Entrepreneurial activities have been on the rise in Baltimore for the past few year. Today, it is going to be the very first site in the U.S. for Red Bull Amaphiko, which is a social impact program. The program was created by the energy drink seller, red bull; and it runs the Red Bull Amaphiko Academy. The Red Bull Amaphiko Academy was opened in 2014 in South Africa, it also is currently opening in Brazil.
Amaphiko is Zulu word that means “Wings”, which is linked to the Red Bull logo and brand; and also the track record that the company has in backing innovators. The executive director and co-founder of Impact Hub Baltimore , Michelle Geiss said, “They see social entrepreneurs as extraordinary individuals in the social change space.” Impact Hub Baltimore is a community space that is currently working with Red Bull.
Stated to start in August, the academy begins with a residency program that is to last for 10 days, in Baltimore, this is for 15 – 20 nonprofits and profit social entrepreneurs. There is then the 18-month follow-on. During this time, the participant go back home to meet their mentors and work. The mentors are specialists that are knowledgeable and can offer advice on design, marketing or any other topic/niche they need help with. “The goal is to ensure that people increase the impact they have on their communities and stay connected through a network,”, another co-founder of Impact Hub Baltimore, Rodney Foxworth. Applications are open to social entrepreneurs until April 30th.
Social enterprises that have been part of previous academies have performed the complete range. Some instances include, the recent South African academy that was included in Lady Liberty. Lady Liberty is a venture in Johannesburg that visits remote and poor communities and provide services such as pro-bono legal information to women. Aeon Power Bag in Midrand, has a product that is able to convert telecom signals into electricity, this electricity is used to power devices for school children in rural areas. Senso, an enterprise in Pretoria has a technology that utilizes the vibrations in LED lights and these vibrations allows deaf people to detect sounds that are necessary for day to day life.
Why is Baltimore the next location? Well, According to Geiss, an academy mentor who is a Baltimore native and a photographer pointed the city as a good location. So, in 2015, the company went into talks with people behind, Impact Hub, who were just starting to look into the area.
“They responded to the energy of the people here,” she says.
Apart from Impact Hub, other recognized social entrepreneurial activities include names like, Invested Impact which is a social innovation started by Foxworth in 2015. Invested Impact is a consulting firm, venture philanthropy and social innovation; and a policy institute that focuses on economic development. Last year, Invested Impact worked with Calvert Foundation alongside other partners to open the Ours To Own campaign. Ours To Own campaign is a locally based impact investment initiative which allows both institutions and individuals to make place-based investments. These investments can be made with as little as $20 while earning 3% interest over the course of 10 years, $4.2 million is raised.