Changemakers Academy

Changemakers Academy, a program for the Estonian youth, was launched last year. It’s a social entrepreneurship competition in cooperation with the British Council that aims to get high school students to create their first marketing concepts. This year, 60 highly motivated students were chosen out of around 200 applicants.  

Companies such as YFU Eesti, Telliskivi 15,  Ettevõtlusküla, Eesti Kirbuturg, Põhja-Eesti Pimedate Ühing and Iseseisev Elu are all included in the program.

I, Carolyn, am a part of Team Zebralik, where only two of the members has Estonian as their mother language, all the rest speak Russian. One of the goals of the project is to connect the Estonian and Russian youth. You can keep an eye on our progress by following us on Instagram  @team_zebralik !

The Changemakers Academy program is a great opportunity for self-improvement in the economy field, putting the things we learn at EBS into practice. In addition to that, it teaches time management and networking with strangers which will definitely come in handy in the future.

Our enterprise Telliskivi 15 is a restaurant which employs people with special needs to give them a strong base for entering the job market. “We have currently 3 people with special needs in our team and they manage their tasks excellently. In the future, we hope to see someone work in the service area,” says manager Anu Hall.

A great restaurant always wishes for more customers and that’s the mission of our team. We have come up with some minor changes and a bigger project called Telliskivi Restoretk to which we plan to incorporate several Telliskivi restaurants. Our project is so large that we will be continuing it for a few months after the end of the program.

Changemakers Academy is the first of its kind in Estonia, where young people are involved in marketing and business through official companies. It’s a yearly event that takes place from January till March. To apply, you need to fill out the questionnaire on Changemakers Facebook page in December. The questions are about your personality, job experience and motivation which will help to select the suitable students. Learn more about the project on Facebook: Changemakers Academy and on Instagram @changemakersofficial.

Written by Carolyn Soosaar

Translated by Triin Tikk

Edited by Kärt Mättikas