TITLE: My Entrepreneurial Journey
DATE: Monday 20 June 2022
VENUE: ZOOM
TIME: 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Link for registration: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/my-entrepreneurial-journey-tickets-355077976787
World Refugee Day is coming up on the 20th June and this years’ theme is HEALING. Refugees need a lot of support to heal and move on with life. One way to support people in their journey of healing is empowering people to fulfill their economic and social potential, (supporting them to get back on their feet). We know there are enterprise support service available with ‘open door’ policies however, some refugees are not successful in their business start ups even after accessing the support due to the additional and distinctive challenges that mainstream entrepreneurs don’t experience. Furthermore, the strings attached to the available supports bring a barrier for refugees to avail for the support services. Dignity Partnership is hosting a dialogue to understand what supports are effective for entrepreneurs / aspiring entrepreneurs from this community and how we can advocate for more enterprise supports that are tailored to meeting their needs.
Dignity Partnership provides personal & enterprise development services as a tool to promoting integration, healing & moving on with life for people who were forced to flee their countries.
MEET OUR PANELISTS
Ngonidzashe AKA Paul is a 22 yrs young man. He came to Ireland in 2010 with his mother and 3 brothers. Lived in Athlone Accommodation Centre for 4 years before getting their residency. Growing up in a tough circumstance, he had dreams to study mechanical engineering at GMIT Galway but couldn’t go ahead due to lack of funds. He then got a job as a Kitchen Porter. He worked hard, used the opportunity to learn, eventually he landed a chef position. During the lockdown he came up with the idea of Chef P Grub. Inspired by the stories of his late father and grandfather who were both entrepreneurs, he took his job as a training platform. He met Hicham Altit now business partner and opened Chef P Grub in Galway.
Ellie Kisyombe is a Malawian activist and former asylum seeker living in Ireland. She is the co-founder of Our Table. Our table is a project that highlights the lack of facilities for food preparation in Direct Provision centres and advocates for the ending of the Direct Provision system. Our Table have supplied a line of hot sauces, sold by The Good Food Store. Now Ellie runs her business Ellies Kitchen Home Edition. Ellies Kitchen Home Edition offers a high quality and standard of catering services together with a wide variety of cuisine, catering to any event from individual and small group orders to large groups and corporate events.
Moussa Sangaré is Ivorian entrepreneur living in Greece. He runs a shop in Athens called Djammaba. He is the President and coordinator of the Ivorian community in Greece. Board member at the Greek Forum of Refugees, a network supporting refugees, migrants, stateless persons and asylum seekers based in Greece. He is a passionate advocate for human rights and justice, aiming to raise refugees’ and migrants’ voices at the local, national and international levels.
Megan Flynn Dixon is a management consultant for the Not For Profit sector with a back ground in International Business. Originally from New Zealand, Megan worked in for several International Shipping Companies and has been based in Australia, Singapore, USA, and Canada while travelling extensively across the globe. She now applies her managerial skills to the public sector, helping the realisation of private sector efficiencies to the public realm. Megan has volunteered in her community in education, the arts and refugee resettlement. During lockdown she undertook Immigrant Council of Ireland Migrant Leadership academy and officially became a Migrant Activist. Megan is passionate in supporting refugee and migrant entrepreneurs.
Allernay Barry- Passionate about saving and improving people’s lives by working along with physicians, doctors and nurses. Highly experienced working in the pharmaceutical industry such as Mylan Pharmaceutical and Teva Pharmaceutical, and setting high standards to support the medical profession and ensure the safety of the patient. He holds honors degree in Medical Device and Pharmaceutical and qualified Mechanical Engineer. Over two years of voluntary work with Amnesty International. He is currently working on setting up BarrypharmamedDevice, a company that will supply Pharmaceutical products, medical devices, cosmetics, baby items for the communities his home country (Guinea). He is passionate in promoting high quality Irish products in West Africa while saving lives.
THE HOST:
Rosemary Kunene is a community activist and a social entrepreneur. She is involved in various social integration initiatives in Co. Laois. She believes in empowering people to succeed through the power of their own ideas by creating a platform to develop or grow personally or professionally. Her work involves supporting people from migrant communities to fulfil their economic and social potential. She is passionate about community empowerment and participation for migrants With over 7 years’ experience of organising and facilitating workshops on personal development, entrepreneurship, and integration for migrants. She is the founder of Dignity Partnership, a social enterprise that promotes and supports entrepreneurship and personal development for people from a migrant and refugee background. 3rd place winner of Swazi National Business Plan writing competition 2012 and awarded Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 by HergenuityAfrika!