Of the seventeen, up to eight will go on to receive an initial € 200,000 in funding and support for their projects for social change with potential for further investment and development opportunities.
Sonya Lennon from Fairview, North Dublin and Angela Smith from Clondalkin, Co. Dublin have been announced as a finalist for the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards programme for their project, Dress for Success Dublin. Dress for Success Dublin empowers women to secure and maintain meaningful and sustainable employment, to reach their full potential and impact positively on those around them. The project provides career development tools and a support network, helping women prepare for opportunities in employment.
The seventeen finalists have come through a rigorous process with 102 applicants competing for eight places on the programme.
Announcing the Finalists Social Entrepreneurs Ireland CEO Darren Ryan said: “We have been very impressed by the calibre of applications we have received this year and we would like to congratulate the finalists for reaching this point in the process. We look forward to working closely with the 2018 Awardees to scale the impact of their projects in Ireland.”
DCC plc, the international sales, marketing and support services group, is the flagship supporter of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards. Speaking of DCC’s partnership with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Donal Murphy, CEO of DCC plc, said:
“We take great pride in our role as flagship sponsor of the annual Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards. DCC has backed commercially focused entrepreneurship for more than 40 years and we equally believe in the creativity and passion of Irish social entrepreneurs to make a significant contribution to solving our greatest challenges as a society.”
The Award winners will be announced at the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards Ceremony in the Mansion House on October 9th, 2018.