OREANDA-NEWS. Tele2, an alternative mobile operator, and the Reach of Change foundation for social initiatives have summed up results of the All-Russia contest of social entrepreneurs “Reach for Change 2015” and announced six winners.

A final session of the jury for the Reach of Change contest took place on 10 February. The jury was entered by Tatyana Burmistrova, Chairman of the Reach for Change managing council, Jere Calmes, Deputy CEO at Tele2, Svetlana Skvortsova, Strategy Director of Tele2, Anna Tyushkevich, member of the Metro newspaper BoD, Aleksey Krol, CEO of Viasat Group, Artem Lysov, Marketing Director of Viasat Group. 

The jury has announced six winners of the Reach of Change contest. They are social entrepreneurs who masterminded most interesting, promising and innovative projects to tackle childhood problems:

1. Natalya Belogolovtseva (Moscow), the “Dream ski” project

2. Nadezhda Samoylova (St. Petersburg), Nadezhda Samoylova kindergartens

3. Svetlana Vasilyeva (Irkutsk), the autonomous non-profit organization of preschool education “Vasilek”

4. Zoya Boytseva and Alla Mallabiu (St. Petersburg), the “I hear you” project

5. Yevgeniy Zeynalov (Novosibirsk), the centre of scientific entertainment “Evrikum”

6. Svetlana Udelnaya and Kseniya Mikheyeva (Kirov), the “Right of art” project

For each of the winners, the foundation will provide initial finance over one year at 1.2 mn rubles as well as consulting services in promoting the project as business incubator and its support on the territory of the region.

The contest inspired over 400 social entrepreneurs to create new opportunities for education, leisure and full-fledged life of children in small towns and average Russian cities, support and rehabilitation of children with special needs, consulting troubled kids and teenagers, socializing and adaptation of foster homes graduates, helping kids from multi-child and needy families.

Svetlana Skvortsova, Strategy Director at Tele2:

“Since 2012, Tele2 has been a partner of the Reach for Change foundation that is seeking to change lives of children and teenagers for the best. We believe that our role in supporting social entrepreneurs may entail stable and long-term results. The contest winners who want to realize themselves in social sphere will get additional financial, organizational and expert support on the part of business. We are aiming to give these people an opportunity to realize their potential in deeds so important for our country.”

Tatyana Burmistrova, Chairman of the Reach for Change managing council:

“We are glad that we could involve several hundreds of social entrepreneurs in working out solutions to childhood problems in many regions of our country. I am sure that not only six winners but also many other participants in the contest will be able to change children’s lives for the best. Our aim is not only to find most talented and promising ones but also to show that social entrepreneurship is available to everyone who is taking things personally, who is able to help people and open new opportunities for them.”