Last night, the Aspen Institute and the McNulty Foundation announced that Esperanza has been named one of four 2016 Laureates for the ninth annual John P. McNulty Prize. The McNulty Prize recognizes the spirit of innovation and excellence of leaders who use entrepreneurship to address important global social issues. The Prize is given annually to […]
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When Esperanza graduates enter the workforce, it’s either (1) with traditional employment opportunities at local restaurants, hotels, shops, or (2) in starting their own small businesses. This second option — the entrepreneurial route — is operated by the Esperanza Social Venture Club, an investment arm designed to incubate small businesses, provide seed capital, and support […]
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Many of you may have followed our Mar a Mesa Challenge, a fundraising event based around the old adage: Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. What the old adage doesn’t mention, is that he may end up uniting an entire community […]
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We are thrilled to announce Esperanza’s first fundraising event, the “Mar a Mesa (Sea to Plate) Challenge” this coming Saturday, September 26th, 2015 at Maito restaurant in downtown Panama City, 12 – 6pm. This supporter’s event (the pilot in a series) will pair 2 Esperanza graduates with 3 award-winning chefs for a day on the […]
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Upon graduating our intensive 10-week intervention and integration program, most Esperanza graduates go on to work in traditional jobs in the neighborhood: hotels, restaurants, cafes. Some of our graduates, however, frankly don’t want to work for anyone and instead, start their own businesses. To date, Esperanza has nurtured six graduate businesses to fruition and each […]
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Casco Viejo has problems like any other community. We’re low on volunteers at our homegrown recycling center. We’ve got a beach that needs constant cleaning. We have graffiti that pops up seemingly overnight and must be taken down (whoever you are, can you stop doing that please?). But unlike most communities with challenges like these, […]
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