish Future Voices Ireland,
an organisation committed to empowering and supporting young
people in disadvantaged communities. Giving a voice to the
voiceless, Mairead hopes to level the playing field, providing
those from the most marginalised and dysfunctional backgrounds
with the tools and knowledge needed to build their self-esteem.
Delivering programmes aimed at young people between the ages
of 13 and 18, Future Voices Ireland provides participants with
weekly interactive debates and talks from inspirational figures
and prominent Irish leaders, reinforcing the learnings from these
discussions through summer work placements.
The Impact
So far, Future Voices Ireland has worked with 45 students from
some of Ireland’s lowest performing schools. Already, programme
participants have begun to demonstrate enhanced leadership
capabilities; securing positions on government advisory panels,
and producing award winning human rights documentaries on
the challenges facing their communities. Future Voices Ireland
has established an impressive 85% completion rate with those
participating in their programmes, and is hoping to increase the
number of students involved significantly over the coming 12
months. Ultimately, Mairead is working to ensure that Ireland is
a truly inclusive society, valuing the voices and views of all of its
citizens, irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds.
www.futurevoicesireland.org
@FutureVoicesIre
27

‘I want a
fair place
for families
living with
disabilities’
28

Joan
Henderson
Sólás
Delivering practical
supports to enable families
of disabled children to
cope and feel supported.
The Challenge
A special needs diagnosis can have a life changing impact, not
just on the young person involved, but on their entire family. In
most cases a lack of affordable childcare options for children
with special needs results in a parent or loved one having to step
away from full-time employment. The stress that comes with this
burden can often be too much to handle, with parents of children
with special needs 40% more likely to experience mental health
difficulties. Additionally, without tailored support and guidance, a
child’s academic performance can suffer. Across Ireland, 24% of
all children in mainstream primary education will have additional
needs, but only 1 in 5 will actually receive extra support from the
state. By not investing in children at this early-stage, Ireland runs
the risk of exacerbating the problem further.
The Idea
Growing up, Joan recognised the difficulties that families face
when trying to provide the best for their loved ones. Having a
sister with Downs Syndrome gave Joan a passion for ensuring
that more services and supports are made available to families.
This belief led Joan to quit her job with Queen’s University, and
set up Sólás in 2010. Sólás provides three key supports to these
families; additional education support to children with ‘mild’ needs,
an after-school care service for those with more serious difficulties,
and a range of parenting and family supports that aim to protect
the mental health of those caring for their children. A key success
factor for Sólás is their use of highly trained retired teachers,
who volunteer their time, ensuring that the children involved are
interacting with experienced professionals.
The Impact
Currently operating in Belfast, Sólás is serving over 400 children
and young people weekly through their education and after-
school care programmes. In addition, 40 carers and parents
are benefitting from their family support services. With Sólás
programmes currently oversubscribed, Joan is keen to grow and
scale their work even further, ultimately planning to expand their
operations into the Republic of Ireland. Confident that Sólás can
lead the way, Joan is committed to ensuring a fairer Ireland for all
those with special needs.
www.solasbt7.com
@solasbt7
29

‘Every
cause has a
story to tell’
30

Jean
O’Brien
Irish
Charity
Lab
An innovation and
knowledge sharing lab
dedicated to working
with Irish charities on
digital projects.
The Challenge
The closure of Ireland’s two largest philanthropic funds means
that the charitable sector is facing a severe financial shortfall in
the coming years as they attempt to maintain the service levels
currently being delivered. In addition, government funding cuts,
economic pressures, and an increasing demand for transparent
practices means that some smaller organisations are struggling to
keep their head above water, stretching their financial resources
to breaking point. Within this context, not-for-profits continue to
struggle in their efforts to harness the power of digital technology to
inspire, engage and mobilise resources. A recent study carried out
by The Wheel, Ireland’s representative body for the charity sector,
shows that 49% of charities feel that they struggle to utilise social
media in pursuit of their mission. All of this amounts to a missed
opportunity, one that would help these organisations to thrive.
The Idea
Passionate about digital communication, Jean became increasingly
frustrated by the shortage of specialised digital expertise available
in Ireland. Additionally, she believed that digital communication
as a discipline was largely under-valued and under-represented
in Ireland’s charity sector, despite the incredible stories that so
many organisations have to tell. This combination of frustration and
determination saw Jean establish Irish Charity Lab, an organisation
committed to becoming a national hub for information, data, and
expertise on digital communication for Irish charities. Offering
charities ways to enhance their digital presence and power, Irish
Charity Lab is helping organisations utilise case studies, access
relevant toolkits, and to identify research updates in their field,
while also providing general mentoring and support.
The Impact
Although still in its infancy, Irish Charity Lab already has a
community of over 140 active members. Assisted by a highly
qualified team of experts, Jean expects Irish Charity Lab will be in
a position to support many of the 8,000 charities of all shapes and
sizes registered in Ireland. The services on offer have the potential
to help organisations across the country maintain and expand
the important work they are already doing, ensuring that the
non-profit sector as a whole makes the most of 21st century
innovative technologies.
www.irishcharitylab.org
@IrishCharityLab
31

