Spark ? Cycling for Equality

“Change is never easy, but when people come together for the good of humanity and the Earth, we can accomplish great things." - David Suzuki

Welcome to the September edition of Spark.?

We know making the world a better place takes work, and most of us don’t like to work. So we created Community Voting, a global campaign that kicks-off on September 12th, where you’ll be able to support impactful ideas from all around the world that could solve the most pressing issues of our time from your couch. Watch a few videos, vote for your favorites, and the ideas with the most votes receive support to transform their idea into a successful enterprise.?

You can expect some more info on Social Media on September 12th. Get ready ??

Ideas of the Future

Speaking of building impactful ideas... Hundreds of SIA finalists from across Europe, Asia, and Africa have been gathering for weekend long meetings to refine their ideas and turn them into reality. There are too many incredible ideas to mention, so here are a few that caught our eye:

?? Ubuntu (Serbia): Transforming donated clothes into art pieces, and offering workshops for women and children impacted by violence.

?? Local Energy (DR of Congo): Converting organic waste into biogas to fuel household stoves.?

?? Hippotherapy (Georgia): Providing innovative means of recovery for disabled adults and children.

?? Indima (Austria): Integrating migrant workers within the workforce.?

?? Bond (Hungary): Making sexual education accessible to all.

The Gatherings

We talk a lot about incredible ventures here, but it takes a village to create them.

Social entrepreneurs need more than money to reach their goals. They need a mix of skills, knowledge, and community to deal with the many challenges that come their way.

Our SIA incubation offers all of these resources. Every few weeks, our finalists meet to connect, exchange, and participate in workshops covering all aspects of entrepreneurship, including finance, legal, marketing, and pitching.

And because of Community Voting, pitching has been a big focus of recent gatherings. We support all our finalists in the creation of a 90 second video presenting their idea in an engaging and entertaining way. You can check out the videos and vote for your favorites from September 12th onwards ??.

Cycling to Equality

Seems like everyone is a professional cyclist since watching the Tour De France documentary on Netflix. But some cycling fanatics were ahead of their time, and are using this new cycling trend to make the world a better place.

Grigorij Kuklin, co-founder of Lenkerbande , is one of those people. He founded Lenkerbande in 2019 with a few friends,?with the mission to use bikes as a "vehicle" for social change and economic empowerment. He answered a few questions about what makes Lenkerbande special, and where the venture is headed.

What is the philosophy behind Lenkerbande?

Lenkerbande was founded with the aim of using bikes to connect people. We saw?the potential of bikes in bringing people from different walks of life together, and wanted to create spaces where people could learn to repair bikes on their own, and where lower income communities would not face financial challenges to get a bike.?Since then, we've opened a few stores that have allowed us to employ people from marginalized background and give thousands of?old bikes a new life.

How did Lenkerbande come about?

The project started as a hobby. We were really passionate about bikes and enjoyed repairing bikes ourselves. From there?it evolved into workshops, public spaces, events, etc. The natural question of how we could make this our job came up, and SIA really helped us?get?outside of our comfort zone and reflect on?the possibilities to make a social business out of our passion.?

In what ways did the SIA incubation help you?

SIA really boosted our confidence. We didn't have knowledge about this field, we just loved bikes. It taught us to be brave enough to think outside of the box, to?go to institutions and potential partners, and show ourselves as legitimate business owners who kept their passion for bikes, but made an impact and a living through it. We also learned that by organizing ourselves efficiently, we could make the most of our resources and repair hundreds of bikes each day, instead of a few on our own.

Tools for Success - Pitching

Remember the last time you had to convince your parents to let you do something they didn’t want you to do? That was a pitch.

Pitching isn’t only for Shark Tank, and it isn’t only about money. Pitching is about presenting an idea to convince an audience of something. We do it all the time: at work, at school, and even with our grandparents.?

Here are five tips on how to build a pitch so convincing no one will ever tell you “no” again.

1. Start with a powerful opener: your first words are crucial. A strong statement that connects to your audience will captivate them for the duration of your pitch. Numbers, stories, and personal experiences are great ways of doing this.
2. Focus on the “why” first: there’s no better way of grabbing someone’s attention than telling them why they should care. If your pitch is about saving marine wildlife, start by clearly explaining why saving marine wildlife is important.
3. Move into the “what”, and then the “how”: once your audience is hooked, explain what you are doing, and how you’re doing it. This is your chance to share the more intricate details of your idea.
4. Ask for something: at the end of your pitch, make it clear what your objective is. If you’re looking for money, connections, or someone to go on vacation with, let them know.?
5. Keep it short: people have short attention spans and there isn’t much we can do about it. Keep your pitch short to make it extra powerful.

Moment of Mindfulness?- Role Models

Many of us look up to social entrepreneurs, but what about social entrepreneurs themselves? What inspires them?

We're bringing back one of our favorite articles in SIA history. SIA volunteer turned social entrepreneur Kyle Yong explored this topic in his Master's thesis. His focus? Understanding the power of role models, and knowing where to find them.?

He was kind enough to compile all his findings in a short blog article packed with knowledge. And who doesn't like knowledge?

That's a wrap for this edition of Spark! Want to receive this newsletter directly in your inbox? You can sign-up here.