Noa Lodeizen

Social Entrepeneur at The Good Family, Young in Prison (YIP)

My experience and deep interests:

• Entrepreneurship

• International Development

I am based in: Amsterdam

After seeing the harsh prison system in South Africa, I became motivated to change something about the social injustice for children in prison. I founded the NGO Young in Prison (YiP) in 2002, and currently hold the position of creative director and am responsible for strategic planning, methodology, fundraising and external relations. YiP has been slowly expanding and is currently running programs in Malawi, South Africa, Colombia and the Netherlands. YiP advances the rights of the most vulnerable children – those in conflict with the law - by providing them with an opportunity to play, learn and develop themselves. YiP programs focus on children’s strengths, as they believe that every child has the potential to bring about a positive change and deserves a fair chance in life.

As a social entrepreneur, I see a lot of opportunities, and believes in the power and creativity of human beings. As director of YiP I constantly need to be innovating both in terms of my leadership and in terms of building partnerships and collaborating with fellow entrepreneurs. For example, I am currently working on developing an international social enterprise, with products designed and made by young offenders. I am also working on a collaboration with sector specialists and a South African company to implement the start up of a social impact bond ''True Profit'' which focuses on reducing recidivism in South Africa.

Ten years after starting YiP and having watched it grow into the International success that it has achieved to date, I felt driven to do something closer to home and that has a direct impact on my own community. This lead me to co-found The Good Family in 2012, which is based on the belief that in our changing world the impact of our choices and the values we instill in our children will create our future. More and more people are becoming conscious of the impact of their actions, and I think that young families can play a vital role in actively shaping the future. As a young mother, I felt driven to start The Good Family, both to satisfy my own desire to change the world and to inspire other young families to be part of this change.

The Good Family strives to realize their vision by creating an online and offline platform for families to inspire each other towards more sustainable ways of living. We are motivated by collaboration and being part of co-creating spaces and places were families can learn from each other.  We do this through organizing events, workshops and direct actions that grow the movement. These actions take the form of themed campaigns that deal with topical sustainability issues such as food waist, de-growth, ethical consumer choices etc.

The Good Family has potential to grow internationally and I intend to develop the project to have a larger international impact, gain fresh perspectives and to learn from other social entrepreneurs.