The Changemaker Chronicles

A REDpreneur Newsletter
www.redpreneur.org

Dear Friends of REDpreneur,

We are excited to share the third edition of our newsletter with you. As 2025 comes to a close, we are pleased to bring you new stories and exciting updates. This edition is particularly special as we celebrate REDpreneur’s 5-Year Anniversary and the publication of the REDpreneur Impact Report 2020–2025. Below, you will find more information about the anniversary event and the report, as well as updates from our Community and Alumni, highlights from recent events, and insights into our REDpreneur program in Ukraine. You will also have the opportunity to watch videos and explore photos from the past few months.

We wish you a pleasant read!

Team REDpreneur at the 5-Year Anniversary.

Global Updates

Five Years of REDpreneur

This year, REDpreneur reached a major milestone, marking five years of humanitarian entrepreneurship, and five years of inspiring mindset change across the Red Cross and Red Crescent Network.

When REDpreneur was launched in 2020 as a small initiative within the Austrian Red Cross, few could have anticipated how quickly it would grow into a global community. Today, REDpreneur connects hundreds of changemakers worldwide who develop meaningful and sustainable solutions for their communities. Over the past five years, the initiative has built an international network of 300+ graduates and over 200 Ventures across 39 countries, supporting Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, local enterprises, civil society organizations, and communities addressing the five global challenges defined by the IFRC in the Strategy 2030.

Celebration

On November 25, 2025, the 5-Year Anniversary was celebrated at the Headquarters and the Humanitarian Innovation Lab of the Austrian Red Cross, as well as online, together with alumni, partners, funders, and friends of REDpreneur. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been part of this journey. Your commitment and collaboration have shaped REDpreneur over the past five years, and we look forward to continuing this work toward safe, healthy, inclusive, and resilient communities worldwide. Take a look at the pictures of the event here.

A warm thank you goes to all who joined the anniversary celebration, as panellists and guests, both in Vienna and online. Your presence, curiosity, and support made this celebration special.

We sincerely thank the Austrian Development Agency for believing in this idea when it was still young. We thank ERSTE Foundation and Erste Social Finance for their long-term commitment to supporting REDpreneur intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs, and NACHBAR IN NOT for supporting hundreds of people in vulnerable situations in Ukraine to rebuild their livelihoods through entrepreneurship. We also thank all our corporate partners, especially Vienna Insurance Group, for their trust and for bringing the courage to introduce innovation into humanitarian work.

We thank every trainer, coach, and facilitator who created space for others to grow, as well as our alumni and the hundreds of Ventures that persevered, built ideas in difficult contexts, and continue to support their peers beyond the program. Your support created opportunities for many others and will continue to open new possibilities for future generations of changemakers and advocates for change.

Our sincere thanks go to the management of the Austrian Red Cross, whose leadership and commitment made this initiative possible and welcomed REDpreneur into the Humanitarian Innovation Lab. We are equally grateful to our partners at New Paradigm Ventures, Relevant Ventures, Impact Hub Vienna, tech2impact, School of ME and Ukrainian Future for co-designing and delivering outstanding training cycles. Special appreciation goes to our colleagues from from the French Red Cross, the Canadian Red Cross, the Netherlands Red Cross, the Spanish Red Cross, and the Swiss Red Cross for their early and continued support. We also thank the Ukrainian Red Cross Society for sharing insights into the transformational change driven by localized entrepreneurship support and the RED HUB.

This journey has only just begun. Five years of REDpreneur have shown what can grow when humanitarian organizations, innovators, funders, and corporate partners work together with courage, creativity, and commitment.

More impressions and insights from this special evening can be found on our social media channels.

The REDpreneur Impact Report 2020-2025

Over the past months our team has worked intensively on compiling the first REDpreneur Impact Report. The report brings together five years of work from 2020 to 2025 and shows what has grown through the commitment of our partners, supporters, participants, trainers, coaches, Ventures and teams. It captures our shared journey of building entrepreneurial capacity and fostering innovation within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Network. The report presents key milestones, impact data and insights from National Societies and Ventures in 39 countries, with a focus on humanitarian entrepreneurship, financial sustainability and systemic change. You can find the full report here.

