Mozaik Foundation is Balkan Green Ideas National Lead based in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 10-year impact which states that: “Between 2016 and 2026 Mozaik will lead the development of a breakthrough generation of entrepreneurial and innovative youth – a value-driven force that creates new social and economic value, creates new jobs and serves as a role model to other youth.” Mozaik’s approach consists of three interrelated programs that reflect its mission – to identify, empower and invest in social entrepreneurs – creators of good economy:
1. lonac.pro is a community for activism and entrepreneurship, representing an ecosystem of support, that was co-created with young women and men to provide meaningful opportunities for them to professionally learn and grow, through exchange with peers and professionals, grants and investments. Lonac have over 27.000 registered members, with 70.000 monthly visits in March 2020.
2. YouthBank is participatory grantmaking program, where young women and men in non-formal groups develop and implement socially innovative projects and mobilize their communities around common good. We supported over 2.700 small projects in 120 BiH municipalities since 2008, with over 23.000 volunteers and great community contribution.
3. Startup Studio provides long-term, tailor-made support for young social entrepreneurs, including mentorship, pre-seed and seed investment. Until March 2020, we established or scaled 82 micro and small businesses. While most of support is going online, we have three physical spaces in Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Bihać.
Mozaik gathers over 30 full-time professionals with experience in community building, participatory grantmaking, impact investing, social cohesion and local philanthropy. Balkan Green Ideas is an annual competition organized by Mozaik at national level which aims to serve as an incubator for small-scale green economic development ideas in BIH, utilizing local resources and revitalizing traditions of production and community-based markets in an environmentally friendly way. The competition was launched in 2015 and through clear criteria and a transparent and fair competition process, it supports individuals, social enterprises, non-for-profit organizations and small business ventures to improve and contribute to a better life for society in BiH. The shortlisted finalists present their proposal during the Demo Day 1 competition, before an Evaluation Panel consisting of experts in the field of education, environment, economy and finance. At the end of the competition, best teams get mentoring and financial support up to 2,500 EUR to develop and test their minimum viable product. Number of teams which can be supported is not limited. Teams which already have validated their business models can get up to 20,000 EUR financial capital to start their social business and mentoring support up to 10,000 EUR. Among the best, three winners are selected to compete at the Regional Competition and get the opportunity to win another 10.000 EUR at regional level.
National Lead Contact person:
Avdo Halilović, Innovation Manager,
avdo@mozaik.ba
