The next NGO I met with was not what I was expecting! It is a student run newspaper at the major university in MK- Sv. Kiril i Methodi. The newspaper is called Излез/Izlez. They were started 2 years ago, upon the founder’s return to MK from a year abroad. Her grant required her to start a project upon her return. She chose, with a few friends to start a newspaper that is critical of the educational system in MK.
They decided to focus on this because there are many problems with the educational system in MK according to the students in it. This is not the only thing the newspaper focuses on, they also do articles on then environment or other issues that students care about. The newspaper/journal promotes social activism. They will publish articles on local culture or investigative work. They aim to produce 2 issues per semester. This has created a total of 6 issues so far.
When the newspaper started there was no student run media at all (now there are 2 radio stations). People were complaining all the time, but no one was doing anything. They hoped to empower their peers and prove that students can be responsible. There are 8 people on the editorial board, who came together out of a series of meetings about how to best serve the community. (Last year there were 5 editorial board members.)
They have not only worked on the newspaper, but they have also worked on other projects. They helped to digitize the library through a grant they received. They have also donated books to their collection from a grant they recieved. They have applied to other grants, but haven’t heard back yet.
All of the funding sources that they had mentioned so far were foreign, and they stated that finding local sources is very hard. They want to try to stay independent, so that their research and comments are not taken to be one party or the other. They are afraid that if they take money form the university or government or party they will be forced to dumb-down their criticism to satisfy their donors. They want to be able to say what they find or want to say without fear of having their funding cut (a very real possibility here). They are also trying hard not to be labeled in anyway. They want to keep it independent.
Thus, they haven’t attempted to gain money or support from the government or any student organizations (the Student Government in MK is apparently very different than in the US and “un-officially” sponsored by the government.
They want to start engaging younger students as many of the original editorial board members are leaving (aka graduating). The newspaper has had positive results and responses to their reports, but to get anyone to actually take responsibility for the organization will be difficult (and has been up until this point). When they distribute the newspaper, they do so both online and in person. Sometimes leaving it around university hot spots, or physically handing it to people.
Their goals for the future are to keep the newspaper open and sustainable. They want to expand to hosting events for students. They also want to help any student that comes to them with a workshop or help in applying for a project. They really want this to become a force for the students.
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, November 28, 2011
YES Foundation
My next visit was to YES Foundation an NGO/foundation that “seeks to strengthen the local innovation system in Macedonia by stimulating to practical entrepreneurship among the youth by offering complementary activities that will ease the start-up of new ventures.” This was by far my shortest meeting- barely over one hour. Unlike others that I had interviewed or talked to, they barely volunteered any information.
They told me in my interview that they are a business incubator who currently supports 16 different companies in the IT (information technology) field. They try to stimulate entrepreneurship and help young people create new job positions by establishing their own businesses. They usually try to focus on young people ages 18-30 or 35 who are highly educated.
It is difficult to start a business in MK, and more so when they tried to start their foundation. Business incubation was very unknown when they started. People did not understand what it was supposed to do. But now people are starting to come to them when they want to start a business. They have received this renown because they have started making presentations with in the different faculties. Some of their other advertisements include: information on websites geared towards businesses, hosting big events such as start up weekends, or offering several trainings a month. Some of the trainings are about how to get others to get to know your company, others are about creating social networks to “network” for your business. They like to combine traditional ways of promotion with adhoc ways.
While technically they serve the entire country, mostly they focus on Skopje due to the location of the government and the fact that most people come to Skopje to start businesses. When businesses come to them for help, they have to be IT oriented. If they are not, they will refer them to other organizations. When helping businesses start, they like to provide fully furnished office space with lower rent and utilities. They are able to offer mentoring, consultant work, and trainings.
They are totally financed by international organizations- they receive no MK funding. Much of their fiances stopped last year and they are currently looking for new sources of funding. They had received 1,000 Euros a few years ago from the MK government, but it was a one time thing. While the government has some grants intended to support new businesses, the amount is too small to make any real difference.
However, the space that they currently use was donated to them free of rent for 10 years. It used to be barracks for the Ministry of Education. (I do believe that there was a miss communication with what a barrack is in English- these are right next to a few school building- but I could be wrong, I just wasn’t comfortable asking.) They have been using the facility for 4 to 5 years now. There is a possibility to extend the contract, but they are unsure of how big of a possibility that is. In addition, the government does provide support at their events, with an appearance of a minister or so. The government might not have the money to financially support YES, but they do support their mission with public appearances, according to YES. They can maintain regular contact with the municipalities and the Ministry of Economy and they are able to work with specific people in these ministries often.
There have been changes in the civil society sector since they have been in existence. Most of them have to do with the change in mentality and perception of NGOs. Some NGOs and the citizens have negative experiences with donors money and how the NGOs implement to proposed projects. This has lead to the perception that NGOs are just there to steal other people’s money and not do anything to help the citizens.The public often believes that they will get robbed if they donate money or participate in events. Or even that too many events are too expensive for what you get. A positive change has been the increase in local support from the government.
The fact that YES is technically a foundation means that there is a difference in public opinion to them compared to your average NGO. People believe that all foundations have lots of money, while YES often struggles to make ends meet. There are some commercial sponsors who are looking at helping them out, but YES has to fight against the foundation ideal.
