During our Social Wave weekend we welcomed a number of inspirational speakers and mentors to motivate participants. Here’s what they had to say!
The Speakers
Martina Romanello from Nest Napoli Est Teatro joined our Social Change Wave event this past weekend as an inspirational speaker to share her experience with participants. Teatro Nest is located in East Naples just outside of the city centre which faces many of their own social issues such as criminality and lack of space for interaction amongst youth. Teatro Nest looks to provide this space for interaction along with creative programs that help youth express themselves creatively, utilizing the arts as an educational instrument. Martina provided us with a humbling discussion as she shared the difficulties in acquiring funding for programs and the renovation of the Theatre. However, today the organization provides space for youth and professionals alike allowing groups to utilize the space that is provided.
Michele Pranzese came to speak with participants this past weekend about his start-up project PickMeApp. PickMeApp is an eco-friendly carpooling program that allows children and older people to schedule daily carpools through his app. Originally from Potenza in southern Italy, Michele had shared his impressions of Naples and the opportunities that are here for social innovation. “Naples has big ideas” and this is clear through this past weekends events. Not knowing what to expect Michele had been pleasantly surprised to observe the opportunity for growth that had occurred this weekend as social entrepreneurs were able to share and test ideas through collaboration describing it as a “beautiful opportunity to grow”.
The Mentors
Ivan Fadini was invited by the staff of Dialogue to mentor participants this past weekend as a result of his impressive resume and work with NGO’s such as International Network Napoli and The Hub of Roma. Moving to Naples had not originally been in Ivan’s plans. However, through the years of working with organizations within such a beautiful city that faces many of its own social and economic challenges he had ultimately changed his location to Naples from Milan in order to continue his work in social change. Ivan shared his thoughts on the importance of social entrepreneurship as it encourages and allows individuals to impact the world on both global and local levels. He himself does this through sharing his knowledge and experience with the many social entrepreneurs this past weekend.
Marco Serra creator and founder of Open Hub was a mentor at this past weekend’s event. Marco’s programs involve working with universities students and young people living within Italy to help develop social innovation products. Through collaboration Marco has recognized the importance of mentoring and encouragement to the social change movement. This is why Open Hub looks to facilitate young intellectuals in the creation of social innovation and business. In both his own work and this past weekend’s event he helps groups and individuals to develop business models for their projects.