Inclusion Academy

As a social entrepreneur, I always have been concerned about inclusion and how diversity of people and backgrounds can contribute to make the world a better place. I created Singa in 2012 after an experience at the United Nations because I felt that refugees are always perceived through a humanitarian or securitarian scope. Along with a community of locals and newcomers, we wanted to create a counter narrative, one that highlights how migration can lead to innovation. Today SINGA operates in 10 countries as a community of 50 000 people, supporting 200 entrepreneurs with a migrant background each year in 22 cities, with an annual budget of 4 million euros. In 2018, I was selected to become an Obama Scholar to increase my civic leadership. I have co-founded several non-profit (#StopStreetHarassment, Les Crapauds Fous) and collaborate frequently with Columbia University and the French government on inclusion. 

We live in a hyper-polarized world, where migrants are seen either as a threat or as victims. As persecution they have been through is part of their reality, the journey that comes after is often forgotten. Very few people from host societies have the opportunity to engage meaningfully with newcomers, and in Europe, perceptions and attitudes toward them is driven by political speeches and negative or humanitarian narratives. The Academy program aims to mobilize and enable participants with a migrant/refugee background to convene with locals, to connect, exchange ideas and with a support network to frame and create solutions related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Our ultimate objective is to enable newcomers to unleash their potential and contributions to host societies while engaging locals at an individual level for them to work together on common projects and build sustainability, for all. 

In Europe and North America, especially in the US, migration is a divisive topic. As political leaders frame the challenges it brings with a constant « us » versus « them » narrative, they drive perceptions with an increase of hyper-nationalist rhetoric. According to More In Common, in France, only 30% of the population is enthusiastic about migration (2017) while in the US, Trump’s election was based on the will to build a wall at the Mexican boarder. As local activists and refugees advocates tends to radicalize their messages, locals have no option but to identify to a pro or cons opinion. In the meantime, a study conducted by the HCR in France in 2013 underlined that only 12% of refugees declared they already had social interactions with locals. This is an alarming observation. Personal and professional networks are essential to integration, as it allows anyone to have access to opportunities, and to create new (social, job, housing) opportunities. Fostering the development of social capital is essential to tackle isolation. Generating a counter-narrative relies on building a « common us » by enabling people to meet as peers, not as volunteers or beneficiaries, nor as refugees or locals.

With the COVID crisis, hundreds of refugees have reached out to SINGA to offer to help and contribute to solving local issues. In response, SINGA has built a platform, allomondo.org, to help them meet with locals and work on solving local challenges such as mask fabrication, environmental friendly initiatives or women empowerment. The benefits of the program are catalytic: as SINGA trains and matches communities organizers, locals or refugees, these leaders mobilize other people in their network, and together receive ideation tools and support to solve challenges they have identified.  

Activities are open to everyone and can be of any type but political and religious. SINGA  trains, matches and follows up with solutions provided and engages more people on the platform. We source members among SINGA communities but also by partnering with non profit organizations working with vulnerable communities as well as corporates willing to engage their staff in meaningful activities. We pledge to mobilize 5000 community leaders before 2022 in our 10 countries of operations and scale to 50 000 before 2025. 

SINGA operates in 22 cities from France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the UK, Spain, Quebec (Canada) and the Bay Area (the US). The project targets both refugees and locals in those cities, with an equal representation as we match locals and newcomers as peers. As SINGA has always been working as a community, we have designed a user-journey based on wishes and dreams newcomers in our communities have provided. Our data show that, once settled in their host countries, newcomers tend to wish to contribute more effectively to host societies and give back what they have received, by launching a project, helping their neighbors or creating jobs. According to our social impact survey (2017), 36% of refugees entrepreneurs incubated by SINGA would not have created their projects if the SINGA community would not have encouraged them, specifically by matching them with locals sharing their passions and interests. This is why the project addresses this needs by coupling a social network and matching system with shared concerns about the planet within the SDGs framework, in order to support projects that would tackle global challenges in a diverse manner, empowering newcomers to become leaders. 

