Implement broad business skills to support refugee & migrant-owned businesses in Athens. Gain an understanding of the effects of the refugee crisis in Europe and apply broad business skills to support refugee & migrant-owned businesses in Athens, Greece.
Students are guided by local staff and business professionals in Athens to learn about economic opportunities for migrants and refugees in the cultural context of Greece. Students work alongside mentors from leading consulting firms to identify growth opportunities or areas of efficiency to help our clients earn more income. Through client interviews, mentorship, cultural sharing, and utilization of our deliverable templates, students create and present their deliverables to the clients for consideration.
In addition to our skill-based learning objectives, building cultural competence is integrated into the course to increase the quality of services and improve outcomes with community partners.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Customize your Business TeleBrigade by selecting a set of modules. Explore available modules below:
Module 1: Introductions and Program Overview
Coordinator and student introductions along with a presentation on Global Brigades (GB) in Greece. Self-paced Activity: Group reviews GB Greece’s economic development program materials in the context of GB’s Holistic Model for community development.
Module 2: The Refugee Crisis
Local refugee expert facilitates discussion on the causes of the crisis and its impact in Greece from a social end economic lens. Self-paced Activity: Group watches a video on the refugee crisis for context. Research on the contribution of refugee and migrant-owned micro-enterprises to economic inclusion, social integration, and the economy of the host country.
Module 3: Economic Opportunities for Refugees and Migrants
GB’s economic development expert provides the context of small businesses in the EU/Greek and the role of refugee- and migrant-owned small businesses. Self-paced Activity: Group reviews program materials and background on SMEs’ operation in the EU/Greek business environment.
Module 4: Client Selection
The group receives three potential client profiles and all the preparation materials via email to choose which clients they will be working with. Self-paced Activity: Group reviews client information and informs staff of client selection.
Module 5: Deliverable Review
Coordinator walks through the sample business deliverables the group may be working on and the common business challenges clients come with. Self-paced activity: Group reviews business templates and sample deliverable materials.
Module 6: Initial Client Meeting Preparation
Coordinator presents client information, including virtual business tour, loan details/application, and the context of the business beforehand. Self-paced Activity: Group prepares and assigns questions to ask the business client. Volunteers practice introducing themselves in the business client’s mother tongue or Greek.
Module 7: Initial Client Meeting
Introductory meeting between client and group to build relationship and have cultural exchange. Self-paced Activity: Group reviews notes from the client meeting and divides into teams and assigns tasks by business topic/deliverable.
Module 8: Mentor Session with Professional Consultant
Mentor and GB coordinator help prepare the group to ask the most strategic questions during the consultation day. Self-paced Activity: Self-paced Activity: Group prepares and assigns questions to ask business clients based on mentor guidance.
Module 9 and 10: Client Consultation Day
Live virtual session with business clients to answer questions and gather information for final business deliverables. Self-paced Activity: Group begins work in teams to create deliverables.
Module 11 and 12: Deliverable Creation
Two working sessions with coordinators to answer questions and help students create their business deliverables. Self-paced Activity: Group works to finalize deliverables and starts developing the final presentation.
Module 13: Final Mentor Feedback on Deliverables
Group submits presentation and sends final deliverables for Coordinator review. Group gets feedback on the draft of the presentation. Self-paced Activity: Group finalizes the presentation and sends the final deliverables to the coordinator.
Module 14: Presentation to Client
Group presents materials via a video conference to the client with translation by the coordinator and cultural mediator (if needed). Group receives feedback from the client. Self-paced Activity: Group reflects on the presentation and feedback from the client and makes any edits to deliverables. Procure cooking materials for cultural activity.
Module 15: Cultural Activity and Project Celebration
GB coordinator debriefs with the group and the team celebrates with a traditional dish. Self-paced Activity: Group reflects on the TeleBrigade experience.
Impact Reporting
Students will be included in Global Brigades’ regular newsletters and receive project updates and overall monitoring and evaluation of our programs.
Are you a student and not a faculty member? Find a student-led brigade Chapter near you.