‘No child
should be
bullied’
32

Jennifer
Ryan
My Life
Solutions
Equipping young people
with skills for life.
The Challenge
Bullying continues to be a significant problem amongst Irish children
today, with 40% of school children experiencing bullying at some
point in their lives. Despite the prevalence of this problem there have
been no noticeable improvements in the levels of bullying over the
last 10 years. Aside from the direct and obvious impact that bullying
has, there are many other longer-term effects of bullying such as
low self-esteem, aggression, anxiety and depression. Traditionally,
bullying takes place when a lack of empathy is met with a lack of
assertiveness, with most children who are bullied being either too
passive or too aggressive. In many cases a child simply does not
have the necessary communication skills to overcome the bullying
they experience. Untreated, the situation can get progressively worse,
leaving the child isolated from their peers.
The Idea
As an experienced psychologist and post-primary guidance
counsellor, Jennifer witnessed first-hand the real effect that bullying
can have on a child. Spurred on by this, Jennifer established My Life
Solutions in 2013 to provide holistic and therapeutic empowerment
programmes led by psychologists who are equipped to observe,
diagnose, and treat those affected by bullying. To achieve this
Jennifer secured the exclusive franchise license for the successful UK
ZAP programmes delivered by Kidscape – a UK charity with an 86%
success rate in reducing bullying amongst its participants. Working
with children on a one-to-one basis, the programme provides children
at risk with a toolbox of practical skills and responses to disarm
traditional bullying situations.
The Impact
Having conducted several pilots in Ireland, Jennifer is now ready
to launch My Life Solution’s course to a wider audience, and
expects to cater for over 150 children who are dealing with the most
severe cases of bullying. In addition, the My Life Solution’s schools
programme intends to work with over 2,500 children in the coming
12 months, allowing the organisation to reach a broader population
of children experiencing bullying to varying degrees. With 98,520
children in primary school currently impacted by bullying in Ireland,
the potential for My Life Solution’s programme to make a positive
difference to a significant portion of our children is immense.
www.mylifesolutions.ie
@MyLife_solution
33

‘I really enjoyed Bootcamp,
if I don’t get any further well
it was an inspiring day. I felt
so humbled to be among
such “givers”’.
2014 Applicant
‘I so look forward to the
whole process over the
coming months regardless
of the outcome. Of course
if I am selected I might just
do a jig on the green but in
the meantime I welcome the
learning on all of this and I
feel privileged to be part of
the process’.
2014 Applicant
We’re all about delivering the maximum impact
possible through the social entrepreneurs we support,
and to do so we have implemented one of the most
competitive and intensive selection processes
in Ireland. At each stage of selection, we provide
social entrepreneurs across the country with the
opportunity to pitch and present their new solutions to
us, highlighting the potential that they have to make a
positive difference to the island of Ireland.
217 Apply
A record number of social entrepreneurs applied to this year’s
selection process, with 143 applications submitted for our
Elevator Programme, and 74 applications submitted for our
Impact Programme. These applications were reviewed
by a team of 177 reviewers to select the applicants with
the highest potential.
50 Bootcamp
The top 30 Elevator applicants and the top 20 Impact applicants
were invited to take part in a full day of workshops at Social
Entrepreneurs Bootcamp. While there, each entrepreneur is asked
to pitch their project to a panel of judges.
20 Evaluation Process
Over the course of July and August, 12 Elevator applicants and
8 Impact applicants participated in our Evaluation Process,
providing us with an opportunity to learn a little bit more about
their projects, while offering some support and advice on how
best to refine their solutions.
Final Interviews
The remaining applicants were asked to present their solution and
strategic plans to a final interview panel, laying out their vision for
their project under a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Award.
9 Awards
3 Impact Awardees and 6 Elevator Awardees were selected to
take part in the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards Programmes.
Selection
Process
34

