The institution of Social Business Excellence Awards 2014 was presented on May 29 at the event hosted by the National Research Foundation. The “Social Business Excellence Awards” are part of the 2nd Conference “Doing business the other way” which will take place in November.
The awards are enacted for the first time in Greece with main objectives to promote and reward sustainable business plans of existing or establishing social enterprises in Greece.
The awards are an initiative of the British Council and the National Documentation Centre / Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas, in collaboration with the Development Partnership PROSVASIS* and are enacted under the auspices of the Ministry of Development and Competitiveness.
In particular, the institution of awards aims to bring out experienced and new entrepreneurs who have developed innovative ideas for the benefit of society, to highlight the social entrepreneurship as a key pillar in order to increase employment and as a response to the problems of unemployment and social exclusion.
At the same time, it aims to support creative entrepreneurship that combines the production of economic surplus, with measurable social impact and to create a network of cooperation and networking among young social entrepreneurs, innovators, institutional actors and large companies in Greece and abroad.
The categories of Social Business Excellence Awards 2014 are as follows:
- Social Enterprise of the year 2014
- Community Impact Award 2014
- Health & Social Care Social Enterprise 2014
- Green Social Enterprise 2014
- Education & Culture Social Enterprise 2014
- Innovation & Technology Social Enterprise 2014
- Social Enterprise Start-up 2014
The money prizes of the awards will be allocated by companies and agencies. Furthermore, the co-organizers (The British Council, and the National Documentation Centre) who have extensive experience in the area, will offer to the winners, services of business mentoring, supporting of innovation and extroversion and networking with more than 54 countries worldwide (Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas).
The Evaluation Committee of the Award shall be composed of distinguished persons from the academic community, private and social entrepreneurship, consulting services, financial sector and non-profit organizations.
* The Development Partnership PROSVASIS is an initiative of the Hellenic Society for Disabled Children, the Athens Chambers of Commerce and industry (ACCI), the Panhellenic Federation of Societies of Parents and Guardians of Disabled People (POSGAmeA) and Mentoring SA.