Refugee Enterprise Facilitation Project

BLOG Information Sharing

Worker’s Name:                                Dina Petrakis and Rita Wilson

Organisation/Service/Project:        Settlement Services International

Telephone/Email:                            dpetrakis@ssi.org.au or rwilson@ssi.org.au

Initiative/Project:                               Refugee Enterprise Facilitation Project

 

The Enterprise Facilitation Project is a new and exciting business start-up initiative funded by SSI.  The project aims to draw out the entrepreneurs from among our refugee and asylum seeker clients who have work rights.

 

Any client with a right to work and who wants to either, start a new business or expand / improve an existing business is eligible to access the service.

 

The project has two Enterprise Facilitators, Dina Petrakis and Rita Wilson. They assist clients to build their capacity to start a business and link them to networks that can tap into the skills needed to make a successful business model.

 

The project does not provide funding.

 

There are five key elements to the Enterprise Facilitation Project. The project is:

 

 free

 confidential

 ongoing

 mobile

 supportive

 

Because it’s important that potential entrepreneurs feel confident in sharing their business idea, contact with the Enterprise Facilitator must be made by the client.