Enniscorthy native, Mamobo Ogoro has won a place on Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s (SEI) Changing Ireland Accelerator, for her work reducing stigma, unifying across cultural difference and advancing belonging for underrepresented communities. The Changing Ireland Accelerator is a €500,000 investment from SEI, supported by Google.org and in collaboration with INCO, into nationally scaling organisations supporting underserved and/or underrepresented communities in Ireland.
Inadequate representation in media can contribute to social exclusion and discrimination, hindering efforts to build inclusive societies. According to the 2022 Irish census, non-Irish nationals accounted for approximately 12% of the population, yet their representation in Irish media remains significantly low. A 2019 study by the Migrants and Ethnic-Minorities for Reproductive Justice (MERJ) highlighted that ethnic minorities were underrepresented in the Irish media, with only 1% of news sources being from non-white backgrounds.
GORM, founded by social entrepreneur Mamobo Ogoro, helps bridge connections and conversations across communities through a unique blend of expertise in social psychology and creative media. They focus on creating innovative digital media, intercultural education and events. On average, GORM’s online platforms receive 80,000 monthly views and have grown to 7,000+ subscribers since 2020. GORM works with new and migrant communities, the LGBTQIA+ and disabled community.
Ms Ogoro commented “I was literally in tears of joy when we were accepted to the Changing Ireland Accelerator, this will allow to scale our impact, and realise our big vision.”
SEI chose the successful awardees from more than 70 applications, leveraging its nearly 20 years of experience in identifying the highest potential social entrepreneurs. The interview process combines the expertise of more than 300 entrepreneurs, Irish business leaders, technical consultants and corporate partners. The four chosen organisations demonstrated a well-proven model to tackle a significant social issue affecting the people of Ireland and will benefit from the €500,000 programme to scale and grow their organisation beyond its current level. The other three organisations being supported on the programme are:
- Dabbledoo – Shane McKenna: an independent Irish company dedicated to providing primary schools with the resources, training and support to deliver high-quality and accessible arts and music education.
- Her Sport – Niamh Tallon & Mohammed Mahomed: Her Sport empowers and advocates for girls and women in sport.
- Helium Arts – Helene Hugel: aims to reduce the social isolation of children living with long-term health conditions through the arts. Helium Arts are working in Limerick city as part of their community programme supporting young people (6-18) with conditions like epilepsy, juvenile arthritis and heart conditions.
The Changing Ireland Accelerator will provide bespoke support to the four organisations based on their stated needs. SEI will focus on supporting them in areas such as leadership development, marketing and communications, strategic planning and how they can continue to fund their mission.
Google.org will be fully funding the costs of this programme in 2023 with a grant of €500,000. This follows as part of its European-wide pledge of €20 million cash funding through the Google.org Social Innovation Fund to support underserved social innovators across Europe. Running in parallel to the Changing Ireland Accelerator, INCO will disperse the funding as cash sub-grants administered to the participants.
