June-July 2013

During my time at UNICEF Nicaragua, I had the great pleasure to take a part in the conceptualization and lead the branding phase of the Sociopreneur Initiative – a creative innovation in the UNICEF landscape.

In short, The Sociopreneur Initiative is an innovative venture aimed at creating value for children and the tourism sector by creating a new model of responsible tourism. We indentify devoted talents in the municipality of Tola in Nicaragua, along with problems affecting children. Based on business opportunities, and with support from international networks, the local social entrepreneurs are given the guidance, mentoring and support needed to start their own social businesses. These businesses further contribute to the development of the community and to solving local problems affecting children.

It was both challenging and very exciting to see Sociopreneur materialize, allowing eager people in the local community in Tola to become social entrepreneurs, launching businesses that bring benefits to local children. Giving green light to business with a purpose!

I met very inspiring people when going to the field to conduct research in the initial stages of developing the communication material for Sociopreneur, Grethel on the picture below was one of them.

Read more about the Sociopreneur initiative on the UNICEF Innovation page.

Read the first newsletter about the birth of the Sociopreneur Initiative.