Young Entrepreneurs Drive Enhancements in Programme for Domestic Violence Survivors

The professional repercussions of domestic violence are profound and far-reaching, impacting survivors' career planning, daily work routines and growth opportunities. Particularly, women who have endured domestic violence often find themselves in precarious employment situations, such as casual and part-time roles, leading to significantly lower earnings.

On the 2nd of March, 2024, the ICHEC Brussels Management School hosted a landmark event showcasing the outcomes of Project EASE, an initiative designed to support domestic violence survivors through entrepreneurship. The event, spearheaded by ThinkYoung in partnership with Junior Enterprises Europe, gathered over 100 dynamic young entrepreneurs and featured insights from three distinguished experts in entrepreneurship and EU policy.

Project EASE provides an innovative approach to domestic violence, aiming to help survivors get back on track by equipping them with entrepreneurial skills, coaching and mentorship. The training programme spanned over six months and was implemented in three pilot projects, successfully launched in France, Bulgaria and Czechia.

The event kicked off with opening remarks from Marilena Toumazou from ThinkYoung, where she presented the project’s results to date. After that, a panel discussion with experts took place, where they shared their expertise on entrepreneurship and EU SME policy–while providing critical insights on the EASE approach.

The event culminated in a workshop with Manuela Draganova, who oversaw the Bulgarian pilot. During the discussion, young entrepreneurs were asked about potential improvements for the EASE project and its implementation in other countries. Their leading suggestions for improving the programme were:

Establishing collaborations with organisations such as Junior Enterprises Europe to reach a greater European audience.
Improving communication on the project to increase visibility and awareness.
Collaborating with the local partners and municipalities to extend the project’s reach.
Creating an ambassadors’ network to raise awareness about the project and to showcase its effectiveness
Using more quantitative data to present the results.

The event was heralded as a success, as participants were highly engaged and made numerous suggestions about replicating the programme, which was the event’s event’s focal point.

The speakers that participated in the Panel Discussion:

Prof. Dr Judith Behrens, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Manuela Draganova, Coach and Entrepreneurship Teacher
Daniela Santopolo, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG Internal Market, Industry and SMEs. Unit D1 – Skills, Services, Profession.
Marilena Toumazou, Head of Projects at ThinkYoung

For more information, please contact Mr Hubert Falkowski at admin@thinkyoung.eu

OUR PARTNERS

The organization works in the field of gender equality, prevention of domestic violence, reproductive rights and anti-discrimination by providing information, elaboration and production of researches, analyses and draft laws.

Led By HER is France’s first pro bono to offer reconstruction through entrepreneurship to women victims of visible or invisible violence. Our learners take back leadership of their life and acquire new skills.

The IPAG Business School is a French private business school founded in 1965 by Jacques Rueff. It is located in Paris, Nice, Los Angeles and Kunming. IPAG, French Business School Through a dozen programmes geared towards the professions of tomorrow, it trains responsible, open-minded and committed managers.

Munich Business School is an officially accredited private higher education institution. It offers education programs for more than 650 students, 50% coming from outside of Germany.

The University of New York in Prague is a private higher education institution in Prague, Czech Republic. It was established in 1998 in cooperation with the State University of New York at New Paltz and Empire State College, both part of the State University of New York.

It is a not-for-profit organisation, with the aim of making the world a better place for young people, by involving them in decision making processes and by providing decision makers with high-quality research on key issues affecting young people.