On a day to day basis they are occupied with helping the companies that have questions. Many people walked into the office where I was interviewing the head project managers asking questions. They are currently focused on organizing more events and implementing the projects that they have funding for. There big upcoming events (well, they were upcoming at the time of the interview, but have in fact already occurred by the time of publishing) are Start-Up Weekend and Global Entrepreneurship Week. Global Entrepreneurship week was established by Kaufman and more than 100 countries participate each year. This year they will have Business Speed Dating (where you can quickly summarize what your business is about to others), Panel Discussions, and Group Discussions.
We had a discussion about how one goes about starting and ending a business in MK- and the process is lengthy. There is no good way to end a business or NGO. If you are bankrupt, there is nothing like Chapter 11, you even have to pay the government to shut down. This stems from the days of privatization where people would start a business to get the government’s old job and then promptly close and take all of the money. Therefore, there are many business and NGOs officially on the books, but who in practice do not operate.
When asked if there was anything else they wish I or the public knew, they actually had an answer! They wish they were able to inform the public more about their efforts. In the past three years alone, they have helped to crease over 120 jobs. They also wish that the government was more aware of their progress, and thus maybe more generous with their money. They believe that entrepreneurship should be a focus of the government because it has the potential to help the economy of Macedonia. MK is 20 years past the previous system, and they need to change the perceptions that socialism laid in people (and they are passing on to their children.
They told me in my interview that they are a business incubator who currently supports 16 different companies in the IT (information technology) field. They try to stimulate entrepreneurship and help young people create new job positions by establishing their own businesses. They usually try to focus on young people ages 18-30 or 35 who are highly educated.
It is difficult to start a business in MK, and more so when they tried to start their foundation. Business incubation was very unknown when they started. People did not understand what it was supposed to do. But now people are starting to come to them when they want to start a business. They have received this renown because they have started making presentations with in the different faculties. Some of their other advertisements include: information on websites geared towards businesses, hosting big events such as start up weekends, or offering several trainings a month. Some of the trainings are about how to get others to get to know your company, others are about creating social networks to “network” for your business. They like to combine traditional ways of promotion with adhoc ways.
While technically they serve the entire country, mostly they focus on Skopje due to the location of the government and the fact that most people come to Skopje to start businesses. When businesses come to them for help, they have to be IT oriented. If they are not, they will refer them to other organizations. When helping businesses start, they like to provide fully furnished office space with lower rent and utilities. They are able to offer mentoring, consultant work, and trainings.
They are totally financed by international organizations- they receive no MK funding. Much of their fiances stopped last year and they are currently looking for new sources of funding. They had received 1,000 Euros a few years ago from the MK government, but it was a one time thing. While the government has some grants intended to support new businesses, the amount is too small to make any real difference.
However, the space that they currently use was donated to them free of rent for 10 years. It used to be barracks for the Ministry of Education. (I do believe that there was a miss communication with what a barrack is in English- these are right next to a few school building- but I could be wrong, I just wasn’t comfortable asking.) They have been using the facility for 4 to 5 years now. There is a possibility to extend the contract, but they are unsure of how big of a possibility that is. In addition, the government does provide support at their events, with an appearance of a minister or so. The government might not have the money to financially support YES, but they do support their mission with public appearances, according to YES. They can maintain regular contact with the municipalities and the Ministry of Economy and they are able to work with specific people in these ministries often.
There have been changes in the civil society sector since they have been in existence. Most of them have to do with the change in mentality and perception of NGOs. Some NGOs and the citizens have negative experiences with donors money and how the NGOs implement to proposed projects. This has lead to the perception that NGOs are just there to steal other people’s money and not do anything to help the citizens.The public often believes that they will get robbed if they donate money or participate in events. Or even that too many events are too expensive for what you get. A positive change has been the increase in local support from the government.
The fact that YES is technically a foundation means that there is a difference in public opinion to them compared to your average NGO. People believe that all foundations have lots of money, while YES often struggles to make ends meet. There are some commercial sponsors who are looking at helping them out, but YES has to fight against the foundation ideal.
On a day to day basis they are occupied with helping the companies that have questions. Many people walked into the office where I was interviewing the head project managers asking questions. They are currently focused on organizing more events and implementing the projects that they have funding for. There big upcoming events (well, they were upcoming at the time of the interview, but have in fact already occurred by the time of publishing) are Start-Up Weekend and Global Entrepreneurship Week. Global Entrepreneurship week was established by Kaufman and more than 100 countries participate each year. This year they will have Business Speed Dating (where you can quickly summarize what your business is about to others), Panel Discussions, and Group Discussions.
We had a discussion about how one goes about starting and ending a business in MK- and the process is lengthy. There is no good way to end a business or NGO. If you are bankrupt, there is nothing like Chapter 11, you even have to pay the government to shut down. This stems from the days of privatization where people would start a business to get the government’s old job and then promptly close and take all of the money. Therefore, there are many business and NGOs officially on the books, but who in practice do not operate.
When asked if there was anything else they wish I or the public knew, they actually had an answer! They wish they were able to inform the public more about their efforts. In the past three years alone, they have helped to crease over 120 jobs. They also wish that the government was more aware of their progress, and thus maybe more generous with their money. They believe that entrepreneurship should be a focus of the government because it has the potential to help the economy of Macedonia. MK is 20 years past the previous system, and they need to change the perceptions that socialism laid in people (and they are passing on to their children.
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