Mozaik Foundation: Social Impact As a Business Goal

This post was originally published on Dive in Social. If you like this content ike our, join our closed discussion group and get our weekly newsletter featuring the best of Dive in Social.

Building social capital, this is the flag raised by Mozaik, a foundation that intends to change Bosnia & Herzegvina (BiH) investing in what they consider to be the main resource their society has: youth. One of the main challenges pointed out by Bosnians — the most prominent among youngsters — is low employment rates. World Bank data shows that unemployment level among youth in the Balkan country is above 60%.

The job creation rate in BiH does not follow the pace of qualified workforce that taps into the job market and the options left usually include migrating to a European Union country, trying a stable career as a public servant or “becoming a football player, reality show celebrity, they don’t have good references of entrepreneurial mindset”, Vesna Bajšanski-Agić, Mozaik Foudation executive director tells us. In order to change this landscape, Mozaik has a very bold goal: “by 2025, creating a group of young entrepreneurs and innovators that will build successful social businesses, create jobs and become an example to the 70% young Bosnians that dream of leaving the country”.

According to Vesna, it is not a lack of funds that is stopping e Foundation from achieving its goals, “what is missing is trust, due to our history. We don’t trust each other, even on a community level. There are always the risks to be taken and it’s easy to find reasons to avoid taking risks together with that other person”, she tells us.

Then, Mozaik has developed its own methodology to make non-refundable investments. It is not necessary to pay the full amount back, but finding an equivalent local contribution. By doing so, we manage to create engagement of people towards certain causes”.

the solution proposed by Mozaik seems to work, according to its reports, in 2004, only 20% of all the funds directed to finance projects came from the own community. In 10 years, this amount supasses 56%. “We have learned that it is necessary to let the community choose what they want to do wi the money. We may visit them and see that there is a school missing a roof, but they want to build a park. It is not up to us to decide that the school is priority, because if they do what they want to, they feel they are in charge. Thus, it is possible to build trust and let them establish their leaderships and allocate their resources locally. Then, the school roof will eventually be taken care of”, Vesna says.

“We must let the members of the community choose what to do wit the money. If they do what they want to, they feel they’re are in charge. Then, it is possible to build trust and let them establish their own leaderships and allocate their resources locally”

Social impact as a business goal

“Mozaik is in another level”. This is how the Foundation is known in the Balkans, a reputation earned out of the partnerships it forges with initiatives from the neighboring countries. Having a available funds and support from EU and other big players of the social entrepreneurship world, Mozaik consolidate itself as a reference in the region. But not everything is perfect, although they already envision the possible solutions. “We are creating solutions and approaching certain problems, but we are still not sustainable, the foundation is not sustainable. Now we have to be there wi a Euro to mobilize three more Euro, so for us, social entrepreneurship is the right answer because it provides for the Foundation, ponders Vesna. Mozaik now has two social business under its umbrella: EkoMozaik, which works with sustainable agriculture and Маšta, a communication and events agency.

For Vesna, impact is the only thing that matters, and she makes sure to reinforce that, as in any other business segment, when it comes to social impact it is mandatory to define clear goals. “If you are the CEO of a car company and your goal is having a certain value as profit, you cannot say, when you deadline comes, that “something happened and your goal has not been achieved”. You will find any way possible to reach the goal. The same applies with impact, we know where e want to be in the next 10 years and we know how to measure whether our actions worked out and changed what is needed in the process, she argues. For Mozaik, a social business is, before anything else, is a business. “It won’t work without productivity and without knowing what you want to reach”, Vesna assures.

This post was originally published on Dive in Social. If you like this content like our, join our closed discussion group and get our weekly newsletter featuring the best of Dive in Social.

The post Mozaik Foundation: Social Impact As a Business Goal appeared first on Your Mark On The World.