The project seems to relate to all three dimensions, as refugees are often part of the left behind population, and our endgame is to reverse attitudes and perceptions toward them. However, it seems relevant to identify to driving action to to solve the most difficult problems of our world, by reversing the traditional scheme where they are those being helped and engaging them in becoming change-makers and relying on their resilience and vision of the world to solve crucial issues that host societies may have missed and by joining forces to work toward a common « us »

As the COVID19 hit, hundreds of refugees have reached out to share their resilience stories. In particular, Carlos’ one was very powerful. He wrote « I escaped war, I can survive a lockdown, I can provide supplies to my neighborhood. How can I help more people?»

Carlos used to live in Medellin, Colombia, where the notion of invisible borders was present in all districts due to narcos wars. He learnt how to adapt and learnt from his family that circular and local economy would be the solution for them to thrive in time of conflict. As agriculture was endangered by the lack of immigrants workers in France, he created a honey business during the lockdown, producing local products and delivering to customers by bike, hiring only refugees with a farmer background. Carlos’ solution led us to rethink our entrepreneurship methodology and redshift our focus as we were launching our platform, to match newcomers with locals, and to offer participants the opportunity to share their ideas and solutions by crowdsourcing them directly on the platform. Today, we started ideation to frame challenges and solutions, both online and offline, with about 100 people. 

Our community is diverse, our staff is diverse, our national directors are themselves refugees. Always remaining closed to my community and rely on their wisdom is a constant inspiration for me to lead SINGA and make it more impactful. SINGA leaders remind me that my duty is beyond a certain category of beneficiaries. It’s not about refugees. It’s about all of us. But I have learnt that behind each leader, there is a community of people trusting and hoping for her to do her best. That’s a big responsibility but also a great asset.

When COVID19 happened, we were organizing about 200 events per week and it went to zero in just a few days. Many refugees, especially those living in community centers, were suddenly isolated and some of the businesses we were supporting were shutting down. So when Carlos told me this story, I thought we had to use the crisis as an opportunity and highlight what good could come out from the situation, and how we could foster it. 

When you are a child, parents ask you what you want to do when you grow up. Kids usually answer « singer », « doctor » or « fireman ». I wanted to fight inequalities. As I could not find any school that would teach me how to do so, I studied law and political sciences in various European universities, such as Copenhagen, Montpellier, Siena or Strasbourg. After my graduation, I went to work at the UNEP, in Montréal, on health and its connexion to biodiversity, quickly followed by a short experience at Save the Children in Mexico. I then came back to Paris, where I practiced as a CSR consultant while developing SINGA. As SINGA scaled rapidly from zero to 120 staff, I had to learn step by step how to manage an organization and strategize for it to thrive. We were lucky enough to be supported by prestigious organizations such as Ashoka (Fellowship), Forbes (30 under 30), Numa (Acceleration), UNAOC (Global Award on Interculturality) and the Global Pluralism Center (Global Pluralism Award). 

All these experiences, and mostly being CEO of an international organization helped me foster competences like intercultural dialogue, management, fundraising and so many other operational skills. But what really drives me is my vision, how I shaped it, and values such as integrity, transparence, honesty and co-creation. I have now overcome my imposteur syndrome and do my best to cultivate empathy which I believe makes me a better leader. 

When SINGA started to be well-known, I was participating I a lot of TV or radio shows, providing interviews in newspapers, which made me the ideal target for white supremacists and sexists trolls. One day, I received 360 death and rape threats, which were involving my family, including my new born, and my friends who were refugees. I could not accept that my work, my organization and my body would remain silent so I engaged in a law suit in order to make a case, which I have won. This experience convinced me that the work we are doing is more important that ever, that we need to end the eternal fight against the system by creating innovative solutions to problems that usually divide and that division is all about fear of each other and what we represent. I do everything I can for SINGA to not be a story of « us » versus « them », it’s the story of how migration and social interaction lead to a more prosperous world, by supporting anyone, regardless of their background, who want to contribute to it, by creating new value and new solutions, together. 

