The Rotary
Club of Stockholm International is proud to announce that Deqa Abukar and Adnan
Yousuf are the winners of the club’s Ron Pavellas Award for Community Service
for 2022.
The
recipients are the co-founders of BLING,
started in 2014 as a reaction to entrepreneurial segregation and as an attempt
to drive positive societal change while counteracting exclusion through good
leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation.
BLING, based in Kista, offers free business and innovation consulting,
seminars IT support workshops and more for those who want to start, run and
develop companies or ideas. BLING trains leaders who in turn train new leaders.
The initaitve has become an integral part of the professional mentoring program
of the Rotary district 2350.
Following
BLING’s success, Deqa and Adnan have gone on to create new initiatives to
extend BLING’s effectiveness and its penetration to those in need.
Womenisa, established in 2018, is a women’s network
within BLING focused on networking, creating role models and supporting further
development for women.
Bridge is a physical place to support
entrepreneurs to meet and interact in Kista Galleria and soon to open in
Gottsunda Centrum, Uppsala.
Shift is a start-up training and
investment program giving personal coaching to entrepreneurs in the lead up to venture
capital pitches.
För-orten is a competition where business proposals
are submitted and reviewed. The best ideas compete for an SEK 500 000
award.
BLING and
its associated initiatives have become an important movement in the northern
suburbs of Stockholm in support of integration and entrepreneurship. Our club
is pleased to recognize the role of its founders and to support them in their
ongoing efforts.
The Ron
Pavellas Award for Community Service was established by the Rotary Club of
Stockholm International in honour of its founder to support Rotary’s vision of
a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change, across the
global, in our communities and within ourselves. The award recognizes individuals who have significantly contributed to the betterment
of their community and promoted integration of newcomers to Sweden.
