Success stories

Victoria is a 24-year old Venezuelan entrepreneur living in Spain and interested in non-formal education and training services. Victoria was looking for a unique opportunity that would give her the needed experience to be able to begin her career in the NGO’s field . She then discovered the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme when looking for opportunities on the Europan Comission's website. On the other hand, Tiziano Tomassini is an experienced Italian entrepreneur who founded the organisation Young Effect in 2009. Tiziano has always been interested in culture, youth and education. In fact, Young Effect and Tiziano promoted the EYE programme in Italy for many years before becoming a host entrepreneur in the programme. With this further step, Tiziano aimed at collaborating with young entrepreneurs and getting new and fresh knowledge within the education sector. Victoria and Tiziano met each other through the EYE platform and, after assessing their expectations and profiles, they decided to collaborate.

During the exchange, Victoria learned the key aspects of leading an association. She gained firsthand knowledge of the procedures for organizing team meetings, managing the budget and explored new sources of funding from various organizations. Victoria and Tiziano met with local municipalities, associations and international partners. Victoria contributed with new project ideas and took charge of the communication aspects of many of them. Additionally, she learned to oversee the marketing strategy of an organization by being responsible for its website and social media channels. On the other hand, Tiziano guided Victoria in the participant selection process for international projects and taught her the support and monitoring procedures for these participants during international stays. In this context, he also taught Victoria the logistical aspects of projects, including transportation and accommodation for participants. Finally, Victoria also learned how to draft reports for the European Commission.

Thanks to her participation in EYE, Victoria had the opportunity to establish a close relationship with the Young Effect organization and its team discovering other international organizations that could be potential partners for her own organization. Victoria has met potential partners from Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and other countries. Additionally, she has developed new skills related to project management and writing, as well as gained precious experience in how to manage an NGO. On the other hand, Tiziano has had the opportunity to enhance the visibility of his website and the presence of his organization on social media. He has also gained new project ideas and technical assistance in the execution of many of them. Both entrepreneurs leave the door open for future collaborations on new projects.