LIMERICK social entrepreneurs David Neville and Pádraic Hogan were honoured for their innovative response to the Covid-19 pandemic at a special online event last week.
Co-founders of jumpAgrade, they are committed to reducing the education inequality gap by making top-quality tutoring and feedback available to second-level students, regardless of location, ability, or socio-economic background.
jumpAgrade saw a 500 per cent increase in demand for its services during the pandemic and worked hard to scale both its services and impact. jumpAgrade’s office is based in the Nexus Innovation Centre on the University of Limerick Campus.
Mr Neville, who is originally from Castleconnell, said it was an honour to be able to represent both jumpAgrade and the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland community on a national level and to create awareness to continue to scale our impact. SEI has been the foundation for the growth of jumpAgrade’s Equity of Education initiative to date.”
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland chief executive Darren Ryan said that social entrepreneurs like the two Limerickmen have played a key role in responding to the covid-19 crisis and will be needed more than ever as we rebuild our society.
“The pandemic has shone a light on the communities that remain most vulnerable and isolated at this time and reminded us about what matters most. It has also shown that individuals around Ireland are willing and ready to step up and act.
“Social entrepreneurs are society’s problem solvers. They are ordinary people who develop new, innovative ideas to address the social challenges we face and work tirelessly to put them into action. We have already seen examples of this in recent months, as people around the country have developed innovative ways to care for people, combat isolation, and keep our society going through the crisis.
“We will need a lot more of this as we respond to the evolving situation and continue to tackle the existing social issues. Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is proud to be supporting more social entrepreneurs than ever before in 2020, and we are committed to growing our support and impact in the coming years.”
Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported 374 social entrepreneurs across the country. This year, SEI saw a record number of 245 applications to its programmes. jumpAgrade was an SEI Awardee in 2019.
SEI will launch a national call for applications to its programmes in early 2021. Details at socialentrepreneurs.ie.