Our Purpose
Our Elevator Programme offers support to social entrepreneurs in the earliest
stages of their projects. Through this 12 month programme we help refine ideas and
implement the required structures to build a sustainable and scalable organisation.
6 Social Entrepreneurs
For social entrepreneurs setting out on the early stage of a journey, it can be very
difficult to find the support and funding they need to develop their projects. We find
up to 6 early-stage projects with high potential to create positive social impact.
Funding & Support
The Elevator Programme provides €20,000 in direct funding. In addition to this
funding, Elevator Awardees will receive direct support from the Social Entrepreneurs
Ireland team valued in excess of €10,000. All Awardees of Social Entrepreneurs
Ireland are also entitled to receive a series of pro-bono supports from several
partner organisations, ensuring that each of our social entrepreneurs receive the best
professional services available at no cost to them. Awardees are also provided with
access to numerous free/low-cost training courses and workshops to help develop
both themselves and their organisations further.
12 Month Programme
The Elevator Programme runs for 12 months, allowing our Awardees the
necessary time to implement a detailed action plan to further develop their
projects. Upon completion we provide our Elevator Awardees with
guidance on key next steps for them and their organisations.
6
e30k
SUPPORTED BY
‘The credibility that being part of the SEI process has given us has
opened opportunities that might never have otherwise been possible’.
Mags Mullarney, Move4Parkinson’s - 2013 Elevator Awardee
35
12

3 Social Entrepreneurs
Each year we look for up to 3 social entrepreneur led projects that are already
delivering an effective solution to some of Ireland’s greatest social and environmental
challenges, but have yet to scale that impact effectively.
Funding & Support
With €100,000 in funding, the Impact Programme acts as a substantial source of
capital for the projects it supports. In addition to this funding, Impact Awardees will
receive direct support from the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland team valued in excess of
€40,000. All Awardees of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland are also entitled to receive a
series of pro-bono supports from several partner organisations, ensuring that each of
our social entrepreneurs receives the best professional services available at no cost
to them or their organisations. Awardees are also provided with access to numerous
free/low-cost training courses and workshops to help develop both themselves and
their organisations further.
2+ Year Programme
The Impact Programme runs for 2-3 years (depending on the exact needs of
each Awardee) allowing Awardees the necessary time to not only develop a
robust growth plan but to begin the process of implementation as well -
all of which results in a substantial increase in the positive social
impact of their organisations.
3
2+
e140k
‘The Impact Award is a powerful endorsement to
our vision of saving lives’.
John Kearney, Irish Community Rapid Response - 2013 Impact Awardee
36
Our Purpose
Our Impact Programme looks to support social entrepreneurs with established and
effective projects that have the potential to scale significantly - creating widespread
and long term social impact.

Bringing Ireland’s leading social entrepreneurs together to
collaborate, support and learn to maximise their impact.
The focus of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Alumni Network for 2014 has
been on building a strong, meaningful and forward thinking network; a network
that is really valuable to its members, delivering much needed support,
training and connection in many new and different ways.
The relationship with Ulster Bank, the continuing partner of the Social
Entrepreneurs Ireland Alumni Network, has gone from strength to strength over
the past year. With numerous Ulster Bank staff giving up many hours to help the
network, from hosting events, giving talks, to supporting engagements, they are
always willing to lend a hand.
This year’s summer Alumni Network event gave the Alumni members the
opportunity to come together for an energising afternoon of brainstorming and
idea generation. This unsurprisingly resulted in a long list of great ideas.
The Social Entrepreneurs Ireland team are extremely excited to see how the
Alumni Network continues to grow and mature in the coming months.
The Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Alumni Network now consists of:
• 179 past and current Awardees of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
• Winners of the Arthur Guinness Fund
• Winners of the Vodafone World of Difference Programme
• Students from the Science Gallery ‘Idea Translation Lab’
• Winners of the Social Enterprise category of the
Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards
An inspirational, energetic, powerful collaborative community,
who are all committed to thinking big, acting now and
changing Ireland.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
37

Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is all about scaling great new solutions for
social problems in Ireland. In addition to an annual Awards Programme,
we also host a series of themed speaker events entitled “The Impact
Series” with the support of the JP Morgan Chase Foundation. These
events engage a wide audience of leaders from the business, public
and non-profit sectors along with many of Ireland’s leading social
entrepreneurs. The events are designed to inspire innovative ideas
and to spark discussion and debate around key social issues and the
role that social entrepreneurship can have in addressing these issues.
To date we have held five speaker series events and during 2014 we
hosted two events which focused on “The power of entrepreneurship to
create opportunities in 21st century Ireland” and “Innovation in health”.
The Minnovation Fund
We realise there are lots of people with innovative early stage ideas to
change Ireland but who need help to get these ideas off the ground.
At each Impact Series event, the Minnovation Fund (which comprises
of all ticket proceeds) is presented as a seed fund to the social
entrepreneur who pitches the best early stage, high impact idea to
the audience on the night. This year’s Minnovation winners included
‘The Think Academy’, an innovative maths education programme,
and ‘Sober Sessions’, an exciting alternative to the pub scene which
promotes non-drinking events.
Inspiring Ideas to Change Ireland
We truly believe that social entrepreneurs can change Ireland and
every year we are inspired by the fantastic work that is being done
all over the country to address our greatest social and environmental
problems. So, by taking a step back and looking at the broader
ecosystem in which social entrepreneurs exist, by engaging leaders
from all sectors of society and by giving start-up social entrepreneurs
a chance to get their ideas off the ground, The Impact Series provides
a new platform from which real and lasting social change can grow.
We encourage people with ideas to connect with us through SEI
Connect and The Impact Series to help us to continue to build
a strong and sustainable ecosystem from which we know social
entrepreneurs can learn and grow.#impactseries
38

This year saw the continued success of the Social Entrepreneurs
Exchange, a recent addition to our Awardee support programme.
Thanks to support from the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, the
Exchange provides our Awardees with access to the wealth of
experience that exists within our network of partners and supporters.
The Social Entrepreneurs Exchange consists of several events
throughout the year where Awardees and Partners meet behind
closed doors for an in-depth, hour-long discussion. These meetings
discuss both broad ‘big picture’ issues as well as immediate
challenges facing an organisation, and they offer Awardees an
opportunity to engage with the most senior individuals in some
of Ireland’s most successful organisations.
Each meeting concludes with a brief reception offering Partners and
Awardees an opportunity to mingle in a more informal and relaxed
environment. The Exchange isn’t simply about strategic planning,
but about learning, connecting and socialising with a fantastic
network of partners, peers and friends.
So far Leinster House, the Fumbally Exchange, KPMG, the RTE
Studios, and A&L Goodbody have played host to one of our
Exchange events, and to date we’ve engaged a total of 162
individuals through this initiative. Issues discussed at these
Exchanges have ranged from financial planning, fundraising efforts,
company registration, marketing of certain products, and governance
challenges facing newly established charities and social enterprises.
‘It was an incredibly supportive
and helpful session, and
these things are not always
thus. So, if you can somehow
manage to take all that you
did and bottle it, then you have
something very special!’.
SEI Awardee
‘Very worthwhile exercise
and I think all of the ‘experts’
enjoyed the opportunity to help
and relay the benefits of the
respective experiences’.
SEI Partner
39

At Social Entrepreneurs Ireland we support up to
nine social entrepreneurs each year through our
Awards Programme. This programme allows
us to work intensively with the entrepreneur
and their project, ensuring that their ideas are
implemented as effectively and efficiently as
possible. However, we know that for every
social entrepreneur we support, there are
dozens more with great ideas and enormous
potential to change Ireland for the better.
We know this because we hear from these individuals on a regular
basis – people seeking advice on their projects or the opportunity
to have a quick chat with somebody from our team about how
we can help them increase their impact. Like all organisations
we often struggle to find the time to accommodate all of these
requests, and so we miss the opportunity to hear more about the
great work being done outside of our Awards Programme.
That is why this year we launched a new initiative, SEI Connect.
These events are a chance for up and coming social
entrepreneurs to meet with members of the Social Entrepreneurs
Ireland team in an informal and relaxed environment. SEI Connect
provides social entrepreneurs outside of our Awards Programme
with the opportunity to hear more about our work, how our
support programmes might be of use to them in the future,
or just to get our advice on some of the challenges they might
be facing in their own organisations.
To date we’ve held two SEI Connect events in Dublin, and have
had the opportunity to meet with more than 45 organisations
looking to grow and expand their work in Ireland. While none of
these organisations are current SEI Awardees, we recognise the
outstanding contribution they are making to Irish society, and
hope that initiatives like SEI Connect can play a small part in
helping them to grow and scale the fantastic work already
being done.
40