In 2018, I was the happy CEO of SINGA in Paris when the Obama Foundation informed me that I was nominated for their inaugural Scholar Program to spend a year in New York, with the former teams and colleagues of President Obama. As a work-addict who spent years dedicating everything to SINGA, I could not accept to leave. I asked my community, reaching out to people who were refugees that I knew as my closed friends. Inna, from Russia, opened my eyes, by telling me « What you have done, you can do it 1000 times if you leave ». So, I took a step back and left the organization. It could have been the end of my career, or worst, of SINGA. But I managed to transition, and while in New York, took the time to speak to my teams, the community of newcomers, regional directors, to better understand their dreams for our world. When I came back in 2019, I launched our global entity: SINGA Global, in co-creation with all of them, which now leads the movement internationally. I believe that a leader should not see herself as essential, but should serve the people who believe in her.

The SINGA approach to migration in general is to highlight the potential for innovation that it can bring to host countries. Governments and civil society mobilization tend to turn to, often top-down, humanitarian services in the face of a sudden influx of displaced people, with concerns related to health, shelter, and food. As necessary as these measures are, they must be part of a long-term reflexion on inclusion in which migrants themselves are primary stakeholders. This is the basis of our response: showcasing the ability of refugees and migrants in general to be the actors of their own inclusion by providing insight on their actual needs, and through their contribution to host societies. By embracing the concept of inclusion, through which the resources and potential brought by migrants are valued in the development of more tolerant and diverse societies, as opposed to integration, which focuses only on their ability to fit into a set societal framework, SINGA stands out from traditional efforts responding to migration. To that end, we see entrepreneurship as a solution that brings both direct economic benefits, and long-term systemic change specifically thanks to prominent leaders from migrant communities who inspire others with their success stories. SINGA role as an ideation lab for both newcomer and local entrepreneurs is a catalyst for migration-led innovation, which means that newcomers themselve are empowered to develop their own solutions and challenge locals to provide user-centered and impact-driven services.

SINGA’s KPI and social impact measure are based on the theory of change. We set initial main objectives as well as specific objectives based on the desired impact that we want, and we create KPIs from there. 

Our main output on beneficiaries are the ideation and incubation, as well as the number of ideas actually becoming concrete organizations. We measure participation rates, as well as retention, and focus essentially on female beneficiaries, or ranging between 18-25 y/o. Their satisfaction, self confidence and feeling of accomplishment is essential to us. Regarding activities, we measure group session, number of innovation labs, mentorship, business plan competition and one to one sessions with out teams. 

In terms of impact, we expect newcomers to have an increase interest in starting a project, more specifically a business or a non-profit, related to the SDGs. We measure their confidence in doing so, if they have sufficient access to resources enabling them, if they are equipped with the skills required to become entrepreneurs, social capital and networking, and if they have increased and secured economic means. 

Key activities comprise sourcing, ideation (labs, collective intelligence, groups), pre-incubation, incubation and ongoing follow-up. 

2020- 3000: SINGA currently mobilize 3000 community organizers (who mobilize about 50 000 people including 15% of newcomers) in 7 countries to help them fulfill their dreams and unlock their potential. May they be local or newcomers, our mission is to use community organizing for social cohesion. 

2021- 5000: the inclusion Academy is relying on our existing programs but offers a pivot and a way for community organizers to make their action more impactful and more impact driven. Beyond our traditional action to promote  social interaction, we aim to engage our community into tackling the world's most pressing issue and for them to have the possibility to make a living out of it. 

20225- 20 0000: We aim our Academy to have a catalytic effect. SINGA may not have the ability to support and ideate projects from 20 000 persons, but we want to create a wave of civic engagement from our community and be able to train community organizers so that they train community organizers themselves. 

As the founder of the organization, I am aware that I won't remain SINGA's director forever. I am currently trying to build some sort of legacy with the launch of the Academy, as well as the launch of the umbrella entity, SINGA Global, for which we have secured fundings and staff for the coming years. I know that the next two years of my life will be dedicated to make SINGA the most agile and impactful organization I can, and I hope for its impact to flourish.  

