My Job: Supporting those making positive change

Tim Griffiths, CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, in conversation with John Daly

Tim Griffiths CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland: “We provide one-to-one support, coaching and consultancy as well as group training, in areas such as leadership development, marketing and communications, governance, strategic planning, and finance.” Picture: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland

Earlier this month, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland announced awardees for its Changing Ireland Accelerator programme, their highest offering programme. 

The successful awardees were chosen from more than 70 applications, with the four recipients having demonstrated a well-proven model to tackle a major social issue, and will benefit from the €500,000 programme to scale and grow their organisation beyond its current level. 

The organisations are: 

• Shane McKenna, Dabbledoo—providing primary schools with resources, training; 
• Mamobo Ogoro, Gorm Dac—unifying social and cultural differences for marginalised communities; 
• Helene Hugel, Helium Arts—reducing the social isolation of children living with long-term health conditions; 
• Niamh Tallon and Mohammed Mahomed, Her Sport—empowering and advocating for girls and women in sport.

“These exceptional individuals have demonstrated remarkable dedication to creating positive change within their communities and beyond,” explains SEI CEO Tim Griffiths. 

“These visionary entrepreneurs have shown immense dedication and passion in their pursuit of creating positive social change. As we embark on this exciting journey with them, we are confident that their innovative solutions will transform lives and communities across Ireland. 

"Over the next 12 months, we will harness the cumulative power of the SEI community to support these organisations to significantly grow their impact and create accelerated change.” 

The Changing Ireland Accelerator will provide bespoke support to the four organisations based on their stated needs. SEI will focus on supporting them in areas such as leadership development, marketing and communications, strategic planning and how they can continue to fund their mission. 

CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Tim Griffiths: "My interest in the sector had grown over the years, and when the opportunity came to work in the sector full time, I grabbed it with both hands."

“These are very representative of the new breed of social entrepreneur, that new society sense of ’leaning in’ and the evolution of what community in Ireland was 50 or 60 years ago.” 

Google.org will be fully funding the costs of this programme in 2023 with a grant of €500,000, which follows as part of its European-wide pledge of €20 million cash funding through the Google.org Social Innovation Fund to support underserved social innovators across Europe. 

Running in parallel to the Changing Ireland Accelerator, INCO will disperse the funding. As a global non-profit across over 50 countries, INCO accelerates the growth of impact-driven businesses and offers free education programmes to the workforce. 

Since 2021, INCO has been leading SocialTides, an initiative supported by Google.org, to provide funding and capacity-building to over 400 social enterprises across Europe. 

“All of these entrepreneurs have a real insight into their areas of passion and have shown examples that they are already making a difference in a very tangible way to the new multicultural Ireland. They are all very much organisations of the moment in a modern Ireland.” 

Throughout the 12-month programme, Changing Ireland Accelerator awardees will work with SEI to support them in key areas of need. “We provide one-to-one support, coaching and consultancy as well as group training, in areas such as leadership development, marketing and communications, governance, strategic planning, and finance.” 

Programme members receive support and mentorship from experienced social entrepreneurs currently driving social change across the country, along with some of Ireland’s leading businesspeople. 

Mathieu Planchard, Global Head of Development at INCO, said that the programme represents a concrete step towards building a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the combination of capacity-building support and strategic grant funding the right recipe to break down the barriers faced by underserved founders in Ireland today.

SEI's mission

In its role as a not-for-profit organisation committed to the vision of accelerated social change through the power of people, SEI’s mission includes harnessing the cumulative power of people through programmes, direct funding and an experienced community of alumni and sector leaders. 

Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported more than 550 social entrepreneurs across the country, distributed over €7.5m in direct funding and secured over €7m in pro-bono supports. 

Alumni of SEI programmes include Pieta House, AsIAm, Irish Community Air Ambulance, GIY, FoodCloud and the Irish Men’s Sheds Association. Prior to working with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Tim Griffiths worked in the world of advertising, having been Managing Director of the Irish branches of two multi-national agency groups. 

“I had done a lot of work supporting social entrepreneurs in Ireland through both Ashoka and ChangeX. My interest in the sector had grown over the years, and when the opportunity came to work in the sector full time, I grabbed it with both hands. 

I believe that Social Entrepreneurs Ireland has always had a unique and special culture, that we will continue to cherish and nurture, and it is a real privilege to be part of a group of people who value and support that.

What binds the SEI team and the broader community of entrepreneurs is the passion to make Irish society better for everyone, he adds. As a privately funded not-for-profit organisation, SEI receives donations from individuals, corporate partners and foundations, committing to the highest standards of governance, transparency and accountability. 

In 2022, SEI achieved the Charities Institute of Ireland Triple Lock Standard—awarded to charities that uphold the highest standards in transparent reporting, ethical fundraising and strong governance structures, seen as the gold standard for Irish charities.

Celebrating its 20th year in 2024, Tim acknowledges the distance the organisation has come in that time. “Back in 2004, the expression ‘social entrepreneur’ had not yet been coined, whereas today we have a really vibrant sector, one in which SEI has been very much the catalyst. 

"It is a very exciting time for us to look forward to see how we can best deliver accelerated social change, but also to take a look back and be rightly proud of what we have achieved over the past two decades.”