Community Updates

In July 2025, REDpreneur launched the Community Offer, opening the first structured platform for the entire network to connect, learn, and collaborate.

Since then, several events have brought the community together:

InspiRED Session, corporAID Multilogue in collaboration with ICEP (September 2025): In September we teamed up with ICEP to co-host the corporAID Multilogue at the Humanitarian Innovation Lab of the Austrian Red Cross. This was our first-ever cooperation with ICEP and at the same time the kick-off of the new REDpreneur InspiRED Sessions within our hybrid Community Offer. A double milestone that showed once again how much stronger these conversations become when we bring our perspectives and networks together. We explored what really drives innovation in emerging and developing countries: not imported “solutions”, but locally rooted ideas, resilient designs, and partnerships built on trust.
Alumni Town Hall (October 2025): This online event brought together Alumni from various cohorts and from across the globe to reconnect, exchange insights and discuss the growth of their Ventures.
5-Year Anniversary (November 2025): We celebrated REDpreneur’s achievements and strengthened connections in person at the Headquarters and the Humanitarian Innovation Lab of the Austrian Red Cross but what made the evening even more special, is that we were joined by so many of our Alumni Community for the hybrid launch of the Impact Report 2020-2025. Watch the greetings and wishes sent by our Alumni here.

A Global Network of REDpreneurs

In the past five years we have built a global network of REDpreneurs, with 300+ graduates, from 39 countries across the Americas, Asia, Europe and Africa. Considering all participants who engaged in the broader REDpreneur offerings, the total number of people reached is considerably higher. However, we focus on communicating the number of graduates who have successfully completed a full training cycle. Find all of our Ventures here and the full Impact Report here.

Alumni Introduction

Our Alumni are at the heart of REDpreneur’s global Community. Through their Ventures, innovations, and personal growth, they bring humanitarian entrepreneurship to life in communities around the world.

In this edition of the Changemaker Chronicles, we want to celebrate two inspiring women, one from Austria and one from Lebanon, whose journey brought them to REDpreneur.

Designing for Dignity: Lotte Kristoferitsch and EOOS Social Design’s Global WASH Impact

Lotte Kristoferitsch, Managing Co-Director of EOOS Social Design and Co-Founder of EOOS NEXT, is reshaping how design can drive social change. As part of the 2024 REDpreneur Alumni Ventures, Lotte leads innovative WASH projects that bring hygienic, water-saving sanitation solutions to communities with limited resources.

EOOS Social Design works at the intersection of technology and social impact, creating tools that make essential services accessible to the “other 90%.” Their projects, developed with partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Red Cross, and Helvetas, include groundbreaking work on Reinvented Toilets, autonomous sanitation systems designed for areas without sewer infrastructure. These designs reduce water use, improve safety, and offer scalable solutions for the Global South.

“Design is a powerful instrument for societal transformation”, says Lotte. Through circular design strategies and open-knowledge principles, EOOS Social Design empowers communities while redefining how humanitarian actors can innovate sustainably.

Empowering Communities Through First Aid: The Lebanese Red Cross’ Innovative Approach

Farah Soubra, First Aid and Public Safety Sales Manager at the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC), is leading a transformative initiative to make humanitarian services both sustainable and impactful. Through the 2024 REDpreneur Master Class, Farah and her team developed a model linking the sale of first aid kits to first aid training courses, ensuring the program generates income while improving community preparedness.

In collaboration with an international NGO, the LRC trained police officers across 26 municipalities in Lebanon, equipping each officer with a personal first aid kit and providing larger kits to key community hubs. This initiative empowers officers as first responders while building trust and safety within their communities.

“REDpreneur has significantly influenced how the LRC approaches sustainability”, says Farah. Traditionally reliant on donations, the LRC is now embracing financial independence while continuing to deliver critical services.

REDpreneur at Events

Social Entrepreneurship Meet-Up in Mombasa

A meet-up on doing business not as usual.

In July 2025, REDpreneur participated in the third Global Red Cross Red Crescent Social Entrepreneurship Meet-Up right in the paradise garden of the IOME Lab in Mombasa, Kenya. This event was hosted by the Kenya Red Cross Society together with the French Red Cross and the Austrian Red Cross as conveners of this international gathering.