However, my dream for SINGA is that we support leaders in 300 cities, for them to mobilize 3 million people who meet and share and engage in social interaction. The 20 000 of them willing to solve global issues will emerge naturally from the community and migration led innovation will be the new normal. 

I do not expect SINGA to be a traditional NGO, I hope for it to be a teal organization, where anyone can impact its community. I have found deep inspiration in the book New Power from Jeremy Heimans, and hope that SINGA will contribute to enable millions to become civic leaders.

The biggest barrier for SINGA to really become a global movement is the fact that often, organization working in the migration field, even with our strength of community organizing, are perceived as humanitarian. Most of the locals joining SINGA do so because they have this biais, although all of them stay because they experience peer to peer interactions with newcomers. In the meantime, newcomers joining SINGA do so as they are aware (thanks to our reputation) that our community is one of empowerment and our mission to help them achieve their dreams. To tackle the negative or humanitarian perception on migration and attract more locals, our ambition is to focus on individual experience to help participants and members understand the impact of having social interaction and focusing on systemic change. By designing a common cause to unite, we aims to end polarization, but this will take time, and a lot of resources to both mobilize a greater number of people and increasing our brand's reputation. 

On Brand Reputation :

Building SINGA Global entity is a simple and concret way to consolidate our branding and posture, by ensuring that processes and internal regulations are compliant to the brand DNA. In this process, I see myself as a vision keeper, not a vision maker, ensuring that the collective intelligence of teams and beneficiaries produces the vision for the world to get better. 

Civic mobilization:

Our impact measure studies show that the more newcomers a local knows, in a peer to peer relationship, the less stereotypes he/she would have on migration. Instead of focusing on convincing locals who are already multiculturalists, or use hashtags such as #WithRefugees, we aim to engage people at an individual level but on a massive scale to perform change in their perceptions and attitudes, and ultimately reduce gaps between traditional "pros" and "cons". 

On Paradigm shift:

Paradigm will change if mainstream culture follows. Supporting emerging leaders from a migrant background also aims to replace traditional elites from the economic, cultural and political sector by those who did not have a seat at those tables. By doing with newcomers and locals, and not "for" them, we aim to empower and enable our communities to take a step into these ecosystems and challenge the status quo. 

We work with more than 200 stakeholders, ranging from traditional non-profit to startup ecosystems, investment funds, cities and governments, the movie industry, culture, and mass movements. 

Private: We engage companies into changing their DNA, may it be on CSR or global strategy by connecting stakeholders, from top management to regular staff, into projects that emerge from SINGA. We currently work with 700 mentors from the private sector but also provide consultancies to those willing to become more inclusive. 

Public: In all our countries of operations, we manage to establish relationship with local and national authorities and provide them with evidence based proposition so they can become more inclusive. A great example is that SINGA has involved many leaders from refugee background into co-designing new policies and laws related to integration, especially in France under Hollande and Macron's presidency. 

Organizations: We are providing a service that contributes to newcomers integration but does not replace the work of frontline workers. Therefore, we collaborate with as many NGOs as we can so that their beneficiaries can enjoy our services.

Movements: We partner with various civic movements, such as MakeSense, Avaaz, Nation Builders, in order to mobilize new target of population. 

Social business: Ashoka, Forbes, Obama Foundation, the Social Business Union, co-working spaces, NUMA are a few example of how we have learnt about empowerment and leadership and we are proud to rely on this network of professional, helping us day by day to reflect upon our strategy. 

