Building Peace Through Entrepreneurship in Cyprus

Temperatures are rising and we're getting busier as we end Q2 and enter the second half of the year with great energy! As always, we're excited to share our 2nd quarterly impact report of 2023, keeping you in the loop on the incredible experiences taking place in this special space we built together!

With your great support, hundreds of young entrepreneurs and innovators from communities across our divided island continue to benefit from coworking, mentoring, podcasting, networking, free resources, expert panels, and more that empowers them to build and scale their ideas as well as create lasting relationships and potential collaborations, or what we refer to as sustainable peace through entrepreneurship.

In this quarterly update, we showcase some of the key activities and efforts that have contributed to this impact since our last update, including but not limited to:

• Fostering island-wide collaborations via our coworking, with our resident teams, and a another large-scale networking event that hosted 300+ business & society reps, business stalls, and expert panels
• Mentoring the next generation of food waste innovators during a month of intensive, hands-on mentorship
• The recording of multiple podcast series in our studio with diverse guests on topics of business, equality, human rights, etc.

As a community center, we also have the privilege of supporting other amazing initiatives by local organizations who, in partnership with us, hosted activities at The Base.

• A hands-on workshop and networking on green entrepreneurship ideation exploring creative solutions for sustainable living
• Various tours and visits with local organizations, universities, and regional stakeholders

We are also excited to update you on some major milestones that happened during this time:

• Officially launched our Academy for Women Entrepreneurship (AWE), a free 3-month program supporting women launching or scaling their own businesses through in-person/online training
• Participated in an "Investing in Peace" panel at the ImpactDays conference in Vienna, Central Europe's leading impact investment conference Renovated our outdoor space with new furniture for coworking outside during warmer months!
• Presented at Cyprus' Social Innovation Forum on our contributions to the social innovation ecosystem in Cyprus and our evolutionary plans for the next 2-3 years
• Launched our second SDG campaign around World Oceans Day offering free coworking

Even though we are halfway through the year, we feel like we're just getting started! There's so much more planned for the rest of 2023 and we look forward to sharing outcomes during our next report. Your support helped make all this possible. Once again, we sincerely thank you for your belief in our vision.

Links:

• The Launch of Our New Academy for Women Entrepreneurs
• View/Download our Full June 2023 Quarterly Donor Impact Report

We've just concluded the 1st quarter of an exciting new year and we're thrilled to share our first quarterly impact report of 2023, bringing you up-to-speed on amazing moments that have occurred in this special space we have built together!

With your great support, hundreds of young entrepreneurs and innovators from communities across our divided island continue to benefit from hackathons, diverse panels and hands-on trainings, networking, coworking space, podcasting, and more that has helped them in building skills as well as creating lasting relationships and potential collaborations, or what we refer to as sustainable peace through entrepreneurship.

In this quarterly update, we'll bring to the forefront a few key moments that have contributed to this impact since our last report, including but not limited to:

• Fostering island-wide collaborations via our coworking, with new resident teams, and community events of 100+ participants
• A 3-day weekend Food Waste Hackathon with UNDP, the European Commission, and various local Embassies that brought together 50+ social innovators and experts from across the island to build innovative solutions together
• The recording of multiple podcast series in our studio with diverse guests

Our ongoing operations as a community space also helped us support other amazing initiatives by local organisations who, in partnership with us, hosted activities at The Base. These initiatives included but were not limited to:

• An interactive workshop on financial management for new or aspiring young Cypriot social entrepreneurs just starting out
• A half-day tour and panel Q&A with Radbound University on intercommunal relations
• A social innovation training with participants from multiple European countries focusing on skills necessary for social enterprise

We are also excited to update you on significant milestones that happened during this time:

• Welcomed our newest team member, Alexia, as our Community Manager leading day-to-day operations, programming & fostering our vibrant community (she's already making a huge impact)
• Featured in UN Peacekeeping's global Action for Peacekeeping story series
• Received the Stelios Bicommunal Award for promoting lasting peace in Cyprus via business
• Launched our first SDG campaign around World Water Day and offered in-kind coworking resources to intercommunal water projects

We have many exciting things in the pipeline for the rest of 2023, including more startup training, more panels and events, new upgrades to the space, and more mentorship! Your support helped make all of this possible. So, once again, we sincerely thank you for your belief in our vision.

Links:

• Wrap up video of the Food Waste Hackathon
• Our feature in UN Peacekeeping's Global Story Series
• View/Download our Full Mar 2023 Quarterly Donor Impact Report