June 10, 2020

HELLO NORDICS: ONE YEAR ON.

The Hello Nordics Accelerator supported 10 social entrepreneurs developing proven solutions to migrants’ challenges in the Nordic region, and in particular how they can scale the impact of their work. The accelerator also provided a forum for all participants to share inspiration with each other, forge new partnerships and lay the foundation for future co-creation across the Nordics.

Hello Nordics, systems change accelerator

Source: Celia Sanchez Valladares

Hello Nordics was an inspiring experience where all participants learned together about transferring impact, system change and scaling strategies - Jimmy Antonsson, MittLiv

Insights from Hello Nordics

For Norwegian-based Catalysts, participating in the Hello Nordics Accelerator changed the strategic direction of the organization. The focus shifted from trying to provide direct support to an increasing number of participants to a targeted strategy aiming to change the system in which the organisation operates.

The accelerator provided key learnings and insights into systems change. In particular, how a systems change approach would make a sustainable impact on the root cause of the social problem that Catalysts is trying to solve - reducing the high school dropout rates of immigrant youth - Lisa Cooper, Catalysts

In the past Catalysts worked to improve the quality and increase the geographical reach of their mentoring programs. Now they also work towards having mentoring as an integral and embedded part of the school system in Norway. Last year they made significant progress towards this goal and in 2020 will be piloting a mentoring program in Norwegian schools.

The Nordic Mentoring Summit - a collaboration for systems change:

Hello Nordics created a community that fostered collaborations between social entrepreneurs and key stakeholders. The Nordic Mentoring Summit was established among three of the Nordic Hellopreneurs: Catalysts (Norway), Startup Refugees (Finland) & Mitt Liv (Sweden), with support from the Nordic Council of Ministers and the US Embassy in Norway, among others.

The Summit gathered 74 attendees for a full day of inspiration and sharing of best practices on mentoring. Key focus areas included the evidence base for the value added to individuals and society through mentoring, and the mutually beneficial effects of establishing corporate partnerships as part of these programmes.

Youth from Catalysts mentoring programmes performed and presented from the main stage, as did participants from Mitt Liv and Startup Refugees’ programs (that targeted highly skilled and newly arrived immigrants). They shared their insights on the importance of mentoring and how it impacted how included they felt in Nordic society and moved the audience with their genuine appreciation of the new pathways that had opened as a result.

You can read more about Hello Nordics here and about the Nordic Mentoring Summit click here.