Value proposition for our Beneficiaries in term of impact:

 - Civic engagement and social interaction through events and interactions within the SINGA communities

- Ideation of their ideas and projects to launch an activity

- Incubation of TOP100 ideas to consolidate their revenues and scale impact/growth

Value proposition for our Beneficiaries in term of revenue

• Job creation and sufficient income to be financially autonomous

Value proposition to the community of locals and partners

• Locals engage and team up with inspiring leaders they would not have met

• Companies have access to ideas and projects and can invest in them
• Communities can benefit created value by becoming consumers of incubated ventures
• Governments can rely on the communities and get inspiration (for instance focus groups) to innovate

So far, SINGA operates as a non-profit, with an expected budget of €4 000 000 for 2020 for its operations in 10 countries. About 50% of the budget comes from local and national governments, which supports mostly entrepreneurship tracks due to their integration policies and their implementation. 45% of SINGA incomes comes from Foundations, mostly corporate philanthropy as it is highly strategic for SINGA to partner with the private sector. The remaining 5% come from consultancy services provided to companies, banks and cities willing to become more inclusive. 

Our path toward sustainability is that we increase this self-generated income to 20% in the coming 3 years, by in the meantime creating a track where businesses can invest in the top 100 ventures, thus generating an additional revenue for SINGA. As we generate this income, we aims to rely on our existing partners, who are supporting our scaling for the past years: The Human Safety Net Foundation, Bosch Foundation, Faire Fund and the French Government. 

We have raised fundings but to date, the amount and donor are confidential. 

To launch the Academy, we aim to fundraise 900 000€ in order to finalize the online incubation platform and support local community organizers in sourcing participants and running ideation labs and workshops.

The cost of the overall project is divided into three main sections:

● Mobilization of 5,000 people: 200K€

Through SINGA’s existing platforms and community organizers in 22 cities, we engage people by offering them to join the Academy. The call for application is sent every quarter and invites all members to describe their passions, skills and concerns about the world.

● Ideation of 500 projects: 450K

9 SINGA local hubs will hold cycles of ideation in France, the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the US to support selected projects. Sessions are divided in two segment:

- Physical participation to ideation workshops: all participants join a two month cohort (in English and the local language) to further prototype their solutions

- Online participation: an ideation cycle is offered to all participants among countries (in English) to connect beyond borders and use collective intelligence to improve the ideas or create new ones.

● Online incubation for 100 solutions 250K : live sessions, online matching and mentoring, classes, homeworks, individual follow up.

SINGA, and myself, are positioned at a tipping point of our journey. After some years exploring opportunities and consolidating our endgame, we know that we must act fast, more than ever, to tackle the challenge of polarization and turn migration into an opportunity to foster. I believe we also need to pivot our activities so to highlight the incredible resilience of our community, especially in terms of communication and social impact. More than a scaling, it's a movement that we need to launch, to share and distribute value not as current but as a currency. 

Overcoming the barriers we have highlighted must be done with good allies. We are aware that success does not always rely on great achievement, but also on the people rooting for you, believing in the cause you defend. Being supported by the Solve teams and partners would be an extraordinary asset and a huge recognition for our members, staff, communities that what we do is not a lost cause. To make them proud and happy to contribute, by enabling them to be better, to communicate better and to be provided with guidance, as well as a proper pathway toward change. 

We are aware that incredible projects will come out from the incubator, and more broadly from our community. We need support to capture their values and communicate about them, at a bigger scale. 

Our SINGA communities are very locally implemented and the Academy aims also to create a sense of global community within the network. To do so, we need to be able to promote incubated projects, tell stories and promote their innovation to the world. Naturally, this communication needs to be global, as the project does not depends on national boarders (it's the contrary!). Innovation does not know borders, but it has to be well documented and proven (with M&E), spread (Communication and branding) and value generating (revenue model+ talent recruitment). Our DNA is hybrid, but as the Academy will emerge, we need more skills on these topics. 

We aim to work with the Skoll Foundation, as their mission and vision align perfectly with ours. We want to increase our collaboration with the American philanthropic sector, as we develop and grow in the US and Canada, while being well implemented in Europe. 

Moreover, as we are lucky enough to collaborate with a wide range of businesses in Europe, we know that we need to have a greater impact on how companies foresee migration led innovation, which is why we would be very happy to work along with international companies on their social and environmental strategy and how their business model can align with solving global issues related to the SDGs.