Kale Group Provides Major Support to Social Entrepreneurs

Kale Grubu Provides Major Support to Social Entrepreneurs The Ibrahim Bodur Social Entrepreneurship Award Program, launched by Kale Grubu to support social entrepreneurs who feel responsible toward the world and environment in which they live and show the courage to take action to improve lives, multiplying the positive impact they create, has generated TRY 24.5 million in added value in the ecosystem over the past 5 years through the social entrepreneurs it supported. Kale Grubu Chairman and CEO Zeynep Bodur Okyay stated that they are investing in the ecosystem's sustainable growth, explaining: "The impact analysis we conducted to evaluate the past 5 years showed us that the program made significant contributions to increasing the visibility of social entrepreneurs and expanding their areas of impact, created valuable partnership opportunities, and has become stronger and more inclusive with each passing year." The winners of the sixth year of the Ibrahim Bodur Social Entrepreneurship Award Program were also announced. In the program organized with the support of Impact Hub Istanbul, following an evaluation conducted among nearly 300 applications, 'Esmiyor' was selected in the Early Stage category, 'Up School' in the Advanced Stage category, 'This Mana & Yargıcı' in the Partnership category, and 'Biriktir' in the Youth category. The winners of the Ibrahim Bodur Social Entrepreneurship Award Program, which aims to keep alive the values of Ibrahim Bodur, founder of Kale Grubu and one of the prominent figures in Turkish industry, were announced at a ceremony held at The Seed on Friday, 2 December.

"The Ibrahim Bodur Social Entrepreneurship Award Program is becoming more inclusive and stronger"

Kale Grubu Chairman and CEO Zeynep Bodur Okyay, noting that the number of social entrepreneurs in our country needs to increase, continued her remarks as follows: "Drawing inspiration from the unique development model created by Ibrahim Bodur, as a company that generates social benefit and contributes to our country's economy, we saw that our path intersects with social entrepreneurs and aimed to contribute to supporting the growth of these initiatives. We are also pleased that with the Ibrahim Bodur Social Entrepreneurship Award Program, which we are implementing for the sixth time this year, we have designed a program that can leave a social impact." [caption id="attachment_147216" align="aligncenter"] Zeynep Bodur Okyay[/caption]

Zeynep Bodur Okyay, explaining that they prepared an impact analysis to assess the previous five years of the program, continued her remarks as follows:

"The impact analysis showed us that we increased the visibility of social entrepreneurs who made their collaboration with Kale Grubu sustainable and strengthened the ecosystem, and expanded their areas of impact. Over 5 years, together with the social entrepreneurs we supported, we created TRY 24.5 million in added value in the ecosystem. Feedback from participants demonstrates that the program is becoming increasingly more inclusive and stronger."   Zeynep Bodur Okyay, who stated that the Ibrahim Bodur Social Entrepreneurship Award Program has become the most important community in Turkey's social entrepreneurship ecosystem, indicated that in line with the impact report results and the awareness gained over 5 years, they will deepen the program in areas such as community building, networking, platform provision, and access to funding sources.  

Financial support for social entrepreneurs

Social entrepreneurs who won first place in the Early Stage, Advanced Stage, Partnership and Youth categories were awarded cash prizes of TRY 120,000. Additionally, a ceramic seed sculpture signed by ceramic artist M. Tüzüm Kızılcan, a student of Füreya Koral, Turkey's first contemporary ceramic artist, was presented as a gift.