We believe young people have extraordinary potential to create change. For this reason, at TI School we seek to put our alumni in a position where they can use their newly acquired knowledge to test their ideas in practice. The Social Entrepreneurs Initiative (SEI) provides TI School alumni with an opportunity to make a difference by introducing transparency and anti-corruption initiatives in their communities.
Since 2012 the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) has been supporting this TISI scheme to encourage TISI alumni and empower them to develop new ideas to boost transparency, accountability and fight corruption. The competition winners are awarded mini-grants between 500 – 5,000 Euros to support the kick-off and implementation of their community initiatives.
IACC Grant winners from TISI 2013 and TISI 2014:
Enrique Naveda is a TISI 2013 alumni and with his project “Mapping patronage in Guatemala” he aims to start a public conversation on how the civil service operates and how civil servants are chosen in Guatemala. Enrique says: “When corruption is systematic the legal and cultural institutions regulate politics and economy in a way that excludes most of population from achieving living standards beyond survival”.
More information about this project can be found here.
David Riveros García is a TISI 2013 alumni and with his project 
“ParaguaYOite” aims to increase the students’ understanding of anti-corruption issue Paraguay. David says: “I will never forget the police coming after me; appearing on the front page of local newspapers with the title of ‘vandal”.
More information about this project can be found here.
Check out David’s video reports about his project:
Part 1 | Part 2
Verónica Portugal Chávez is a TISI 2014 alumni and with her project ‘Participa en Tu Comunidad Escolar’ intends to create awareness on the relevance of civic participation, accountability and anti-corruption in pirmary schools in Mexico. Verónica says: “The consequences of corruption in education have caused the biggest problems in our nation: high inequality, low social mobility, low educative achievement, criminality and organized crime.”
More information about this project can be found here.
Indra Mangule is a TISI 2014 alumni and with her project ‘Tackling Envelope Bribery in Latvia’ she seeks to raise awareness of the health sector bribery as well as empower medical staff and doctors to be ethically responsible and take an active stance in fight against corruption. Indra says: “One of the most terrifying experiences of my life was being exposed to a situation where it was pretty clear that unless an envelope is passed on, so to speak, a beloved member of my family wouldn’t receive the medical services of adequate quality that she required to save her life.”
More information about this project can be found here.