Call for Expression of Interest (EoI) to Young leaders, Youth-led CSOs and Social Enterprises (SEs)

Cesvi and Al Majmoua are calling for expressions of interest from young individuals, young social entrepreneurs and youth-led Civil Society Organisations to take part in the capacity building program of Youth Empowerment for Social Impact (YESI) project, funded by the European Union.   

In order to give the opportunity to more applicants to apply to the YESI project, the deadline for application has been extended until the 1^st of January 2021; details on how to apply to the project are listed below.

Are you between 18-35 years old age and based in Beirut/Mount Lebanon, Bekaa or South?
Are you a leader in your community or a member of a youth-led local organisation with a Social Business idea?
Are you the owner of a Social Enterprise?
Are you interested in developing or scaling up your innovative and social idea?

Then you should apply to take part in the YESI project!

YESI project, funded by the European Union and developed by Cesvi, in partnership with Al Majmoua, aims to promote youth empowerment through inclusive, innovative and sustainable models of social entrepreneurship.

Outcome:
The objective of this initiative is to build the capacities of young leaders, youth-led CSOs and Social Enterprises through the provision of tailored trainings and capacity building activities on social entrepreneurship, mentoring sessions, peer-to-peer exchanges, networking events with relevant local and regional stakeholders, linkages with Al Majmoua micro-finance program and other financing opportunities in order to facilitate access to small loans and social finance instruments.

By applying to this Call for Expression of Interest, you will have the opportunity to gain practical skills on how to develop, strengthen and scale up innovative social models and business ideas with increased opportunities of access to finance.

For more information, please download the Call for Expression of Interest and Annex 1 (both English and Arabic versions are available.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What do you mean by “active youth”? Do we need to have a successful project running to be eligible?

Active youth are individuals in the society, between the ages of 18-35, who want to have a positive social impact in their communities. They may have a specific project idea that they would like to pitch to us, or they may be passionate about changing their communities for the better but need some extra guidance.

The difference between Active Youth and Youth-led CSOs/Youth led-SEs is that they apply as individuals, whereas youth-led CSOs and SEs apply as organizations.

2. What is the difference between youth-led CSO/Social Enterprise and a regular CSO/Social Enterprise?

Youth-led CSOs and Social Enterprises are led by youth. In these companies and/or organizations, at least 51% of the management and directorial layer are between 18-35 years old.

3.  I’ve never heard of an organization calling itself a Social Enterprise in Lebanon.

In Lebanon, there is no registration for Social Enterprises. For the purpose of this project, Social Enterprises are private companies that have a positive social impact.

Some examples of Social Impact and projects that cause a positive social impact:

i.e. promoting job creation; women empowerment; creation of public and private facilities for people with disabilities; tutoring for students in need…)

i.e. access to renewable energies; waste reduction; water purification; platforms for knowledge sharing; innovative agribusiness; green local transport; cultural and artistic events…)

4. If I filled the application through google forms, can I still email you an introductory video?

Yes! Just let us know in the email that you submitted your application through google forms and report by email the same personal data submitted on google form.

5. What should the introductory video be like?

We would like to know who you are and what kind of social impact you aspire to create. If you have a project that you are specifically applying for, you may introduce it to us. The video should be around 1-2 minutes and can be filmed on a smartphone.

6. How long will the project be? When will it start?

The project will start in December 2020. It will cover all the training and capacity building needs of applicants, so there is no specific timing where it may end, however we estimate that it will end around November 2021. A detailed workplan for trainings and sessions will be developed upon completion of the applicants’ evaluation process.

7. How will we be evaluated?

Applicants will be selected according to their business idea (feasibility, capacity to produce a social impact, innovation and creativity) and vulnerability criteria.  The evaluation process is structured in 3 stages:

• Screening of all applicants to make sure they fit the eligibility criteria specified in the call
• One-on-one interviews with all eligible applicants
• Final jury that will select the best 50 applicants

8. If we have an idea in mind, does it have to be implemented throughout the project and workshops?

The workshop will help you strengthen your ability to implement the project you are working on and provide you with tools to guide you through the implementation process and help increase your chances for practical and financial success. Whether you would like to implement the full project during the training period is entirely up to you and your capabilities.

9. How committed should I be to my training attendance? What happens if I miss some trainings?

Missing too many trainings dilutes our ability to help your business ideas and capacities grow, which we aim to do through the trainings. For that reason, 80% attendance is expected from participants..

10. Will the trainings be online or in person?

Given the Covid-19 outbreak, the trainings will be initially organised online.  The pandemic outbreak in the country will be closely monitored by Cesvi and Al Majmoua security staff. If the conditions will allow it, lessons will be shifted to in-person trainings.

11. When are we expected to apply for loans?

Whenever you need them! We will only be helping you acquire the networks and capacities needed to identify and access finance opportunities, but you are not required to apply to any loans to be eligible for the training.

12. What is the sub-granting program? Who is it for? Am I eligible if I do not do the capacity building?

The sub-granting program is intended to help empower Youth-led Social Enterprises to kick-start and implement their initiatives and programs with a social impact through financial support (small grants), coaching and mentorship provided by professionals and Cesvi/Al Majmoua staff.

The financial support will be aimed at supporting SEs business and projects for the purchase of assets; knowledge training (technical training on production/service delivery); business management support; marketing support (e-commerce support, support for the creation of a strong social media presence, brand identification and development, labelling); market capture support (researching consumer preferences, support for reaching new markets or new customer niches); participation in external trade, fairs and workshop; measuring, strengthening or scaling up of the social impact component.

The program will be launched starting from December 2020/January 2021, and those who participate in the capacity building program will be given priority over those who did not.

13. How big is the grant? How many enterprises will win it?

The grant amount will be defined based on each SE category, characteristics, project prosed and number of applicants selected.

A specific Call for Proposal will be launched starting from December 2020. The program will allow applicants to participate in a competition dedicated to Social Enterprises, during which they will undergo a selection process that includes a financial need assessment and the opportunity to pitch their business idea in front of a selected jury.

14. Are we required to do the due diligence for our ideas, or you could be supporting us to reach the idea goal? And if there are market researches that we need before we start implementing the idea, could you support us through this or we have to finalize alone?

The due diligence and market research are not required at the moment, as this is the capacity building aspect of the project. Throughout the capacity building, we will help you with these aspects through trainings and mentorship, so that you can complete the due diligence and market researches for the sub-granting program.