A new organisation delivering
action-based, practical learning
programmes for entrepreneurial
individuals who have an idea for
a business that will benefit their
community and who want to
build and grow their ventures.
‘Social entrepreneurs on the programme
learn by doing, gaining a range of
practical business skills that they can
apply directly in their ventures’.
Lynda Stopford, Co-Founder of
School for Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
This year we were delighted to support the launch
of a great new initiative to support early stage
social projects in Ireland - the School for Social
Entrepreneurs Ireland.
With support from the JP Morgan Chase Foundation
and The Atlantic Philanthropies, SEI has incubated
the SSE Ireland for the first year of its existence.
The first SSE Ireland Incubator programme brought
together 28 early stage social entrepreneurs over
19 direct contact days, between April and November
with a range of two-day workshops, action-learning
sets and networking opportunities. Participants
were also able to avail of focused-mentoring and
expert advice from experienced social entrepreneurs
and business people as well as from the SSE
international network.
Ventures ranged from Jared Huet’s Internet College
of Ireland, delivering education for parents on the
use of social media and internet safety for children,
to Allison Roberts’ Clonakility Chocolate, an ethical
bean to bar chocolate factory in West Cork.
The School for Social Entrepreneurs believes that
social entrepreneurs and their ideas, successfully
implemented across communities, can change
Ireland as well as contribute in their own right as
business owners and employers to the social and
economic well-being of the country.
SSE Ireland is based in the dynamic Fumbally
Exchange in the heart of Dublin city centre and
is part of a global network of 12 schools located
across Australia, Canada and the UK.
www.sseireland.org
@SSE_Ireland
41

Join Us
‘Having been involved with SEI since its inception, we
have seen its evolution and growth first hand. As SEI
has gone from strength to strength, so too has the
organisation’s ability to support the development of
the social entrepreneurship sector in Ireland.
At A&L Goodbody we have a strong and embedded
corporate social responsibility programme and also a
belief in the power and potential of entrepreneurship.
So we believe it has made continued sense for us to invest
in SEI, both financially and by offering pro-bono legal and
advisory supports.
We’ve seen how SEI has introduced the country to social
entrepreneurship and has made the early hard yards. It has
had good will behind it, but I also believe it needs more
investors and more supporters, across a range of sectors,
for it to increase its impact and reach.
We would highly recommend people to just reach out
to SEI and see how they can get involved. We are
consistently impressed and indeed motivated by the
energy, commitment and focus of the people that come
through the SEI programme and it is a personal privilege
to have the opportunity to offer them support. We look
forward to seeing the organisation grow and thrive as it
leads this important sector in the years ahead’.
Whether you are an individual with
a passion for social change or an
organisation looking to get your staff
involved in using their skills to make
a big difference, we’d like you to join
us. We provide a unique opportunity
to support Ireland’s leading social
entrepreneurs to address some
of the most challenging social issues
we are facing today. We want you to
roll up your sleeves and get involved.
Your support will help our social
entrepreneurs to increase their impact
and change lives all over Ireland. In
return, you and your company will
experience the infectious excitement
and optimism which is generated
when there’s a social entrepreneur
in the room.
Paul White, Chairman, A&L Goodbody
and long time Social Entrepreneurs
Ireland supporter.
42

Our Partners
We couldn’t do what we do without the support of our
incredible network of partners and supporters. To each
and every one of them we’d like to say a huge thank you.
If you would like to join us on this journey, please contact
lucy@socialentrepreneurs.ie
43

Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
Darren Ryan - Chief Executive
Annalisa O’Carroll - Head of Impact
Lucy Masterson - Head of Development
Ciara O’Toole - Interim Head of Impact
Eamonn Fitzgerald - Impact Associate
Siobhan O’Keeffe - Impact Associate
Clodagh Sheridan - Awards Coordinator
Maria Flanagan - Development Associate
Orla O’Connor - Office Manager
Chairperson
Gerry Kearney
Directors
Julian Davis - Director, Fleishman Hillard
John Duffy - Vice Chairman, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
Teresa Harrington - Partner, PwC
Maurice Healy - CEO, The Healy Group
Clodagh Hughes - CEO, Motive8
Brian MacCraith - President, Dublin City University
Sharon Vard - CEO, Anam Cara
Contact
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland
T: +353 1 631 6200
info@socialentrepreneurs.ie
www.socialentrepreneurs.ie
@SEIreland
Design: Stephen Smith - www.bossanova.ie
2014 Awardee Photography - www.laurencejphotography.com
The Team
Registered Charity Number CHY 17524
44

“There is nothing more
powerful than an idea
whose time has come.”
Victor Hugo

SEI-Booklet-2014

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