_Hello _Who We Are

_Who We Work withWe are delivering programmes throughout 2016 in Sri Lanka, India & Brazil, working with brilliant partners who aim to nurture and grow social entrepreneurship in their communities.

In India we work with the country's leading social enterprise incubator - UnLtd India, who are supporting the development of social impact start-ups.

In Brazil we work with key organisations such as EixoRio who are playing a role in the cultural and youth development legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

In Sri Lanka we work with British Council as part of their Global Social Enterprise Programme and Good Market who run a eco-friendly market in Colombo.

#JoinUs in Sri Lanka's cosmopolitan capital, Colombo. Working alongside the British Council and Good Market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, we're looking for skilled professionals who have a passion for international development and social entrepreneurship who want to join us in supporting grassroots entrepreneurs who are dedicated to organic, fair-trade, sustainable products and services.

__Are you a career changer, career breaker, post-grad, sabbaticalist, corporate learner, freelancer or aspiring social entrepreneur?__Are you looking to travel with purpose?__Would you like a career changing volunteer experience that tackles real social goals with a heavy focus on two way development and sustainability?

Our current volunteers have worked at L’Oreal, the UN, Innocent Drinks, Sony Playstation, KPMG, Cancer Research UK, covering a range of sectors from finance to marketing and everything in between.

_Interested?

Then apply via our online Application Form.

We have two programmes running in early 2016: 13th February - 26th March 16th April - 28th May

Or you can get in touch with us at info@socialstarters.org.

We are _SocialStarters and we design international development, career change and social entrepreneurship volunteer programmes that support the growth of social enterprise in developing countries. Currently operating in Sri Lanka, Brazil and India, we are looking for the right people to join us on our mission!

We are a small group of young professionals who have been making our move away from the corporate sector in the last few years. Since then we’ve been notching up hours in volunteer management, international development, youth media, CSR & Social Enterprise.

We have over 30 years of professional experience, managing over 200 volunteers along the way.

1. Skilled professionals who want to volunteer and gain hands on social entrepreneurship experience

2. Entrepreneurs in developing countries who lack access to training in social entrepreneurship

We connect these two groups together by matching the skills and experience of our skilled professionals with the business needs of the entrepreneurs. This matching results in the development of sustainable social impact ventures and the launch of new impactful start-ups.

On our programmes we train groups of international volunteers to become Social Impact Consultants, taking all the current thinking around start-up methods and social innovation to hard to reach places.

_SocialStarters brings together two groups of people:

COLLABORATEWe bring together people from different worlds to create change. We train you up to become a Social Impact Consultant, and you will work with a group of micro start-ups, young people, or existing grassroots social entrepreneurs to help them identify problems, design solutions, test ideas, build brands and get them ready for launch. You will further gain and share knowledge from your fellow consultants on a variety of different topics.

LEARNDuring our initial Training Week we will equip you to become Social Impact Consultants, giving you tools and knowledge that you can apply right from the start of the programme. You’ll be introduced to social entrepreneurship in a global and Indian context - getting inspired by incredible people doing amazing things, start-up methods, cross cultural working and consultancy tools. The learning doesn't end there. In addition to immersing yourself with your client work, you will participate in weekly half-day sessions to further your personal development, social enterprise and business start-up knowledge.

DESIGN_SocialStarters gives you the tools and inspiration to design change in your own lives as well as others. Whether you want to develop your own start-up ideas, turn your passion into a business or move into a more meaningful career, we create space for you to explore your values and what it is that makes you tick so that you can return home feeling ready to make your next move.

From the training week to the work with clients, I felt inspiration, excitement, and a sense of importance from the very first day. It is hard to replicate that in the current job market, but now I am committed to replicating this experience in everything I do from now on.

