Destination Changemakers

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Destination Changemakers – Building alliances to fight poverty 

Destination Changemakers is a project aiming at supporting social entrepreneurship. After one year and a half of preparation in the UK, in Austria and in France (January 2011 – August 2012), we are now on the field to help 3 outstanding social entrepreneurs in the Philippines, in India and in Senegal during 9 months (September 2012 – June 2013). Our mission : help creating new alliances between social entrepreneurs and large companies and highlight Changemakers. This project will give us the opportunity to discover innovations to fight against poverty that could be adapted in France (reverse innovation) and discover how to become ourselves Changemakers.

Jonas & Matthieu during the preparation. With Prof. Yunus, Peace Nobel Prize 

What Destination Changemakers is not :

• A humanitarian project. We are working with social enterprises that are financially sustainable and work in the field of social development (access to energy, rural development, sustainable agriculture, fight against malnutrition)
• A journalistic world tour. We want to contribute to the development of these enterprises with concrete actions. We are actors, not just commentators.

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Who are we ?

Jonas Guyot & Matthieu Dardaillon. We are two students in a French business school (ESCP Europe). We chose to realize two gap years before finishing our studies : one gap year for professional experiences in the sector of social business, sustainable development and microfinance; one year with social entrepreneurs in emerging countries with the project Destination Changemakers.

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When is it ? The project lasts 3 years and a half.

• The preparation : January 2011 – September 2012
• The missions : September 2012 – June 2013
• The sharing of our experience : July 2013 – June 2014

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Why this project?

We have chosen to create Destination Changemakers and to dedicate a whole year to work with social entrepreneurs in order to:

• Make a difference by working in enterprises with great social added value : develop business skills
• Learn on the ground and develop our comprehension of social change : develop social skills
• Work in partnership to have more impact : develop partnerships skills
• Be inspired to create then our own social enterprise and become changemakers . .. 

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Our missions. Our 20-month preparation enabled us to meet numerous social innovation, social entrepreneurship and social business actors, in London, Paris or even Vienna. Today on the field, we try to connect these actors to multiply the impact of their solutions. 

• Philippines: September – December 2012 : Access to energy, in partnership with Gawad Kalinga and the BipBop program of Schneider Electric
• India: January – March 2013 : Sustainable agriculture and local fair trade, with I Say Organic
• Senegal: April – June 2013 : Rural development, with La Laiterie du Berger, a social business supported by danone.communities

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You want to know more precisely… ?

• What is a social business or a social enterprise
• What is exactly the project Destination Changemakers
• Who we are, two French students in business schools, aspiring to become Changemakers
• What we have done during our 20-month preparation 
• What we want to achieve after the missions to share our experience
• What are the last news of the project

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Page en français ici

Présentation en français : Destination Changemakers – juillet 2012

Le bilan de notre première mission aux Philippines : Bilan mission Philippines