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Pilot Social Impact & Entrepreneurship training delivers on promise

In November 2019  the Social Impact & Entrepreneurship Program was launched at The Alchemist in Utrecht after a successful try-our in Gaziantep (Turkey) in July 2019. Migrants, students, entrepreneurs and job seekers with a great diversity in terms of cultural background, context and ethnicity participated in this 4 days program.  All had in common that they want to develop a meaningful purpose and become impact makers. 

Participants  from The Netherlands, Yemen, Zambia, Brazil, Syria, Pakistan and Iran worked successfully together and learned from each others perspectives and how to navigate in difficult times. Most of them are having or have had higher education. The program had consisted of two pillars: personal leadership development and  social entrepreneurship. The first pillar focused on self-awareness, growing of confidence and reconnecting to talents and dreams. The second pillar on scenario building , social impact, entrepreneurial attitude and skills.  

Participant takeaways

 “I (re)learned to make a plan and work accordingly towards a goal. I feel more goal-oriented after this pilot, I feel like I do know what I'm working for (finally).”

For most of the participants it was important to (re)connect to dreams  and develop understanding for what it takes to turn them into reality. Participants reported after the program an increased self-awareness and a more insights into what it takes to think and act entrepreneurial and realistic.  They felt highly motivated  to make a next step to become a real impact leader.


“You are the leaders of impact and your hearts and mind are like ocean, huge and generous.”

For us, founders of ImpactLeaders international, it was a great experience. The purpose of organising this 4-day training program was to assess if the newly designed program had the intended impacts. Would the program have a positive effect on self-awareness, personal leadership, entrepreneurial attitude and professional growth on the topic of social impact? We can gratefully say that it worked very well, evaluations show great advancements. 

Synergies and inclusiveness

Best thing yet, we also noticed a underlying synergistic effect that we hope will grow over time, participants expanded their network, started working together, opened up new pathways for each other. It’s too early to say to what extend this can help participants, among which half where recent migrants coming to the Netherlands for different reasons, would have a lasting effect. 

ImpactLeaders international offers monthly online meetups for all participants to follow-up on their development to become leaders of impact in their life. 


Contact us if a program that leads people towards a meaningful purpose in your organisation or society at large fits your organisation's objectives.

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