Since childhood, Hortense has a profound sens of social justice specially when talented people can not realize their full potential. Against the odds, Hortense quitted a promising career at BCG to launch Codi, a free programming apprenticeship based in Beirut. Their mission is to use coding and digital skills to enable inclusion and employment, and as a catalyst…
Author: romainsion
Privileged to be part of a mission driven team aiming at backing outstanding tech entrepreneurs and at fighting against social inequalities. @blisce/ & @EpicFoundation
VC Investment director @blisce/ Growth stage venture investment firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build mission-driven global consumer brands and technology companies. Portfolio companies includes: Spotify, Alibaba, Pinterest, BlaBlaCar, Casper, Boxed, Gwynnie Bee, FanDuel, Harry's, Adore Me, Bird, Dice
Passionate about entrepreneurship, technology & social impact. Website: https://romainsion.fr/
Negzzia, Refugee, Homeless and Super Model. She Fights For a Dream
My name is Negzzia. I was born on February 9, 1990 in Tehran, Iran. My mother is a yoga teacher and my father is an engineer. I am the only child. Since my childhood, I am passionate about the world of cinema, fashion, Art. From 18 to 24 years old, I worked as a photographer in Iran. When I…
Loubna is Fighting for Inclusion by Enabling Every Woman to Live from Her Cooking Talents
✋Nowadays, inclusion is one of the main challenge in France🇨🇵. Most people from different social background, country 🌍and religion do not know 🗣️each other and it often leads to misunderstandings. Back in 2017, Loubna with her two Co-founders found an impactful solution💡 which could be turned into a business🚀: Meet My Mama. It is an…
Hubert, The Mission Driven Man Who Recycles Bicycle Tires With Disabled Persons
👋Two years ago, Hubert identified🎯 a major pain point. In France🇨🇵, more than 400 000 disabled♿ persons were looking for a job and 10M old bicycle 🚲tires were burn every year. Can we combine social & environmental impact in a single company? YES! In 2017, La Vie Est Belt was born as a social and environmental…
At GoJob, Sylvain Leverages a Temporary Worker Marketplace as a Powerful Inclusion Tool for Jobless Persons
Have you already heard about the startup GoJob? Gojob is a leading marketplace for temporary workers. They offer temporary assignments to a pool of 50 000 temporary workers throughout France. Their mission is clear: offer a job with a decent living wage, social benefits and a real capacity to progress to all who want to work, whatever…
After Overseeing Hollywood Movies Such As Xmen & Start Wars, Scott Neeson Quitted Everything To Support Marginalized Kids
👋Have you already heard 👂about the Steung Meanchey garbage dump🗑️ in Cambodia🇰🇭 also called Smokey 💨Mountain? Until 2009, hundreds of children👩💼👨💼 were picking garbage to be sold for recycling♻️ on this 6 hectares dumping ground. It was one of the most toxic☣️ environment imaginable. Since 2004, Cambodian Children’s fund CCF is fighting to transform impoverished kids…
The Futures Factory, an NGO Led Shopping Center For Social Enterprises in Cambodia
✌️As you know, I travelled 🌏this summer🌞 to Cambodia 🇰🇭for a full immersion with Friends International which is a leading social enterprise🚀 saving😀 lives and building⚒️ futures of the most marginalized children 👦👧in South East Asia. Their secret sauce is brilliant🌟. They are building social enterprises to teach 👨🏫youth practical & soft skills in promising industries🍴💇♂️…
Darong Transferred 5 schools for Deaf & Blind Children to the Ministry of Education in Cambodia
✌️We met Darong Chour, director of the 🚀NGO☀️ Krousar Thmey. A leading NGO based in Cambodia 🇰🇭supporting blind and deaf children👨👧. The adventure started because in the 1990s, there were no infrastructures🏗️ to support blind and deaf children. Education 👨🏫was the key🗝️ priority. To make sure children get a proper education👨🎓, the team developed a Khmer version of the Braille…
Frederic Is Leading A Team of 600 Water Entrepreneurs In Cambodia
👋We had the chance 🍀to cross the road🚶 of Frederic Dubois 👨who is leading a team of 600 water 💦entrepreneurs🚀. In rural areas⛏️, water contamination is the leading cause of disease🤒 and death ☠️in these populations. The association 1001 fountains, does it speak to you?📣 An exciting 😃adventure on access to drinking water 💦in rural areas! They are…
