Communications Experts Help Youth-led Ventures in Peru Build their Brands
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Social entrepreneurs are known for developing creative, agile solutions to everyday challenges. They excel at accomplishing great impact with few resources—and their potential to grow and become sustainable is even greater when they have opportunities to cultivate expertise in critical areas, like communications. Many are just a pitch or media placement away from the defining moment that will set them on a path toward scaling their solutions for lasting change.
With a shared interest in magnifying the impact of small- to medium-sized social ventures, YouthActionNet and Cuso International partnered to bring the talents of Cuso International's volunteers to seven youth-led ventures, all founded by fellows from our Premio UPC institute in Peru.
Who is Cuso International?
Many professionals dream of applying their skills in ways that make a difference in society—Cuso International helps turn those dreams into reality for hundreds of long-term volunteers each year. By recruiting talented specialists with skills like finance, business management, advocacy, and training, the organization matches volunteers to nonprofits who can benefit most from their unique skill sets. In 2013-14, 548 volunteers worked with 302 local partners in 32 developing countries to reduce poverty and inequality.
Growing Youth-led Social Ventures in Peru
One of the Cuso International volunteers placed in Peru was Anna Vichnevetskaia, a communications professional dedicated to working with young entrepreneurs. She said of the experience, “It was extremely rewarding to be able to apply my personal expertise in business and communications to support the development of local youth-led enterprises. Plus, it was a true learning experience, especially since these young people work on social causes they are very passionate about—their passion becomes contagious.”
Michael Bouliane, a public relations and communications director from Canada, added: “After 15 years in the corporate world, I've finally learned what going to work every day should feel like!”
As experts in messaging and fundraising, Michael and Anna focused their four months of support on in-demand topics like crowd funding, business models, corporate sponsorship, media relations, and online networking. During their time in Peru, they helped youth leaders tackle these topics through group workshops and individual consultations, guiding them in applying what they had learned as they pitched to new partners, refined their business models, and systematized their social media and communications strategies. Each venture received a capacity assessment before and after the consulting experience with a detailed analysis of their growth in terms of reach, effectiveness, efficiency, revenue, and scale.
What Were Some of the Results?
- Pinoteca, a community-based children’s education project, built visibility among key influencers by holding a successful event with representatives from the US embassy and local politicians, and implemented a plan to expedite post-event coverage, resulting in placement in several prominent local and national news outlets.
- LOOP, an eco-enterprise promoting sustainable consumption through the sale of recycled goods, secured several new corporate sponsorships for their events after working with Cuso volunteers to perfect their pitch.
- Shiwi, a sustainable snacking company with eco-friendly products sold nationally, participated in media relations workshops that led to a more proactive approach to media coverage, landing Shiwi a feature spot in a major South American magazine.
- Uniendo Sonrisas, a nonprofit addressing the social inclusion of differently-abled individuals, used templates and tools provided at the sponsorship workshop to pitch to 10 new companies, gaining interest from 8 of them and providing follow-up presentations to four—all of whom became new sponsors of the organization.
Planting Seeds that will Grow
While the ventures that received support from Anna and Michael have already demonstrated impressive progress toward building smarter, more accessible, and more impactful brands, the consultants believe that their efforts will have an even greater affect as the ventures continue to practice what they have learned and apply it in bold new ways. Anna reflects, “We are looking forward to seeing these organizations grow and replicate across Peru, and even in other countries in the region. Their passion, combined with hard work and growing knowledge, ensures that their businesses are bound for success.”
Want to learn more about how YouthActionNet matches youth-led ventures to pro-bono consulting? Learn more about our University Connect program, and check out the most recent results.
