| Make a Wave Awards |
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The Oguntê - Make A Wave Award is a 'kickstart” grant scheme (up to £500) made to women who can show that a very small amount of money, paired up with a resourceful brain, can be used to make a difference. The ideas recognised recognised were aligned with the concept of Oguntê’s Women in Social Leadership programme: inspiration, entrepreneurship, networking, confidence, diversity, pride, human wealth. Winners Second Round (closed on January 18th 2008) Elizabeth Newman | Two Plays in Three Days! | Croydon Elizabeth began her artistic journey as a ballet dancer, but after a long illness, she turned her attention to directing. She has recently completed a degree in Directing and has directed and produced several shows in London which highlight many concerns from drink-driving to asylum seeking. Through the theatre she has found her own voice and now has the desire to inspire other young people. Awarded Project Elizabeth wants to address the overall the “resistant problem” of gang related knife and gun crime involving young people. She believes it is time to lift the lid, explore in a creative and safe way why young people in London feel they need to be in a gang to survive. She aims to unite diverse communities and create an artistic network between Croydon and Lewisham, and inspire those involved to express themselves creatively. This, through running Two Plays in Three Days about gang related crime in London, which will be devised and performed by young people from South East London. Nela Milic | Wedding Bellas | London Nela has been working in the arts for fifteen years and has created a variety of community projects with people from different backgrounds, ages and careers. She worked as a journalist in the department for culture at Serbia’s national television, producing documentaries on arts and she was a coordinator of Refugees and the Arts Initiative, a national organisation for ‘refugee arts’. She has a strong backgroung in programme screenings, festivals, exhibitions, and cultural shows. Awarded ProjectNela intends to break the barrier between mainstream art and a community art that is less valued aesthetically, but looked at as more socially charged affair. Wedding Bellas is a photographic project about female desire for roots and stability. The project presents the stories 12 brides who found themselves at the time when they refused to leave. Many have been rejected by their partners, by landlords, by employers and the state and these burdens will be mirrored in the photos. Sharon Marshall | DV awareness training for GP's and Health Professionals | London Sharon has been working extensively in the fields of domestic violence and mental health. Following her degree in Psychology and Social Studies she worked at an alternative psychiatric hospital and went on to occupy the role of Joint Co-ordinator of a Domestic Violence Intervention Project and Co-ordinator of a Women’s Support Service.
Awarded Project
GPs and health professionals are often the first people to come into contact with victims of domestic violence/abuse. Their response is crucial to victims receiving relevant information, advice and access to organisations that can provide specialised support. Research shows that women can approach organisations up to 12 times before they receive the appropriate support they need. Sharon’s project idea is to offer a package to various sections of the NHS, build up essential contacts and a reputation for providing high quality initial domestic violence awareness training sessions to GP's and health professionals.
Winners First Round (closed on November 20th 2007) Laura Jordan Bambach and Alesandra Lariu | SheSays | London Alesandra and Laura both work in the creative industry. Laura has worked for brands as diverse as We Are What We Do and Coke and she teaches dynamic lab-based and technical digital media classes at major Universities. Alesandra worked for renowned agencies such as Oyster and FramFab and is now working as a Senior Creative at Agency Republic. Together they founded SheSays 9 months ago and has currently 400 members. SheSays is an initiative to help more women to start or develop a creative digital career, focusing on monthly free events, and a mentorship programme. Awarded project: Laura and Alesandra will create an awards scheme which will provide much-needed visibility for the excellent but often overlooked contributions that women already make to the creative digital industry. It will start as a monthly award and showcase on the SheSays site, culminating in an annual, physical award given to the women who has done the most outstanding piece of creative work over the year, as judged by her fellow members of She Says. The award will contribute towards refreshing the current site, into a fresher, fuller, content-rich offering where women would speak up and write articles and opinion pieces. Michelle Swann | Identities Women's Network | South Yorkshire Michelle has a strong background in community development and is currently supporting the development of social enterprises and community organisations that provide services to marginalised groups in the community. In addition she recently set up a multi faith network, in order to develop a support structure that promotes mutual understanding and provides a united and stronger voice to enable effective working for the benefit of the deprived area. Awarded Project: Michelle wants to set up Identities, a multicultural and ethical network of satellites throughout Yorkshire that will provide space for women to connect with themselves and others and where they will be inspired and will receive capacity building to develop and achieve their goals. The aim is to increase their confidence and self esteem, a reduction in isolation or loneliness and offer opportunities for friendships, knowledge and skill sharing. Identities will provide support and services including networking gatherings, inspirational speakers, self development workshops, skills training and mentoring support and signposting. Jenny Dewsnap | LGBT retail focus group | South Yorkshire Jenny is a Community Enterprise Advisor working with social enterprise and new business start ups in deprived communities. She works on a voluntary basis with the lesbian and gay community as vice chair of the Doncaster Pride Committee which organizes an annual pride event to represent and empower the gay community in Doncaster and South Yorkshire. Awarded Project: Jenny would like to make a greater positive impact through the annual Pride event which takes place in August in Doncaster. The aim is to set up a small social enterprise with a younger persons LGBT campaigning group which will sell various local items at the event. The award will be used to rent a stall at the pride, produce flyers, produce low cost campaigning merchandise, and create awareness of the LGBT retail focus group. Sarah Blow | Girl Geeks Dinners | Basingstoke Sarah has a background as a software engineer and has a passion for mobile and new media technologies. As a result of Sarah being one of the only females attending technical events she used her frustration to set up Girl Geek Dinners. Girl Geek Dinners is an informal, interactive learning experience for both men and women to open up dialogue on technical subject areas. Awarded Project: The UK population of software engineers and technical expertise is diminishing and the amount of women in the technical industry is less than 10%. This pattern is occurring around the world, partly due to social stereotypes, partly to do with university entry requirements and sometimes in lack of self belief. Looking at a younger age group they see technology as dull and Sarah’s aim is to break down these myths about technology and the industry at large. The goal is to provide some key role models from within the Technical Community and to establish a strong mentoring system. The award will cover the marketing and outreach and to develop the current site to facilitate the mentoring system. Eileen Cooper | the Batik project | South Yorkshire | Ghana Eileen is an energetic, enthusiastic 70 year old widow who loves being with people. She is involved as a volunteer in different Community Groups and a Board member of South Yorkshire Neighbourhood Watch Association. Last year she joined the International campaign to Stop the Trafficking of Children from Africa for the Chocolate Industry and fosters children in Ghana, West Africa. Awarded Project: Eileen's idea is to create a small self supporting enterprise for widows and their children in a secluded village in Ghana of making and selling African batik cloth. This will provide a safe platform for Eileen to take a team of 4 young women who work with underprivileged children in England out to Ghana, to share their expertise and learn how people in another culture deal with the problem of poverty and homeless children. This knowledge will then be brought back to the community of South Yorkshire. She intends to spend the award money on the Batik Project and subsistence farming. |
Oguntê, in partnership with UnLtd, The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, has conducted a joint initiative to support women, aspiring social leaders, with bold, fresh and ground-breaking ideas to help solve issues emerging in the communities of their choice.