Rithy Ambitions To Create An Eco-Community To Protect 100 000 Hectares From Deforestation
👋At 17 years old, Rithy Thul👦 had lost almost everything 🙇… However, he is an entrepreneur at heart♥️ and a fighter⚔️! In his thirties, he is now the central 🎯figure of the Cambodia🇰🇭 startup ecosystem with a company producing state-of-the-art computers💻 mixing power 🌀and accessibility🔓, the first co-working 🏢space launched in Cambodia, as well as the status of the most…
Friends International Is Convinced About The Benefits Of Tech & Aims At Being Fully Digitalized
👋After completing our mission 🚀at Friends International which was to support 🤝on the identification and implementation of a recruitment platform to ensure the matching 🔥/ tracking🔎 of hundreds of beneficiaries👦👧, we shared our report📄. We have recommended the implementation of two integrated solutions🖥️: Oscar and Salesforce. What we really appreciated is their real desire to digitalize all their programs. We had interesting…
Digitalization As A Powerful Tool To Make NGO’s Operations More Efficient
👋Convincing a donor to🌠 support an 👨🏫educational program is much more concrete and attractive 🧲than financing 💰office rentals or IT 💻 software that are just as important. Many NGOs are therefore forced to under-staff or✂️ limit certain key expenditure items, particularly those related to the admin. To our knowledge, 3 levers may apply to cover…
Friends International Set to Turn Street Kids Into Business Owners
👋Friends International was founded 🚀25 years ago by a French 🇨🇵social entrepreneur, Sebastien Marot. This NGO 🌠can be considered as a social enterprise. Their mission is clear: protecting marginalized children 👦👧and their families and training👨🏫 them with professional skills leading to a full time employment 👨💼in Cambodia 🇰🇭& South East Asia. We have been impressed by the professionalism…
Moussa Trains the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs To Fight For Social Integration
✌️In sensitive 💥urban areas in France🇨🇵, the unemployment rate is 2X📈 higher than the national average. For Moussa, economic integration is the cornerstone of social success🚀. In 2015, Moussa launched Les Déterminés, a mission driven🌠 NGO🌠 aiming at supporting the success of entrepreneurs in sensitive💥 urban and rural areas. Self-taught👨🏫 and resolutely audacious, Moussa started…
Benoit Created The Khmer Braille For Blind Children In Cambodia
👋Do you know the life ⚕️expectancy of a Cambodian🇰🇭 child becoming blind in the 90’s ? 2 years! 😢Benoit is the founder👨💼 of Krousar Thmey (“New Family”) a leading NGO 🚀based in Cambodia supporting blind and deaf children👦👧. Becoming blind or deaf in Cambodia was like a death ☠️sentence because there was neither support nor infrastructure🏢 to address those problem🔃….
At 21, Immaculate Already Knows How She Will Give A Better Future To Her 6 Sisters
😉This meeting with Immaculate was unforgettable🌠. From her tiny 10 square meter shelter🏚️, she explained us what was her plan to get out of poverty🎯. She was only 21 years old and she already had a clear idea 💡on how to get a brighter ☀️future for her sisters 👧with a realistic plan. When you come…
Cyrielle Hariel Impact Journalist & World Explorer – “Change Our Mind With Positive People”
👋Are you fed up with dark side 😒headlines from traditional media🗞️? If that’s your case, follow🌠 Cyrielle Hariel’s journey🤩. She is an enthusiastic 🔥& positive🌠 journalist🎙️ travelling 🧳the world 🌍with a clear objective: showcase the positive impact🌠🚀 brought by citizens👨🧑, individuals and entrepreneurs. Since 2014, she travelled 100 000km and interviewed🎤 400+ change-makers from the Dalai…
Celestine Convinces Pregnant Mothers To Give Birth In Healthy Environments
👋How would you react as a pregnant 🤰woman if you are refused by hospitals ⛑️when your baby 👶is due to arrive? It seems so far from what we are living in countries such as France 🇨🇵where I am currently based. One more time, we are so lucky🤞. When I was in Kenya🇰🇪, I witnessed several…
Enkhjin CEO of Gerhub – Innovation to Fight The Most Pressing Issues Of The Ger Areas in Mongolia
