Share Social Enterprise Ambassador Programmes
We offer a highly effective business development programme for organisations that are interested in exploring the opportunities that social enterprise can deliver for their organisation.
In the past 12 months we have delivered our ‘Social Enterprise Ambassador Programme’ for schools, chambers of commerce, housing associations, and Jobcentre Plus.
Each organisation identifies key staff, often across departments, that are trained to become ‘Ambassadors’ for social enterprise within their own organisations. The Ambassadors gain a better understanding about what social enterprise means, enabling them to advocate and promote social enterprise internally and within their local networks.
Download the 2011 Ambassador Programme leaflet
The Social Enterprise Ambassador Programme is being used by Housing Associations to investigate ways to work with tenants to create new enterprise ideas which can offer work based opportunities. Housing Associations play a key role in their locality and the SEA programme will help to consider ways to embed social enterprise within their supply chain. Procuring and contracting with local and community organisations is another way to ensure wealth stays within the area to help promote sustainability and regeneration. Investing in Social Enterprise Ambassadors simply provides the detailed knowledge to explore ways to work together for the mutual benefit of all the organisations involved.
2. Social Enterprise ELP (Education Learning Partnership) Leads
We have supported six secondary school teachers to become champions for social enterprise in their respective Education Learning Partnership areas. These Ambassadors act as a reference point for other schools who want to start, run and develop social enterprise activities and help to embed social enterprise in the Enterprise Curriculum of schools and colleges. The programme has been developed in association with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust to help raise awareness of social enterprise and to ensure that all pupils in the West Midlands get the opportunity to consider this model as a way of doing business.
3. Jobcentre Plus district managers
By providing access to a range of learning opportunities, seven Jobcentre Plus district managers are now operating as social enterprise ambassadors within their local offices, to ensure that routes to social enterprise either in terms of business start up or as an employment opportunity are better signposted and understood.
4. Chambers of Commerce
The ambassador model is also being used across Chambers of Commerce in the area. Embedding understanding of social enterprise within the membership and support structures of the chambers of commerce is a key way to inform and promote the opportunities that exist to work collaboratively and co-operatively between private sector organisations and the social enterprise sector.
