Photo: NESsT portfolio entrepreneurs, NESsT team members, and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship team members visiting the Olsztyn Food Bank warehouse and hydroponic garden.
In May 2025, we were delighted to host an in-person meeting in Olsztyn, Poland, bringing together NESsT portfolio enterprises, partners from IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, and members of the NESsT regional and global teams. It was a valuable opportunity to gather and celebrate the achievements of the partnership and program, to address challenges the social entrepreneurs face, and to discuss ways to further improve our collective work in Latin America and Central & Eastern Europe.
“It’s important in our work to keep social enterprise at the center of what we do; that’s why it was especially meaningful to have the entrepreneurs from Olsztyn Food Bank, Tango, Heca, Ekoinbud, and 4Starlings join us for the retreat.”
Photo: Olsztyn Food Bank team members giving a tour of their kitchen where they host community cooking classes and workshops
A highlight of the two-day gathering was a visit to Olsztyn Food Bank, which operates across the catering, hospitality, and events sectors. We saw first-hand how the enterprise combines environmental and social impact with business activities, preventing food from waste while creating dignified jobs for people who face barriers to work including those displaced from Ukraine, single mothers, and youth.
It was also the first opportunity for the broader NESsT team to meet representatives from 4Starlings, the first social enterprise to join the NESsT Violet Fund.
“In all our activities, people come first. We focus on helping people to re-enter the job market, to develop skills, and to work on themselves.”
The theme of social inclusion was carried through to a panel discussion with entrepreneurs from Tango, Ekoinbud, Heca, and 4Starlings. They shared how their companies are addressing exclusion, from providing mental health support to employees and strengthening internal diversity, equity, and inclusion policies to designing inclusive training programs that build long-term career pathways. As one entrepreneur put it, “People don’t need fish, they need a fishing rod.”
Photo: Entrepreneurs from Olsztyn Food Bank, 4Starlings, Heca, Ekoinbud, and Tango in a panel discussion moderated by Jens Andersson, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship
Photo: A working session addressing social and environmental challenges NESsT portfolio enterprises face
Environmental sustainability was the focus of another panel, where participants challenged each other to rethink how social entrepreneurship can raise awareness about sustainable living, while still meeting the realities of running a business.
The conversations over these two days allowed us to celebrate our progress, exchange perspectives, and co-create solutions based on what’s working, and what isn’t.
Learn more about NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship’s 5-year partnership supporting social enterprises in South America and Central and Eastern Europe.
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