👋Did you know that every year hundreds of children 👶die ☠️in the Ger Areas due to pollution🌫️ & sanitation 🚽issues? Gerhub is a non-profit social enterprise that is using innovation 🚀to support local communities located in the Ger areas. Their main projects focus on researching🔎 and developing ways to affordably modify and modernize the Mongolian…
From Fashion with Tom Ford & Yves Saint Laurent To A Social Business Supporting 100 Women in Turkey
👋Have you already been in a situation where you can not stay without doing anything?🤷 15 years ago, Izabela Szeliga started a promising 🚀career at Yves Saint Laurent👚, dealing with world famous🌠 fashion designers such as Tom Ford and Yves Saint Laurent himself. However, after falling in love♥️ with a Turkish🇹🇷, she decided to quit…
Mesut Is Disrupting The Scholarship System With a Cutting Edge Technology Platform in Turkey
👋Did know that in Turkey🇹🇷 40% of the young graduates 👨🎓👩🎓are unemployed? Nowadays, many promising students are working hard ⚒️to make sure they could get a job 👨💼👩💼after graduation. However, being accepted in a tier one Turkish 🇹🇷or International🌍 University is not enough. They need to pay💰 for the University fees and many of them…
To Fight Pollution & Sanitation Issues,Odgerel Is Building Sustainable Community Infrastructures
🙌Why do Hundreds of Children 👦👧die 😥every year in the Ger Areas around Ulan Bator in Mongolia🇲🇳? There are two major issues💥: Heavy pollution 🏭& Sanitation ⚕️issues due to the absence of public infrastructures🏨. 60% of the Ulan Bator population👨 live in Ger Areas which are disorganized housing🏘️ areas built with very limited urbanization facilities…
Ashe Is Fighting For LGBT Hand in Hand With the First Lady of NYC
👏Today, over 50% of homeless and unstably housed youth in NYC 🗽are LGBT🏳️🌈. During my last stay in NYC, I had the chance to meet with Ashe, a brilliant🌠 activist fighting day 🌞and night🌛 to protect, support and empower the LGBT youth👦👧. After prestigious🎓 studies at Cornell & Columbia, Ashe could have applied for a…
Belinda – From Slum To a Career of Professional Footballer
👋Currently professional 🏟️footballer⚽, Belinda did not forget🔙 where she came from. Every day, she comes back training🏃♀️ with her previous team🏁. Located in Kibera🇰🇪, the largest urban slum in Africa, she wants to empower and teach younger kids👦👧. Belinda is 19 years old and 3rdborn in a family of 4👨👨👧👦. When she was younger, she…
They Teach, Empower, Console, Encourage, Teachers are True Heroes
Teachers 👨🏫are a cornerstone of our society. We all remember a great teacher who encouraged us during hard⛰️ times, who told us that we could make it or who punished 😢us for a reason that we understood few years later. They are true 😎💪heroes! I will never forget my discussion with the head teacher of…
Entrepreneur & Immigrant, Asmaa Uses Cooking as Powerful Weapon to Fight Prejudices
👋Can you imagine cooking 👨🍳as a powerful weapon🚀 to fight cultural 📚prejudices? That is Asmaa’s secret weapon! Born in Morocco🇲🇦, she studied accounting before immigrating to France🇨🇵. Without the right diplomas & cultural codes, her integration was a challenge ⛰️but she did not give up. After several jobs in accountability and telemarketing, she decided to…
Bulgarian Immigrant & Entrepreneur,Plamen Wants To Change Perceptions About His Country
👉Plamen is a Bulgarian immigrant & entrepreneur 👔who moved back to Bulgaria🇧🇬 with a bold purpose driven🚀 project in mind. Born👶 & raised in Bulgaria, he immigrated to Spain 🇪🇸when he turned 16 due to family reasons. After his bachelor degree, he spent a few years climbing the corporate ladder where he discovered that, he…
Sofiane Leverage Theatrical Improvisation at the Olympia to Empower Disadvantaged Youth
👋Have you already been on stage at the Olympia🎫? Sofiane did better than that. Last year, he brought a whole team of young artists💃 from Sport dans la Ville for a theatrical improvisation on stage at the Olympia in front of 2000 spectators. 😎✌️ With Sofiane, we met on the side of a football⚽ training of…
Faith – 17 Years Old, Mother, Student & Young Leader in the Largest Urban Slum in Africa
👋How would you react if a 17 years old joyful girl👧 tells you that few years back, she wanted to kill☠️ herself because of her pregnancy👶? It was a Thursday at 5.30am. After a 20 minute walk across metal sheets barracks, Faith welcomed🙂 us in her tiny 12m2 family house🏠. While washing her daughter clothes,…
