Following the success of last year’s ‘Meeting of the Minds’, Angela Smith MP, Minister for the Third Sector, hosted a dinner event between some of the Social Enterprise Ambassadors and key figures from the corporate world to discuss ideas for creating employment opportunities at scale for disadvantaged people. Officials from DWP, BIS and OTS were also in attendance.

The emphasis of the evening was on the group enjoying open and creative conversations about how to create employment opportunities in the recession, and innovative approaches to employing hard to reach groups. The following Ambassadors attended as they are all expert at creating employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups:

    • Craig Dearden-Phillips, founding Chief Executive, Speaking Up
    • Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, founder, Catch 22
    • Saeeda Ahmed, co-founder, Trescom
    • Sam Conniff, co-founder, Livity and LIVE
    • Jean Jarvis, co-founder and Chief Executive, South Shropshire Furniture Scheme
    • Martin Kinsella, Chief Executive, P3

Representatives from the private sector, working in the below sectors, also attended as they all have the capacity to create employment opportunities at scale:

    • Resourcing
    • Television
    • Professional services
    • Accounting
    • Policing
    • Innovation

The dinner succeeded in helping to generate a better understanding amongst a group of leaders about how the two sectors can work together to create employment opportunities; established relationships between social entrepreneurs and private sector organisations which will support both sectors in their work; and created some specific ideas that people will begin to work together on for social change.

The Ambassadors will be following up on the relationships they sparked up at the dinner in order to explore opportunities for developing partnership working.

OTS hosted the meeting at Admiralty House and catering was provided by Hoxton Apprentice: a social enterprise restaurant based in the East End of London which provides training opportunities for long term unemployed people by giving them apprentice placements in the restaurant. 100% of all its profits are reinvested to help unemployed people.