Venture philanthropists have proved to be more audacious and risky in their social investments and frequently they want to promote what Nassim Nicholas Taleb -author of Black Swan - calls solutions that look for problems. Their commitment of time and knowledge has an important role in this dynamic. Venture philanthropists have experienced success in their own projects and that's why they feel confident on their skill to manage difficult situations in social projects.
U$S 80.000 and advising for two years to four innovative social enterprising
HelpArgentina announced the four winners of the Venture Philanthropy Funds to social entrepreneurs. They will receive management and financial assistance during a period of two years by experienced leaders of the private sector. US$ 80,000 will be assigned to the projects fostered by these social entrepreneurs.
This initiative was built to incubate innovative projects from social entrepreneurs of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The aim is to support agents of change that have ideas to alter existing paradigms and whose plans can be replicated on a larger scale.
Victorious social entrepreneurs:
José Sarasola, 25 years old, returned to Argentina in 2005 after his studies in Australia and founded "Mediapila", a project to commercialize t-shirts produced by sewing workshops set up in soup kitchens and communal dining halls. Through this, they offer training and job opportunities.
Gerardo Solá, 52 years old, invented a project that seeks to train hospital employees to carry out the Organ Transplants Law as well as make more organ donations available: 5,400 people are on the waiting list for transplant and only 2% of the deceased give their organs.
Gonzalo Grassi, 25 years old, co-founder of "Plan Techos" ,where future owners build their houses with concrete blocks. Through this experience he identified the opportunity to produce, commercialize and distribute these blocks, allowing the participants to become micro entrepreneurs.
Brendan Martin is American and has lived in Argentina for the past three years. Founded "The Working World /La Base " an NGO that brings working capital to recovered factories and cooperatives. These factories could not access to this type of funds through other means, and with these funds they can carry out their projects to increase productivity.
The announcement was made through a VPF of HelpArgentina. A VPF (Venture Philanthropy Fund) is a social investment fund that allows an individual or group to invest their time, knowledge and money to support innovative projects and social organizations in Argentina. Human capital and the financial investment can create a new successful paradigm on the generation of social impact.
In this case, an American businessman promotes the VPF, who has volunteered for several years in Argentinean non-governmental organizations. This social investor claims, "...When basic business principles are applied to the social sector, better results can be achieved".
The announcement to identify the winners was done by HelpArgentina. 49 social entrepreneurs participated, among them, 38% are from the education area and 12% works for institutional consolidation. Other thematic represented in the announcement were micro entrepreneurship, health, environment, occupational training, handicapped persons, rural development and sports.
For assistance in the donation process, please contact 
