Encouraging entrepreneurship is one of the main tools for promoting social inclusion. In addition to generating jobs, the enormous importance of entrepreneurship lies in allowing people, from all social strata, to develop their skills and intellectual capacities. For this reason, the third edition of the Ampliando Fronteiras project, by the Ramacrisna Institute, with the support of BrazilFoundation and the City of Igarapé, is aimed at training, financing and monitoring young local entrepreneurs. In December, the 15 selected projects will start receiving R$ 15,000 to invest in their businesses.

“Developed countries like the UK and Israel have already proven that supporting entrepreneurship is the key to the future. In Brazil, we need a comprehensive cultural change and initiatives such as Ampliando Fronteiras that promote diversity, inclusion and encourage businesses led by young people from all spectrums of society”, says the project coordinator at the Ramacrisna Institute, Joice Borem.

Case

Despite being only 25 years old, Jhaymes Ronald has a lot of history to tell. He has been working in the beauty industry for approximately 10 years and owns JR Espaço da Beleza, located in the Novo Horizonte neighborhood in Igarapé. At the end of 2020, he was afraid of losing the company: “In the midst of a pandemic, I found out that I had cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma nodular sclerosis grade |||, with cervical and hepatic involvement. I underwent chemotherapy treatment, and due to the discomfort it caused, I spent many days without work”, he says..

After six months of treatment, Jhaymes is cured of the disease and is currently only monitoring. “In addition to going through the healing process, I met several people in the same situation and I could see how important appearance is for each one. With this new life opportunity, I decided to bring a differential, in addition to delivering a beautiful result, to try to raise my clients’ self-esteem through their look”.

In September 2022, the micro-entrepreneur started renovating the space and found out about the project. According to him, it aroused a lot of interest, as it was the chance to acquire knowledge about business and still have the financial help necessary to finish his work.

“My intention is to provide my customers with comfort and sophistication, change my furniture and add a chair, washbasin, waiting chair, buy modern equipment that facilitates the ability of the products to act and work with a better line of products. All this to better serve and attract more and more customers to my space, which will contribute to my dream of opening a company to help new professionals in the area to be recognized in the market and grow individually”.

Development

Expanding Frontiers began in June this year and ends in July 2023. 80% of entrepreneurs are between 18 and 29 years old and the other 20% are up to 33 years old. 68 young people signed up and underwent on-site training at Sebrae, in which they began to redesign their business model. Then, they held a workshop, when they received guidance from a Sebrae consultant for opening MEI.

In October, after carrying out a pitch (presentation), a panel of Sebrae consultants selected the 15 best projects, within pre-established criteria. From the 7th to the 25th of November, selected entrepreneurs received three individual business modeling consultations. Soon after, in December, they will receive the contribution of resources, whose execution will be monitored by a project manager.

About Instituto Ramacrisna

The Institute was founded in 1959 by journalist Arlindo Corrêa da Silva, and has already impacted the lives of almost 2 million people in 13 cities in Greater Belo Horizonte over the last 63 years. Located in Betim/MG, Ramacrisna is considered a reference in self-sustainability projects. The Institute also has a partnership with Fundação Dom Cabral since 2008, with the aim of training managers and implementing management tools to improve internal processes.

This year, it gained international recognition for the first time: Thedotgood (former NGO Advisor) conquering the 178th position in the global ranking and the 12th in the Brazilian ranking, in addition to the 2022 ODS Brazil Strategy Award, which recognizes and values ​​practices aligned with the SDGs, developed by organizations affiliated to the SDG Strategy Network. In the last six years, Ramacrisna has been among the 100 best NGOs in Brazil, according to the Best NGOs Award. . In 2018 it was elected the best Social Assistance Organization in the country and in 2020 it received the Transparent NGO seal.