Charity Enactus Ireland has partnered with global financial services company Citi in a deal worth more than €85,000.
The partnership aims to provide resources for students to “empower” people between the ages of 16 and 24 from disadvantaged urban areas around Ireland.
The Pathways to Progress initiative calls on students to develop an idea and apply to the programme. Successful projects will receive seed funding, intensive training, mentoring and guidance from Citi volunteers and Enactus Ireland staff.
The support will help scale projects to help the students maximise the “positive impact in disadvantaged urban communities”.
Once accepted to the programme, students will take part in a two-day project development event in Citi in November, and will ultimately present their final projects to a panel of judges at an event in April.
Entrepreneurial skills
“Every year, each student team involved shows tremendous understanding of how their entrepreneurial skills and talents can be used to bring about real change in their communities. We are very excited to partner with Citi to see this impact grow and scale,” said Terence O’Rourke, Enactus Ireland chairman.
Founded in 2011, Enactus Ireland develops talent by enabling third-level students to create and implement social entrepreneurial projects which positively impact communities.
Speaking on the announcement, Cecilia Ronan, Citi's chief administrative officer for Europe, said: "It's vital that businesses in Ireland continue to collaborate with organisations like Enactus to drive social change. We are looking forward to working with the students to support the development of skills to think innovatively and address the pertinent business challenges facing Ireland today."