Sarah and Her Impact Driven Team Support 77 000 Disadvantaged in Bugaria
Few years back, Sarah would have never imagined launching Trust for Social Achievement a leading organization in Bulgaria with an ambitious vision: Help Bulgaria’s most disadvantaged achieve educational & economic success. After working a decade in large US institutions, she had the opportunity to conduct research on social inclusion in Bulgaria. Her lifetime mission became…
Aleksandar Co-Founded the Largest Bulgarian Media For Positive & Inspiring News
👉Who is fed up reading news🗞️ every morning 🥐about violence💥, sex 🔞 and drugs 💊across the world🌍? Personally, I am!😐 Especially when I know that so many inspiring known & unknown leaders are fighting⚔️ to make the world🌐 a better place! In Bulgaria 🇧🇬, I spent one evening🍺 with Aleksandar, the 🚀co-founder of Uspelite🚀, the…
Fany – Mother & Hard Working She wants a better life for her daughter
👋 Hi Everyone, I had the chance🤩 to stay a week in Cuzco 🌎. Every morning, I used to go to El Mercado San Pedro 🛒for my breakfast 🍊. Imagine, hundreds of small shops selling similar products in a not only friendly 🤗 but also ultra-competitive 🏁 atmosphere. This is how I met with Fany at…
Bob – CEO of the largest East African company fighting hard for transparency
Hi everyone,👋 Do you know Bob? 👋Bob is the CEO👨⚖️ of Safaricom🛰️, the largest company🏨 in East Africa. I met with Bob in Nairobi🇰🇪 to discuss about purpose💫, transparency & corruption. He is not only one of the most successful🚀 leader in Kenya but also an inspiring activist capitalist. For him, corruption is currently pretty rough💥…
Peggye- Born in a small village in Madagascar, she became a role model for her community
👋👋Hi Everyone, 👋👋 Have you already met with Peggye? She is a mission driven, brilliant 🌠 and humble woman 👩 living in Paris 🇫🇷. Impressive story 📝! Peggye was born in a small village 🏠 of 34k inhabitants in the northern part of the Madagascar 🇲🇬 where 72% of the population live with less that…
Peter wants to rebuild the slum of Kibera with decent homes
👋Hi Everyone👋, Have you met Peter? Peter is a young Kenyan 🇰🇪 leader with a BIG dream. He was born in the middle of Kibera, one of the largest African slum located in the south of Nairobi. Living in Kibera was his biggest challenge 💥 in life. He said: “You do not have dreams, you…
Omar – Father, Electrician, Ex-Military & Refugee
Hi Everyone, Last Thursday I finished late and I was looking to grab sushis 🍣 on the way back home. Nearby the shop 🏬, I met with Omar. He did not ask for money 💰 but just something for dinner 🍴. I offered him to order with me and we finally spent the all evening…
Paul Duan — Data Science Genius Fighting against unemployment
Hi Everyone👋, I had the chance to meet with Paul Duan👨, the inspiring founder of Bayes Impact, the Y Combinator-backed NGO which builds citizen-led public services to create a fairer and inclusive future for our societies. By leveraging data science 💻, they achieved outstanding impacts: 800 police agencies 👮use their tool to reduce violence 💥…
“Hello”, So simple but also so important!
Hi Everybody, Do you know La Nuit de la solidarité? It’s a survey 📝launched by Anne Hidalgo to count and profile homeless people in Paris 🇨🇵 in order to improve social services. Last Thursday was the 2nd edition. Clément, one of my colleague suggested our team to join as volunteers. Our mission: count and survey…
Andi Develops 3.0 coding classes to train people for the new economy
Hi Everyone, Most developers and tech guys in Romania live in Cluj-Napoca which is also called the Silicon Valley of Romania. Willing to better understand the ecosystem, I met Andi a young and ambitious full stack developer 💻. Few months before, he had quited his well-paid job to join Carmel as a Co-founder 🚀. Carmel…
The World is getting better but most people ignore it!
Hi Everyone, Few days ago, I had the chance to be 100m below the sea 🌊 level to visit the massive mines ⛏️of Salt in Turda Transilvania 🇷🇴. Launched in 1271, the salt was all extracted manually ✊ by workers 👨and horses 🐎 working in horrific conditions. For example, after two weeks, horses were becoming blind and after 6 months, they had to retire….