_SocialStarters Graduate, Colombo, July 2015

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_Our approach I came on the programme last minute and will never regret it. The training week built confidence and equipped me to work with my clients (as well as pursue my own ideas). The client work...well...it didn't quite feel like work. Between helping our client with financial planning and branding, we would find ourselves at local restaurants sampling the exciting tastes of Sri Lanka or visiting museums. Last but not least, it was absolutely refreshing finding a group, my new tribe, that had the drive to make a social impact. _SocialStarters is an obvious choice for any professional who wants to use their skills in an impactful way.

_SocialStarters Graduate,Colombo, July 2015

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A truly unique opportunity to advise social enterprise leaders who are eager to implement your fresh business recommendations, while at the same time, to benefit firsthand from their own lessons learned and innovative successes. Tarek KholoussyKiva Fellow & Finance ProfessionalColombo, September 2015

You will gain hands on experience of working with a start-up (that’s us!), joining many other alumni who have become part of our start-up journey.

Our collaborative accelerator programme sees international volunteers become _SocialStarters, taking all the current thinking around social innovation and design thinking to hard to reach places, developing sustainable social impact ventures along the way.

The idea is that the skilled professionals (that’s you!) return to your communities, motivated and inspired to take the next step in your social impact career journey.

We’ll be supporting you with career coaching to enable you to feel ready to tackle your ‘what next’.

This programme means you can travel with purpose. Over the six weeks, you’d collaborate, learn and design solutions to real social challenges in India alongside likeminded, talented, international peers. You’d meet incredible social entrepreneurs who are creating impact both locally and nationally, and you would take part in workshops and sessions that broaden your knowledge and experience of start-up methods and social entrepreneurship.

_Case Study _What YouWould Learn

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We loved the weeks we spent with our consultant. She was genuinely interested in everything we had to say and the ideals we believed in. She put her 100% + in to the project and really tailored her plan according to our requirements. Even though we had limited time, we were able to achieve some concrete goals Without Borders, NGOColombo, July 2015

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Chitra Lane, Colombo, July 2015

Consultant: Jill Roelofs

Chitra Lane is an organisation that was created in the 1960s to address the lack of options for familes of Sri Lanka with special needs children. The organization has developed into a school that provides practical education as well as psychotherapy, physiotherapy, and speech therapy. It is one of a kind in Sri Lanka and works with 2,000 children and young adults each year. They have been looking into selling peanut products at local markets and shops to produce additional revenue streams for their extensive educational services. They enlisted the help of _SocialStarters to help with:

- Business strategy and development- Finance and budgeting- Product development

We are extremely grateful to _SocialStarters for running such a useful programme, for the benefit of organizations like ours. Thank you! -Chitra Lane

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_What YouWill DoWithin six weeks you will have the opportunity to develop yourself personally & professionally as well as working to make an impact on a local social entrepreneur's organisation. Here are just some of the things you will be doing:

_ Training Week_Volunteer with a Social Entrepreneur_Excursions & Trips_Weekly Workshops_1 to 1 sessions with Programme Manager_Networking & Talks_Visits to meet Social Entrepreneurs

I had a great experience with my clients and feel the partnerships with the British Council and The Good Market can offer a lot. I learnt technical and softer skills from both clients and fellow consultants and came away from the programme with a clearer vision of my future career(s)Sunil Makwana, Banking ProfessionalColombo, July 2015

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ColomboColombo is Sri Lanka's largest city and is the entry point for any traveler into the country. It maintains much of its traditional culture while slowly growing itself into a cosmopolitan, international city. The city boasts amazing food, weeping banyan trees, long beaches, and some of the world's most incredible sunsets.

Colombo is the gateway to the diverse landscape and culture that makes up the teardrop-shaped island. Within just a few hours, one can be learning to surf on the southern beaches of Mirissa, explore the vast tea plantations of Ella, hike the sacred Adam's Peak at sunrise, or pay respect to the remnants of a 30-year civil war in northern Jaffa.

I cannot believe how much is smashed into a tiny island. Many of Sri Lanka's hidden wonders are just a short train ride from Colombo. The city itself has something for everyone, from museums, to beaches, to Western food options.

