Maryam Rezaei
Chrissoula Manolakaki
Panos Chreppas
Stamatis Tsagias
Asimeni TountaAntonis Schwarz
How many entrepreneurs do we know that have a strong educational background in business and management and instead of ending up in large corporate and competitive companies they decide to become positive change makers and start social enterprises?
Well Antonis Schwarz, half German half Greek, while getting his master’s degree in Madrid he realized that the corporate world is not for him! And with his genuine love for Greece and wanting to make a positive change in the ongoing economic crisis he came across www.abgeordnetenwatch.de (the German parliament watch) and its founder Gregor Hackmack. So in 2013 he goes back to Greece to find his team and his co-founder Panagiotis Vlachos in order to launch the Greek version, Vouliwatch.
He recalls his first steps and how time consuming it was to open doors and make the parliament members listen and further more to use it! And what is Vouliwatch? It is a digital platform that engages Greek citizens with legislative politics and grants them with the opportunity to communicate, evaluate and hold elected representatives in the Greek and the European Parliament (MPs & MEPs) accountable.
So what are his skills as an entrepreneur? He tells us that besides his team spirit and networking talent he loves creative and “unorthodox” ways to do about things and finding solutions… and that he is also a bit “crazy” … that is probably the key to being a resourceful and successful entrepreneur!
He insists on reaching out to Ashoka Organisation if you are a social entrepreneur and how helpful they are! And invest in your team and keep your optimism going because you will need it through these tough times…
http://www.vouliwatch.gr
