SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

SINA unleashes the potentials of disadvantaged youth in Africa to become the change they wish to see

As disadvantaged and refugee youth, we transcend our challenging experiences through SINA’s freesponsible and self-organized five-step empowerment process. We develop personal and professional skills and uncover our life purposes, refusing to let our pasts define our futures. With the power of education in our hands, we acquire skills and experiences necessary to become social entrepreneurs.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2015

Established

2.15K

Children

6

Countries

Target group

Community

Updated

April 2024

We envision education which is freesponsible and regenerative. SINA scholars become changemakers and shift from being passive recipients of aid to active drivers of their own future, one person and one community at a time within self-organized and freesponsible "SINAs."

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

Unemployment stands at the heart of hopelessness among youth in Africa. With the youth population expected to double by 2050, young people lack opportunities and prospects, which fuels instability and perpetuates poverty. In response, SINA transforms these challenges into pathways for empowerment and entrepreneurship.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

"I'm living my dream instead of dreaming my life!" Joseph Bwinika, SINA alumni from the Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda

SINA enables disadvantaged and refugee communities to transform challenges into opportunities and become the change they wish to see across 15 African communities and refugee camps. Each SINA learning environment unites 50 to 100 youths to locally own and locally self-organize through the freesponsible SINA Framework and transform their challenges into opportunities. Each SINA is for the community, by the community. All SINAs collaborate with each other to achieve a greater outcome than what could be achieved alone.

By taking on responsibilities and roles to run SINA, youths create their own curriculum and gain the skills and experience necessary to develop social enterprises. Unlike in formal educational institutions, we do not graduate with a certificate and drown in unemployment. Graduation happens when a social enterprise is financially self-sustainable.

How has it been spreading?

A self-organized replication approach allows new communities to experience SINA first hand, go through the framework to have a deep transformation like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly and be equipped with everything needed to successfully replicate the framework in a new location. Our social enterprises have been honored by 25+ international awards and featured on e.g. CNN, BBC or Al Jazeera. Notable SINA alumni have been recognized by the Pope, Obama, or the Queen of England. SINA won the UNHCR Innovation Award, the Ockenden Prize, the Tony Hsieh Award, the Pan African Award for Entrepreneurship in Education and the Modern Work Award.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Our work has been substantiated through various evaluations, which have shown positive outcomes on personal and professional growth, income, job creation and social and environmental impact. SINA does not just talk about change; we embody it, continuously unfolding our evolutionary purpose for a world which works for everyone. Join us by visiting, joining or replicating the SINA Framework.

Media

Learning by Founding - SINA as a Case Study for Entrepreneurship Education in Refugee Camps - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

SINA wins UNHCR NGO Innovation Award - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

SINA winning the Tony Hsieh Award 2022 - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

SINA wins the Ockenden International Prize 2023 - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

Empowering the Next Generation: A Spotlight on SINA's Impact - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

Unlocking Personal Growth and Empowering Communities: Reflections from the current SINA replicators on their replication journey so far… - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

Thank You for Joining the 12 hour SINA Changemaker-maker Virtual Live Event! - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

Agency In Focus: The Concept, and the Social Innovation Academy (SINA) - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

Return on Investment after Social Innovation: Study Results from SINA - SINA (Social Innovation Academy)

Implementation steps

Confusion Stage

Intense and structured training three months training about unlearning limiting beliefs, getting rid of the fear of failing, expanding one's comfort zone, discovering oneself and one's personal purpose and setting goals and action steps to achieve the personal goals. Focuses on personal development, self-reflection, building a growth mindset and the ability of a scholar to challenge themselves. Experiential, problem-based, learning by doing in a responsible way.

Emerging Stage

Scholars use Holacracy to self-organize and gain hands-on experience in finance, logistics, and outreach, building their own curriculum through the roles taken. Through Freesponsibility, they understand the impact of their actions. Decision-making goes beyond hierarchy or consensus, with role-holders holding each other accountable. Teams conduct customer research to validate new social enterprise ideas. Scholars stay as long as needed, continuously growing and contributing to the community.

Concentration Stage

Five-day bootcamp for social enterprise ideas and teams to validate assumptions and gain traction. Scholars pitch to judges and can receive prize money for further implementation. Working spaces and mentoring are provided. Those not chosen try again in the next Bootcamp, returning to the Emerging stage to continue growing in skills and abilities until another idea gains traction.

Linking Stage

Suppose an enterprise has generated revenues of at least 150 USD per month for three consecutive months. In that case, it enters the linking stage, where it is supported to formalize, register and be accelerated through intense mentoring to grow the impact and create financial forecasts, pitch decks and a business plan.

Mastery Stage

Scholars have graduated from SINA with their own jobs and social enterprises established instead of a certificate. In the final path, called the Mastery Stage, alumni usually stay in close contact with SINA and often become mentors and coaches of new scholars to pass on the skills and experiences they gained. At this stage, the social enterprise is financially self-sustainable and has substantial positive social and/or environmental impact.