Social Entrepreneurs: Europe

Valdete Idrizi, founder and executive director of Community Building Mitrovica (CBM), was presented with the International Women of Courage Award by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, for her efforts to rebuild society in Mitrovica, Kosovo.

A pioneer of the MJAFT! Movement in Albania, Besjan Pesha has inspired a new generation of active citizens, who are changing the Albanian political landscape towards achieving good governance.

Gyuri Baglyas and Manó Domján started Beyond Budapest to lure travellers off the typical tourist trail to the “other side”, taking them on a unique social-cultural walking tour to experience the real Budapest.

Andrej Nosov, founder of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, is promoting peace, justice and equality in the Balkans by connecting the post-war generations of Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Aferdita Syla created a safe and healthy environment for Albanian, Roma and Serb youths to take part in activities together at the Gjilan Youth Center. Founded in November 1999, the center was among the first to organize multiethnic youth activities, and to promote the well-being of youths after the war in Kosovo.

Wojciech Gryc, founder of Five Minutes to Midnight in Toronto, Canada, shares the journey of an organization that grew from a blog on human rights and international issues, to an organization that promotes journalism through open source technologies.

Schoolteacher Judith Achar trains needy Mexican families in the ancient Nahua weaving technique - to create colorful bags from recycled materials - so as to combat problems of poverty, unemployment, poor access to education and environmental degradation.