Media company and advocate of Women’s Sport in Ireland HerSport has been named as one of four companies to be awarded a place on the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) Changing Ireland Accelerator Programme for 2023.
This is a twelve-month programme for nationally scaling organisations supporting underserved and/or underrepresented communities in Ireland. It is the highest offering programme from SEI, who in 2024, will enter its 20 th year supporting social entrepreneurs.
SEI chose HerSport and three other companies in arts, education and inclusion from more than 70 applications.
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 major 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.
HerSport was Co-founded by Niamh Tallon and Mohammed Mahomed, both alumni of the Sport for Business PwC 30 Under 30 programme, in 2020, to empower and advocate for girls and women in sport.
Niamh and Mohammed are tackling gender disparity in sports by delivering educational workshops to schools, clubs and businesses discussing barriers for women in sport and how to overcome them, and by creating daily media coverage to highlight and showcase women in sports.
“These exceptional individuals have demonstrated remarkable dedication to creating positive change within their communities and beyond,” said Tim Griffiths CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland.
“Over the next 12 months, we will harness the cumulative power of the SEI community to support the winners to significantly grow their impact and create accelerated change.”
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.
“In line with our commitment to serve our local community, Google Ireland is delighted to continue its relationship with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland by supporting the Changing Ireland Accelerator programme,” said Adaire Fox-Martin, head of Google Ireland and President for Google Cloud globally.
“I would like to congratulate Shane, Mamobo, Helene, Niamh, and Mohammed and wish them my very best as they take the next steps in their journey. This is not the last we will hear of these creative change-makers, and I look forward to watching them realise their potential and ultimately provide even greater impact in their communities.”
