Belgrade, February 25, 2022 – As part of the Program for sustainable ideas, yesterday we organized the first workshop on “Impact and Social Entrepreneurship”. The program is aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs, whose enterprises are in the start-up phase and who are developing sustainable solutions to social problems. For 4 months, the companies will work together with a team of experienced business mentors and experts to acquire knowledge and skills that will help them improve their business idea.   

During the workshop, participants had the opportunity to learn more about the idea of social entrepreneurship and the way in which successful examples of social enterprises from Serbia solve social problems. Together with 10 teams, we addressed the issue of how to define key indicators for measuring social impact and how companies can set their theories of change and tools for measuring and reporting on social impact in the community in which they work. The workshop “Social Impact and Social Entrepreneurship” is part of our incubation program and the first of a series of six workshops that will be held until June. 

The Program for Sustainable Ideas is being implemented with the support of the US Embassy in Belgrade and is part of the five-year strategy and program of the Smart Impact Fund – Fund for the Development of Sustainable Economy. The Fund strives to provide long-term professional and financial support to social enterprises in various stages of development and thus contribute to the development of an economy with positive social impact. By 2024, the program will invest about half a million euros in initiatives and companies that contribute to sustainable and positive changes in their communities.

The Smart Impact Fund program is implemented with the support of EFSE Entrepreneurship Academy – EFSE Entrepreneurship Academy and EVPA – European Venture Philanthropy Association. The Fund for the Development of Sustainable Economy has been launched by Smart Kolektiv with the support of the Framework for Giving Project, funded by United States Agency for International Development USAID and implemented by the Coalition for Giving, led by the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation.