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Past Events

Pitching a Dream

A celebration of Refugee and Migrant Entrepreneurship

Friday, 12 November 2021
LIVE EVENT

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!

PHASE 2 – BOOST | Info Session for refugees and migrants

Friday, 23 April 2021, 12:00 – 13:30
ONLINE EVENT

Our programme is this year divided into three phases: LAUNCH, BOOST and ELEVATE.

Information event about the BOOST phase and all 3 phases.

BOOST is a four-month phase for entrepreneurs with a validated business or non-profit idea. It focuses on preparing entrepreneurs and equipping them with the right tools to enter the Swiss market.

We prioritise applications from entrepreneurs with a refugee background and from countries at risk of a humanitarian crisis. We accept the following permits: N, F, B, C, L.

***This phase is open to all participants who have already taken part in Capacity and to new applicants whose projects are more advanced, therefore places are limited.***

PHASE 1 – LAUNCH | Info Session for refugees and migrants

Wednesday, 3 February 2021, 18:00 – 19:30
ONLINE EVENT

Our programme is this year divided into three phases: LAUNCH, BOOST and ELEVATE.

Recruiting for the LAUNCH phase, but also informing about all 3 phases.

LAUNCH is the two-month ideation phase of the programme providing foundational entrepreneurship and prototyping skills for aspiring entrepreneurs.

For entrepreneurs with a refugee background and from countries at risk of a humanitarian crisis, who have a feasible idea and the commitment to develop it into a profit or non-profit initiative. We accept the following permits: N, F, B, C, L.

Volunteering with a purpose

 

Wednesday, 4 November 2020, 12:15 – 13:45
ONLINE EVENT

In partnership with the Fachstelle Integration Kanton Zurich Capacity launched ENGAGE, an official volunteering programme for migrant and local communities to find meaningful volunteering opportunities in the field of migration.

We offered an inclusive interactive workshop to offer best practices for volunteering in Switzerland and expanding your professional network while supporting causes that you care about.

Capacity Pitch Day | World Refugee Week

Tuesday 23rd June 2020, 18:00 – 20:00 ZOOM EVENT

Capacity team and community to celebrated Refugee and Migrant Entrepreneurship through our Pitch Day and the commemoration of the World Refugee Day.

Our ten brilliant entrepreneurs presented their companies, socio-cultural projects and ideas in an elevator pitch.  The audience gave them feedback and posted very interesting questions, some of them stayed in touch with the entrepreneurs to support them further or to connect them with other people who have expertise in the areas where reinforce is needed.

The agenda of the event was:

– Opening: Musical performance.

– Introduction to Capacity: Short Video

– Pitch Party: 10 elevator pitches from our Migrapreneurs

– Feedback session and Q&A

– Au revoir

Joint session with Powercoders – Info Session for Interested Candidates

3 June 2020
6 PM – 7:15 PM

Information event for women and men of diverse backgrounds interested in learning digital skills and getting an IT internship where Capacity presented about our upcoming Boost Programme which will start in September 2020

ONLINE INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP
Volunteering with a purpose

6 May 2020

In partnership with the Fachstelle Integration Kanton Zurich Capacity launched ENGAGE, an official volunteering programme for migrant and local communities to find meaningful volunteering opportunities in the field of migration.

As Capacity is committed to the socio-economic inclusion of refugees and migrants in Switzerland, we offered an exclusive online interactive workshop which took place via Zoom in order to offer orientation and best practices for volunteering.

OBJECTIVES
This event allowed newcomers:

    1. to understand their motivation behind volunteering
    2. to know how to leverage volunteering opportunities to find a new purpose/career path
    3. to know how to engage in local activities around migration to expand their social network
    4. to get to know the do’s and don’ts of volunteering based on local practices
    5. to understand which organisations are working on the field of migration

Generali | Alumn Teferi Kassa featured by Generali | Migrapreneurship stories

17 April 2020

Fearing for your life because you repair and distribute wheelchairs? Surely that can’t happen? But it can. It’s Teferi Kassa’s story. Since fleeing his native Ethiopia in 2016, he and his family have been living in Baden & awaiting the outcome of his asylum application. The desire to create a secure future for himself & others is what drives Teferi. That’s why he has set up an association with the help of our partner Generali.

