Social entrepreneurship journey for Qatari youth

The preliminary session aimed to recap the outcomes and lessons learned from the previous workshops and introduce participants to the learning objectives during the 5-days training.

Session 1: Social Business Modelling

The workshop started with the re-introduction of the Social Business Model Canvas which was the tool used for closing the previous workshop on Stages 0 and 1. Participants were presented with 3 case studies of regional social enterprises, which were used to apply all the modules’ exercises and tools across the 5-days.

Session 2: Social Business Planning

This session introduced the social business planning to participants and together discussed the different components of the business plan for operating the social entrepreneurship project.

Session 3: Organizational Development & Team Building

This session addressed Organizational Development and the importance of building the right team that would accompany the social entrepreneur across the organizational growth journey. It highlighted the value and quality of team work as a precondition for creating a social impact.

Session 1: Operational Growth & Governance

This session built on the previous session where participants were introduced to the Operational Growth and the integral components of Governance in a social enterprise. They explored examples of governing bodies and diverse accountability and transparency mechanisms.

Session 2: Go-to-Market Strategies

This session tapped into the different Go-to-Market Strategies that an organization can choose while growing. This included a reflection on the customer journey to purchase a product or service , and the exploration of diverse concepts such as pricing strategies and the purchasing funnel.

Session 1: Feasibility Study & Financial Planning

This session explored the financial planning aspect of an organization’s growth and how a feasibility study is conducted. Diverse tools and exercises were presented and practiced by participants to develop their sustainable financial plans.

Session 2: Enhancing Investment Readiness

This session introduced participants to the different phases of investment readiness that an organization goes through, and the respective financial investments that are expected at each. Participants were also acquainted with the different types of investors along with the types of available investments.

Session 1: Social Impact Measurement

This session recapped the definition on social impact, social impact measurement, and its importance and complexity. Participants were familiarized with best practices in social impact measurement processes and tools. Then each group developed a social impact measurement framework relevant to their case study.

Session 2: Scaling Readiness

This session presented the 3 different scaling approaches that an organization can adopt to expand its outreach, profit, and impact: Scaling Out, Scaling Deep, and Scaling up. Each one approach has distinct objectives and strategies that could be implemented by a social enterprise to scale its social impact.

Session 1: Scaling & Organizational Growth

One of the strategies that fall under the Scaling Out approach is scaling through organizational growth. This session explored the readiness for such growth while looking at the team readiness, the challenges, and the types of structures that could support this process.

Session 2: Building Strategic Partnerships

This session explored the importance of building partnerships as a way to increase impact and create meaningful connections with diverse stakeholders. Participants were introduced to the process of partnerships building which includes identifying the stakeholders, analyzing them, and establishing the suitable form of partnership with each.

Session 3: Influencing Policymaking

This session tapped into influencing policymaking as one of the most influential ways for scaling impact “up”, i.e. at the national level. Participants learned about the concept of public policy, policy making cycle,  public participation levels, and the overall journey of drafting and adopting a public policy as well as means of persuasion and influencing policy.

Closing session: The final session was dedicated to gather a 360 degrees feedback from the participants, NAMA and ESCWA team on the training program. The session concluded with a celebration to mark the successful end of the training series on the social entrepreneurship project.