#StrongerTogether 5 NGOs 5 Countries 1 Project
Hi Everyone, During my stay in Cluj Napoca, I had the chance to spend one afternoon with a group project led by the city hall of Cluj Napoca. 5 NGOs from Roumania 🇷🇴, Albania 🇦🇱, Poland 🇵🇱, Bulgaria 🇧🇬 and Portugal 🇵🇹 focusing on social and economic inclusion of young children 👦👧 with disabilities gathered together. They started the preparation of…
Civil War Refugee at 14 to Entrepreneur
Hi everyone, This week end, I decided to stop by Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania 🇷🇴. City well known as the economic heart of Romania. Exhausted due to my flight delay ✈️, I arrived very early in the morning at my hotel. After a 15 minute nap, I was awake by Bala, my roommate. A 50 years old man…
[Newsletter 3] Final Outcome Carolina for Kibera – Kenya
Salut la Familia, les Amis, Blisce, EPIC, K35 et Partenaires, => English version below 🙂 Time is flying! 🙂 Cette aventure est passée à toute vitesse. Cette dernière semaine fut particulièrement studieuse avec d’un côté: Marine finalisant son outil de tracking et de monitoring des stocks tout en s’assurant que l’équipe de pharmaciens prennent en main l’outil et de mon côté, coup de rush pour éditer et…
[Newsletter 2] Impact assessment Carolina for Kibera – Kenya
Salut la Familia, les Amis, Blisce, EPIC et Partenaires, => English version below 🙂 Voici quelques nouvelles toutes fraîches! Nos missions avancent bien, Marine passe la plupart de ses journée à la clinique. L’équipe y est toujours aussi sympathique & dévouée 🙂 Le projet sur l’optimisation des stocks prend forme. La réserve des…
[Newsletter 1] Impact assessment Carolina for Kibera – Kenya
Salut la Familia, les Potes, Blisce, EPIC et Partenaires, => English version below 🙂 Nous sommes bien arrivés à 6h20 du mat à Nairobi lundi dernier après une escale à Dubai. Direction la famille Siteki, notre famille d’accueil pour une douche rapide et le temps de poser nos sacs, puis…
[Uganda — Nyaka] Newsletter 3 — Impact assessment & Safari
Coucou la familia, Salut les potos, Cher Blisce, Cher EPIC, Me voilà tout fraîchement rentré de cette nouvelle aventure hors du commun! Mon chançard de frère a pu profiter de quelques heures de plus au bord de la piscine avant de prendre son avion de retour. Voici quelques infos sur nos péripéties de la semaine….
[Uganda – Nyaka] Newsletter 2 – On the field in Kanungu & Rukungiri
Salut la Familia, les Potos, Blisce & EPIC, Comment allez-vous ? Depuis la dernière newsletter, mon frère Quentin m’a rejoint le vendredi 4 août mais non sans encombres avec plus de 5 heures dans les bouchons pour rejoindre Kampala. Tellement bloqué que le driver s’est arrêté au bord de la route à plusieurs reprises pour lui…
[Uganda — Nyaka] Newsletter 1 — Arrival & meeting with Nyaka
Salut à tous, Je suis arrivé à Kampala depuis lundi matin. Je sais que certains me diront que j’ai clairement tardé à donner des nouvelles. C’est vrai et pour une fois, je n’ai pas vraiment d’excuse! 🙂 J’ai commencé cette nouvelle aventure passionnante par ni plus ni moins un tour du monde! Si vous souhaitez obtenir…
[India Newsletter 3] – Apnalaya, I will never forget
Coucou la Team des Sion–Lesbros, les Grands-parents, la Familia, les Potes, Iron, Team Blisce, Time is flying! Je vous écris ma dernière newsletter avant de rentrer. Comme pour beaucoup de trips, le temps passe vraiment vite! 🙂 Apnalaya, une expérience toujours plus forte L’intensité est montée ces derniers jours en termes de travail mais aussi d’un point de vue relationnel. En termes de travail, c’est génial! Quelques jours…
[India Newsletter 2] Taj Mahal, what an incredible monument
Coucou la Team des Sion-Lesbros, les Grands-parents, la Familia, les Potes, Iron, Team Blisce, Comment allez vous? J’espère que vos vacances se passent bien! Trip à Delhi sur le week end: Le point marquant de cette semaine: Le Taj Mahal! Dans le Lonely planet, on parle d’un incontournable. J’irai même plus loin, je dirai que c’est un passage obligatoire! 🙂 Histoire de marquer…
