Masisa - Socially Inclusive Business Programs in Brazil

 

The most recent ISEP session in Fontainebleau made a lasting impression on Fernando Draier. Based in Buenos Aires, Fernando has been working for Masisa helping to design and manage socially inclusive business programs.

“Originally I began focusing on social entrepreneurship through my work at Masisa, a wood board business for furniture and interior architecture,” explains Fernando. “In 2008 I began helping to design and mange socially inclusive business programs that work with low-income communities and prison inmates and ex-offenders in Argentina.”

Masisa offers three courses at various levels to some of the more marginalized communities in Argentina. A beginner’s course for those that have no carpentry experience; a more advanced course for those that have begun carpentry work and need to develop additional skills; and a professional course that focuses on project management, budget and marketing. To date, over 5000 individuals across Argentina have participated in the program and the numbers continue to grow.

“In addition to this, I have helped to develop a program with prisoners whereby they build wood based products that can be sold by retailers in Argentina,” says Fernando. “This enables prisoners to develop a skill set while earning an income for their families, which will help them once they reenter society,”

Fernando began spending over eighty per cent of his time on these and other programs as they began to gain momentum. Recognizing that companies don’t always have the patience and time to grow these enterprises, Fernando wanted to gain additional knowledge on how to make these initiatives a long-term success.

Wanting to learn more about how to build successful social enterprises, Fernando began exploring different educational programs and found that the learning social entrepreneurial tools on MBA programs will take a lot of time. When he came across INSEAD’s Social Entrepreneurship Program, he knew he had found the perfect course.

“There are a lot of great things going on in Latin America right now and I wanted to learn more about how we can get funding and measure the impact of these social enterprises” explains Fernando.  “What appealed most to me about ISEP was the fact that I would be learning with a group of experienced social entrepreneurs and have the opportunity to work on real cases and gain valuable knowledge.”

“The program was extremely inspiring,” Fernando adds. “Social enterprise is about solving problems that no one else wants to solve, and ISEP offered a lot of ways in which this can be possible. It helped me organize my thoughts, establish a usable framework and develop a practical set of tools that can be used in every day work.”

During the program, participants had the opportunity to pitch their ideas to social investors. “This was a wonderful exercise, “ says Fernando. ”Although I didn’t participate in the pitch, I was able to gain a better understanding of the process, what investors are looking for and what you need to provide them in order to get financing.”

Fernando is keen to apply what he learned at ISEP back in Argentina. “Although Latin America continues to grow economically, there are still a lot of social problems. Everything from providing clean water and housing to dealing with education, violence and crime,” said Fernando. “As a result there is a lot of opportunity for social enterprises to grow, and now having attended ISEP I feel like I have the tools and framework necessary to help others connect and begin working on some of these issues.”

“I have been working for corporations for over 20 years and this move to social entrepreneurship is a huge change for me,” said Fernando. “But I am excited for the adventure ahead and am optimistic that I can make a difference. ISEP provided me with the tools and now it’s time to get to work!”

Fernando Draier

Fernando has more than 20 years experience working for global corporations in business development areas. He is looking forward to increase social impact and tackle poverty in Latin America by addressing new challenges and partnerships.

He is also an entrepreneur business coach, working as a mentor/tutor in business incubators/accelerators.

My next challenges are creating or replicating new innovative social enterprises in Argentina/Latin America, mentoring social enrepreneurs and incorporate social entrepreneurship in Argentinian Business Schools.