Full article here.

OECD High-Level Policy Forum

Building a Whole-of-Society Approach to Emerging Migration and Integration Challenges

Paris, 16 January 2020

Capacity participated along with the Swiss delegation of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) in the OECD High-level Policy Forum on Migration and Integration and a formal ministerial dinner.

We were proud to represent Switzerland and showcase the talent of and work with refugees and migrants, as an example of good local practices.

Storytelling for Inclusion | Cross-Generational Experiences of Migration

14 October 2019

In Capacity, we see the power of personal stories as a tremendous tool to break through stereotypes and change attitudes towards migration.

After the Migration & Gastronomy Editions, the third part of our Storytelling series was also an absolute smash and showed us once again why we love our community so much.

This series of storytelling events was made possible thanks to Generali Switzerland through TheHumanSafetyNet and the KantonalesIntegrationsprogramm (KIP). We would also like to thank Citi,  and hashtagEngagementMigros for their support.

Storytelling for Inclusion | Gastronomy Editon

22 August 2019

Capacity’s storytelling for inclusion series brings to the forefront the importance of food in our lives and how it can bring us together, as well as being a great platform to build entrepreneurial businesses. Food has interesting migration stories too, and tracing ingredients, products, and recipes across the world can keep us connected to “home”, wherever that may be.

 

PopUp Fair & World Refugee Day

21 June 2019

Summer, with its never-ending supply of sunshine and healthy doses of community-building, made the perfect stage for our 2019 entrepreneurs to shine at our annual PopUp Fair and World Refugee Day celebration.

In the words of our entrepreneurs:

“What better escape from an alternate and difficult reality than finding a new family in Switzerland, the Capacity family.”

“There is a life before, during and after Capacity.”

“I came with no friends and a wild business idea, and I did not imagine that magic could happen.”
“I had this idea for more than ten years… it is all possible thanks to this programme. Thank you for pushing my limits.”

“As a refugee in Switzerland, I felt as if I lived on a different island. This program helped me to meet new people, get attention to my work, and communicate my project and goals. I could not imagine my life without Capacity.”

“You can leave Capacity, but Capacity never leaves you.”
Click here to see some of our visual impressions of our growing Capacity Family at this year’s PopUp Fair and World Refugee Day!

 

INFOCUS conference at the United Nations

June 2019

Capacity participated for the second consecutive year in the INFOCUS Conference on Volunteerism and Social Transformation. Our Valentina S. Velandia rocked the panel on ‘Ensuring equal opportunities for development: focus on education and work’. She talked about the importance of our entrepreneurship and training programmes in creating self-sustaining opportunities for refugees and migrants to build more inclusive societies. 

Storytelling for Inclusion | Art & Culture

May 23rd, 2019

It was an intimate evening where our storytellers were an open book and shared many inspiring and empowering lessons.

This event is part of Capacity’s new module that aims to redefine the role of refugee and migrant entrepreneurs through the power of personal and professional storytelling. Click here to read more about it and see the photos!

ETH & Capacity’s Social Hackathon

March 16, 2019

Our co-organised Social Hackathon was a hands-on learning opportunity and a great way to get inspired and work together with six talented social entrepreneurs from the Capacity community on their impact-driven projects.

We invited ETH students to co-design, co-develop and test solutions for a day in a high energy setting in answer to the technical questions presented. Teams received feedback on their prototypes from a panel of experts during the day and from the audience after their final pitches.

Pitch Party

November 2018

Every year Capacity celebrates the completion of each programme with a closing ceremony and pitch party. At this event, we welcome Zurich’s deeply engaged, passionate and socially-conscious entrepreneurs, trainers/mentors and executives who come together for a celebratory evening of exchange and inspiration.