Greek businesswomen in the finals for top European award

Two innovative Greek businesswomen are vying for the top award at this year’s European Social Innovation Competition including 50,000 euros, after making it onto the short list of 30 participants from among 1,000 entries from 36 countries.

Elisavet Koulouri and Vivian Karavia from Greece, are the creators of an innovative social enterprise programme called Solidarity Salt, which aims to empower refugee women by creating employment opportunities and making them productive participants of the social fabric whilst also boosting the local economy at the same time.

The scheme will employ refugee women in an enterprise that sells Greek sea salt via traditional retailers in packages that will tell the story of the women who put each batch together.

Refugees in Greece face tremendous challenges and talking about employment integration in a country with extreme unemployment is a real challenge. Solidarity Salt aims to tackle this problem and develop one of the first models in Greece that creates employment opportunities and builds a replicable working scheme for other businesses to follow.

They will employ refugee women for both unskilled and skilled work. By buying the sea salt from the Greek Salinas, Solidarity Salt will ensure that both the local Greek and refugee population benefit from the project. Each bag of salt will carry the profile and story of its maker.

The product will be sold through traditional retailers, an e-shop and a subscription service. The ultimate goal is to build respect and care for a better future and the plan is to start with the basics.