Around 40 participants from 15 National Societies and the IFRC quickly moved beyond the obligatory group photo, which you can see below, and dove straight into the real questions: How do we step away from humanitarian work as usual? How do we move beyond grant-funded projects by leveraging social entrepreneurship for the financial independence of our organisations? How do we foster resilience for vulnerable people by becoming facilitators and platforms for local social entrepreneurs? And where exactly is the line between business as usual and truly impactful business?

We explored these questions not only in discussion, but also out in the field through an impact safari to meet magnificent local social entrepreneurs incubated by the Women Social Entrepreneurship Institute, an initiative of the Kenya Red Cross Society with support from the French Red Cross. The visit also created space to connect experienced social entrepreneurs acting as mentors with mentees seeking to explore their own path into social entrepreneurship.

We ended the meet-up with a powerful call to action: Let us leverage our community through the IFRC Communities Platform, and let us plan our next concrete steps on the journey to social entrepreneurship.

Photo credits: International Center for Humanitarian Affairs

REDpreneurUA Updates

Since our last newsletter, REDpreneur has supported additional local entrepreneurs in Ukraine, completed a pitching cycle with grant awards for selected finalists and delivered trainings to strengthen sales and customer engagement across branches of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society. New training cycles are preparing for upcoming events and seed funding opportunities, while expanded support for women entrepreneurs continues to strengthen community recovery and economic resilience nationwide. Find out more about REDpreneur in Ukraine here.

Master Class Workshop in Kyiv

From December 9 to 12, REDpreneur, in close partnership with the French Red Cross and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, hosted the final Master Class workshop in Kyiv, bringing together 14 teams from Red Cross branches across Ukraine to transform local ideas into sustainable social enterprises. After five months of intensive training and hands-on mentoring, the teams pitched innovative business models, from sewing workshops and cafés to health and education services, showcasing their potential for long-term impact. The programme concluded with an inspiring visit to the RED HUB, where participants connected, exchanged ideas, and aligned on future support, reinforcing REDpreneur’s mission to strengthen branch-level financial resilience and expand high-quality, community-driven social services.

Opening of the Salt Room

On December 12, the social enterprise salt room “Respira” officially opened in Novovolynsk, creating a new space for health promotion and respiratory prevention within the local primary healthcare centre. Supported by REDpreneur, the initiative was developed as a social enterprise and will provide free access for children with disabilities and children of fallen defenders, combining social impact with long-term sustainability. We sincerely thank NACHBAR IN NOT for making this initiative possible and wish Respira every success as it grows, while looking forward to supporting the launch of many more social enterprises across Ukrainian Red Cross branches in the future.

REDpreneurUA Alumni

Look into some of our featured REDpreneurUA Alumni below:

Closing Remarks

As we wrap up this edition of the REDpreneur newsletter, we are inspired by the dedication, creativity, and courage of the people and organizations shaping humanitarian entrepreneurship across our network. From five years of shared learning to locally rooted innovation in Ukraine and beyond, REDpreneur continues to grow as a community grounded in collaboration, agency, and lasting impact. Thank you for being part of this journey and for supporting the ideas, Ventures, and changemakers who carry this work forward every day. To stay connected and support our mission, we invite you to follow REDpreneur on social media and, if you have not already, subscribe to our newsletter for future updates and opportunities here.

Team REDpreneur at the 2025 Austrian Red Cross Christmas Party

Please note that the REDpreneur team will take a short hiatus over the winter to rest, regenerate and get inspired. We will resume regular content posting end of January. We wish you all a festive season, happy holidays and a restful and enjoyable time!

Thank You!

REDpreneur is a program facilitated by the Austrian Red Cross.

The REDpreneur Global program is carried out by New Paradigm Ventures, Relevant and Impact Hub Vienna, with funding from the Austrian Development Agency, ERSTE Foundation and Erste Social Finance, supported by Vienna Insurance Group, the Canadian Red Cross, the Netherlands Red Cross, the Spanish Red Cross, the Swiss Red Cross and more.

REDpreneur in Ukraine is implemented by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, carried out by tech2impact, School of ME and Ukrainian Future, with funding from NACHBAR IN NOT and the Austrian Development Agency, and in partnership with the French Cross. REDpreneur in Ukraine is also supported by the Spanish Red Cross.