Singa is an international organisation that supports the inclusion of newcomers all over Europe and in Canada through entrepreneurship and community building. Capelle says they come for various reasons. “One is because they have to flee war or persecution. And we need to find ways first to connect with them, and second, to take care of people. And the way we did this at Singa was to find the best possible conditions to create encounters and also to free them to rebuild their potential and to give them the best chance to contribute locally. »
Singa uses entrepreneurship as part of its toolbox, as Capelle explains. “The first people I met presented me with their nationality, their legal status, all the problems they might have. But I met a lot of entrepreneurs among them. And so the initial idea of Singa was to show that among people who arrive because they’re fleeing persecution or war, there are many entrepreneurs who want to create solutions, create jobs.”
To secure support for the new arrivals, Capelle used something that was second nature for young entrepreneurs. “We were 23 and 24 years old and we used social networks. And very quickly we had a big community. If we had an entrepreneur who wanted to create a company in the media sector, the food industry or whatever, we’d find other entrepreneurs in these industries. And it’s easier to mobilise society around people who have a project, rather than when someone is really in trouble. Then we launched training courses that we called incubators, and when the companies became more mature, we created accelerators where they were fundraising with investors.”
Capelle firmly believes that Singa’s work improves society. “These people were facing the greatest risks of our time. They were the first people to tell us about the impact of climate change and the first to tell us that societies where democracy is not respected can go wrong very quickly. I always felt like I had this chance to build a community with some of the most resilient and creative people of our time. I felt like I could meet Marie Curie or Albert Einstein among them. I just want to make sure there’s someone trying to create a better journey for the Alberts and the Maries of our time.”
