Spotlight on - Social Enterprise Academy
Who are we speaking to today?
We are a small but perfectly formed team of three: Maya Wenzel (Education Delivery Lead), Lewis Scott (Education Manager) and Will Crossley (Education Manager). Together, we run the Social Enterprise Schools programme in England and Wales (which is one of many programmes delivered by the Social Enterprise Academy).
In one sentence can you describe what Social Enterprise Academy (SEA) do?
The Social Enterprise Academy deliver learning programmes to young people and adults across the globe. More specifically, the Social Enterprise Schools programme works with young people in schools, giving them the opportunity to launch a social enterprise around an issue they care about.
How did SEA begin?
The Social Enterprise Schools programme was launched in partnership with the Scottish Government, 17 years ago in Scotland. In September 2022, we re-launched the programme in England and established a permanent team here, after running a small pilot pre-Covid. In September 2023, we launched the programme in Wales.
What has been your biggest achievement in creating a positive impact so far? On a team and or individual level?
Since its inception, the programme has worked with over 77,000 young people globally. In Scotland, the devolved government has set us the goal of creating a social enterprise in every school in Scotland – so far we have worked with roughly 65% of Secondary Schools and 35% of Primary Schools there.
Our small and mighty team have worked with over 100 schools in England and Wales, since launching the programme. We have supported over 2,000 young people and seen over 90 social enterprises launched.
This year's insert highlights some of our (many) pupil-led social enterprises across the globe; includes an insight into the history of our organisation; and showcases two brilliant alumni stories! More details in our annual collaboration with the Big Issue - here.
What’s been your favourite school Social Enterprise so far?
We have many!
A favourite from Scotland is St Albert’s School in Glasgow, who have created a range of storybooks with diverse heroes, to tackle the lack of representation in children’s literature. You can see a BBC news feature on their social enterprise here.
Another favourite is Beam County Primary School who launched a social enterprise that supported rough sleepers in Barking & Dagenham by creating their own “homeless health kits.” The group not only pitched their idea as a rap but also presented their work at the House of Lords (for further info on this, see here).
How can people & the community support Social Enterprise Academy?
If you have any contacts in the education space or at local councils in London, North East England or North Wales, let us know!
Furthermore, we are reliant on corporate sponsors to keep our programme fully-funded for schools. If you have any connections who may be of interest then let us know…
How does your team collaborate to support social entrepreneurs?
Through delivering our Social Enterprise Schools programme, we give young people the real-life experience of setting up a social enterprise, thereby developing their key employability skills and facilitating social and community impact. The programme empowers young people to be active citizens by giving them the chance to reflect on the issues they care about, and supporting them in designing and launching their own social enterprise.
This programme is made possible by our freelance facilitators, many of whom are social entrepreneurs themselves and have gone through the same journey of launching a business around an issue they care about.
Can you share a memorable project, or can you share a success story of a social entrepreneur who benefited from the Academy’s programs? (e.g. Dragon’s Den?)
Last year, we worked with a secondary school in Redbridge – Ark Isaac Newton Academy – that established two social enterprises; one, ‘Fresh Fusion’ which aimed to tackle childhood obesity by making and selling healthy smoothies and the second, ‘Martial Arts for Mental Health’ which sought to address mental health by engaging young people in sports classes. The young social entrepreneurs from each enterprise pitched their ideas at the Redbridge Dragons’ Den to a panel containing representatives from the London business scene, Redbridge Council and local careers organisations, receiving feedback and support which prompted the teams to reflect on their direction of travel. Based on the feedback they received, the young people decided to combine their enterprises into one, meaning that they started to host sports events and exercise classes, at which they sold their fresh smoothies, increasing the impact they had on attendees and customers as each enterprise solution addressed both identified issues. Now, the enterprise has become profitable and hence sustainable as the revenue generated from selling the smoothies enables them to offer the exercise classes for free to users and the numbers they attract to their events, supports them to sell more smoothies. For further information about our schools in Redbridge, take a look at this article here.
What have you learned from the social entrepreneurs you have supported? How does your team work to create a global impact while addressing and working with local schools?
The young people we work with never fail to inspire us with their approach to tackling the issues they care about; the tenacity and determination they develop and exhibit is infectious. Additionally, at the events we host with young people from multiple schools and areas across London, the thing that is most strikingly evident is the compassion they have for one another and their respective schools, they demonstrate the power of collective action with abundance!
A large part of our approach at the Social Enterprise Academy is collaboration whilst taking a place-based approach. Social Enterprise Schools also runs in Scotland, Egypt, Australia, and Malaysia, where young people are given the opportunity to develop a social enterprise about the things that matter to them in their respective communities. One of the ways, we share the impact our young people have globally is at our annual International Dragons’ Den. The event serves as inspiration for all those in attendance, learning from one another and realising their place as part of a larger movement of social entrepreneurs running businesses for good, connected by their passion for their respective causes. Take a look at last year’s International Dragons’ Den showcase here.
What do you consider the most significant impact your team has made so far? And how do you measure the success and impact of the initiatives?
Our Social Enterprise Schools programme serves as a fantastic opportunity for young people to discover the things they are good at and enjoy doing, and support them in developing key skills for life, learning and work. Our programme does not require young people be at a certain level academically and is open to young people from all settings, including mainstream settings, as well as SEND and Alternative Provision. In some cases, we work with young people outside of school-settings, including 18-25 year olds.
Impact Stories – Elm Court School
We have worked with Elm Court school for two years now, in which time it has established three social enterprises. Following a successful first year, in which select members of the sixth form developed an enterprise to tackle plastic pollution by upcycling bottle tops int artisanal flowerpots, the school decided to embed Social Enterprise schools in their Sixth Form curriculum, making this available to the entire sixth form cohort. This has seen the expansion of the existing enterprise as well as the addition of two new ones; a bicycle upcycling service, through which young people have learned to service and build bikes and a tree planting sponsorship scheme to tackle air quality in Brixton. The young people picked up awards at our Social Enterprise Academy Awards in July and are exploring ways to sell their products at a Pop Brixton event space for independent businesses.
Do you have any opportunities available now?
We will be recruiting an administrative coordinator in the coming months – more to come on this soon!
How can people get in touch with you?
Drop one of us an email, Maya@socialenterprise.academy, Lewisscott@socialenterprise.academy, William@socialenterprise.academy