A group of 12 shortlisted social enterprises in this year’s Malta Social Impact Awards (MSIA) have boosted their chances of winning the €50,000 prize pot after completing the final session of a special enterprise training series held at the University of Malta.
The series of 3 workshops, held at the TAKEOFF business incubator over June and July, were aimed at teaching social enterprise builders the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, with a focus on developing their value plan and creating a sustainable operation.
Returning TAKEOFF mentee, Zen D’Amato Gautam, said she had received help through the incubator last year, and this had been instrumental in her ability to impact a lot more people through her social initiative.
“Last year I received mentoring from Joseph Bartolo and that advice made all the difference in helping me build out my initial idea for Eco Market Malta. Now, I’m excited to be back as a contender for the Social Impact Awards”.
Attendees at the third and final workshop were inspired by a thought-provoking Q&A session between Professor Russell Smith and previous MSIA award winner, Natalie Muschamp from Step Up For Parkinson’s, held as part of the EU I-KNOW project’s Open Innovation Working-Labs.
Ms Muschamp spoke about her experience entering the Social Impact Awards twice and gave this year’s semi-finalists some practical advice, saying they would need to have an absolute passion for their initiative, love working with people, and also make sure they knew their numbers when it comes to standing in front of the judging panel.
The Malta Social Impact Awards were launched in 2016 by the Gasan Foundation and Inspirasia Foundation, to support and strengthen local initiatives that have a positive impact on people and society.
