A UNIVERSITY of Limerick student has been awarded a place on a prestigious accelerator programme.
Mamobo Ogoro, a current UL student and founder of GORM Media, has won a place on Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s (SEI) Changing Ireland Accelerator, for her work reducing stigma, unifying across cultural difference, and advancing belonging for underrepresented communities.
The Changing Ireland Accelerator is a €500,000 investment from SEI, supported by Google.org and in collaboration with INCO, into nationally scaling organisations supporting underserved and/or underrepresented communities in Ireland.
Inadequate representation in media can contribute to social exclusion and discrimination, hindering efforts to build inclusive societies. According to the 2022 Irish census, non-Irish nationals accounted for approximately 12 per cent of the population, yet their representation in Irish media remains significantly low.
A 2019 study by the Migrants and Ethnic-Minorities for Reproductive Justice (MERJ) highlighted that ethnic minorities were underrepresented in the Irish media, with only 1 per cent of news sources being from non-white backgrounds.
GORM, founded by social entrepreneur Mamobo Ogoro, helps bridge connections and conversations across communities through a unique blend of expertise in social psychology and creative media.
GORM works with new and migrant communities, the LGBTQIA+ and disabled community. They focus on creating innovative digital media, intercultural education and events.
Speaking after being offered a place on the Changing Ireland Accelerator, Mamobo said that this programme will help GORM to scale up their operation.
“I was literally in tears of joy when we were accepted to the Changing Ireland Accelerator, this will allow to scale our impact, and realise our big vision,” she said.
Google.org will be fully funding the costs of this programme in 2023 with a grant of €500,000. This follows as part of its European-wide pledge of €20million cash funding through the Google.org Social Innovation Fund to support underserved social innovators across Europe.
Running in parallel to the Changing Ireland Accelerator, INCO will disperse the funding as cash sub-grants administered to the participants.
