Have you felt isolated during corona times? Has it been hard to find the roses amongst the thorns in life? It’s now clear how vital is to spend time outside, connecting with people. Ama Koranteng-Kumi has always known this. 6 years ago, she decided to heal Amsterdam’s most marginalized community through gardening. Bloei & Groei has since changed the lives of 400 women in Amsterdam Zuid-Oost. But corona caused financial troubles and the gardens needed new partners to become self-sustainable.
My role: Marketing Strategist, Partnership Researcher
Scope
- Community Management
- Comunication Strategy
- Partnership Research
- Mentorship Programme
Impact Hub x Corona Mentorship Program
Together with Impact Hub Amsterdam, Starters 4 Communities, and Young Impactmakers, we have created a team under their mentorship program, helping the community gardens of Amsterdam Zuid-Oost to bloom again and reborn after the winter of the corona times.
Our team developed a partnership package model, so local businesses can support Bloei & Groei however best suits them. Say an Amsterdam office wants to boost employee wellness: it can go for gardening workshops, successfully lowering employees’ stress levels. Is a Zuid-Oost restaurant searching for fresh vegetables on a regular basis? It will find it in Bloei & Groei gardens. And imagine how amazing would your local shop look with handmade soaps and herbal teas from the garden’s produce.
Creating the Resilient Partnership Package Model
We knew this cannot be the “traditional” sponsorship, where companies inject money into a community initiative to simply tick a box. With Bloei & Groei, the benefits flow must be bidirectional. The partners gain a stunning reputation for daring to learn from brave women of the Zuid-Oost community. In other words, with Bloei & Groei, partners gain as they give.
Based on the framework of the partnership model, we have conducted a study in the Amsterdam business community, with a goal to understand the needs of the potential partners that can support Bloei & Groei on their mission to support women from marginalized communities. What kind of package would they like to see? What are their preferred supported projects and why? What is the best partnership acquisition strategy? These were some of the questions we have answered in our whitepaper for Bloei & Groei. I had a great opportunity to pitch our project at Impact Hub Amsterdam to the offline and online audience, bringing attention to the goal of Bloei & Groei.
Are you interested in supporting Bloei & Groei? There is an empowered community of women rising in Amsterdam Zuid-Oost. These women are not afraid to push through the thorns to find the roses in life and this is your chance to be part of that.
If you wish to become a partner of Bloei & Groei, shoot me a message on hello@lenkahomolka.com, I will gladly connect you with the coordinators of the community.
For a better understanding of the project, I highly recommend this beautiful documentary from Eva de Breed about the women of the Venserpolder community gardens.
All gardening pictures come from the Bloei & Groei site, reflecting the real people behind Bloei & Groei gardens.