_SocialStarters Graduate Colombo, July 2015

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#JoinUs

_Includes:

_Accommodation (42 nights)_Training Week (6 x 1/2 day workshops in Social Entrepreneurship, Start Up Methods, Consultancy Tools & Techniques, Design Thinking and Cross Cultural Working)_A copy of our Consultancy Guide_A copy of the _SocialStarters Start Up Manual_Personal development 1:1s _3 x career coaching workshops_Teaching materials for your clients_Any programme related printing, photocopying, workbooks_Travel within the community to visit clients_Return airport transfer from and to nearest local airport_WiFi_Local sim card (bring your own phone)_Weekly phone credit budget_Weekly excursions

_Doesn’t Include:

_International flights _Tourist visa_Vaccinations_Food_Travel Insurance

_Programme Fee: £1980.00

'Life’s too short' is repeated often enough to be a cliche, but this time it’s true. You don’t have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It’s not just pointless, it’s painful. Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from.

Seth GodinBest Selling Author

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_How We Started _The Team

_CO-FOUNDER

ANDREA GAMSON

Both Co-founders met whilst managing a volunteer programme in Kenya in 2014. It was whilst they were in Kenya that they developed an idea that they wanted to test - whether a social entrepreneurship training programme could support people to climb their own way out of poverty. At the same time they found out that VSO in Kenya were looking for partners to deliver social entrepreneurship training to their youth alumni. They seized the opportunity and pitched for the contract, which they won. And _SocialStarters was born.

Following a successful pilot, and new launches in India, Sri Lanka and Brazil, we are confident about our methodology and approach to bringing people together to create change. We have ambitious aims! We know that with your help, social entrepreneurs in developing countries will be able to strengthen their solutions to serious social issues. And we also know that this experience can inspire and equip participants to to make a change in their communities once they return home. It can take an experience like this to unlock the social changer in you.

Could this be the start of a sustainable volunteer programme that truly creates change? You will be instrumental in helping us find out.

A social enterprise, communications and youth engagement specialist who studied one of the first digital media degrees in the UK.

Andrea thrives when impacting positive change. She spent a while post-university selling advertising & marketing campaigns to global brands, charities & media; then found herself launching and developing projects for some of the brightest youth organisations and social enterprises in the UK, including taking Brixton’s foremost youth-run ‘Live Magazine’ national for Livity (2013 Queens Award for Enterprise, the Observer & Nesta’s New Radicals 2012, E&Y Entrepreneurs of the Year).

Andrea has a passion for community development, particularly around impact of digital; and is dedicated to global & UK youth issues. Over the years clients and employers have included News International, Bauer Media, Livity, O2, Barclays, Converse, Nike, Adidas, PwC, Australia Tourism, British Film Institute, C4, Cabinet Office, and TFL.

Anna was 21 years old when she set up her first volunteer programme after travelling to Peru, for which she went on to be nominated for the Woman of The Future Voluntary Award. Since then she has racked up 7 years of experience in the development sector in fundraising and volunteer management, ran youth volunteer programmes overseas for organisations such as VSO, Balloon Kenya and Project Peru and worked with nearly 200 volunteers around the world.

During her time at VSO Anna worked on the UK Government’s launch of the international youth volunteer programme - International Citizen Service (ICS), supporting them to fundraise £1m in their first year. She then went on to manage the very first ICS volunteer programmes in Kenya and Tanzania and has been working in volunteer management ever since.

Anna passionately believes that volunteering experiences are not just about two way learning or skills sharing but an important opportunity for volunteers to become inspired and equipped to also make change in their own communities.

_CO-FOUNDER

ANNAMoran

_Programme Dates2016

_Contact UsApply via our online Application Form.

Please state clearly in the subject heading which programme, country and dates you are interested in.

13th February - 26th March16th April - 28th May

&3rd September - 15th October