October is for Mental Health
18.10.2021MAZE has been accelerating and investing in solutions contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) since our foundation in 2013. To get a macro overview of our work, and starting this month, we will write about how our partner ventures are positively contributing to a specific UN SDG. In October, we kick-off […]
MAZE, the new B Corp on the block
07.10.2021MAZE was created by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2013 with the mission to improve the lives of people and the planet. We work with the public sector and the private sector, with startups and large corporates and all our activities have a common denominator which is, and will always be, our lookout for a […]
What we mean by platform
19.05.2021plat·form: female noun, which refers to a horizontal and levelled surface, higher than its surrounding floor. In Lisbon’s colourful trams, the platform is the step that supports the departing and arriving passengers. In the entrepreneurial lingo, it has a technological connotation, referring to a computing system. In abstract, it is also a collective of meaning […]
Katrien Buys is the 2021 MAZE runner
29.03.2021Katrien is the 2021 MAZE Runner award winner. This ward distinguishes the relentless efforts of an individual or a collective in tackling social or environmental challenges.
The impact of the European funds on impact
15.02.2021The European funds had a positive impact on social innovation in Portugal. The impact in the coming years depends on the decisions that will happen in the very near future. Losing this opportunity now means that we will only be able to have it again six years from now. Continuing the work done means getting closer and closer to finding better solutions to the problems we face.
Social Impact: what’s all the fuss about?
12.11.2020Since I joined MAZE, I have learned quite a bit on the meaning of impact. The most important thing is that impact, whether social or environmental, is the greatest social economic opportunity of our time. Once you get it, you cannot forget it. Here’s how I see it: What is social impact? Social impact is […]
Four ideas to embed impact within an organisation
18.09.2020‘The next decade will be defined by companies that have a social and environmental purpose’, said a partner of Index Ventures, one of the largest venture capital funds in Europe. The CEO of Y Combinator, one of the leading accelerators in the world which has invested in companies such as Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, among many others, also […]
The opportunity to improve the lives of half the population
18.07.2020There are 3.9 billion women in the world which corresponds to 49% of the world’s population. However, and despite the fact that women drive about 85% of consumption decisions [1], most products have not been developed considering their specific needs. There are several examples that corroborate this phenomenon. Basic life support training for resuscitation from […]
6 lessons skateboarding has taught me about my first job
10.07.2020Here are 6 (of many) lessons skateboarding has taught me about the adult world that I am now facing every day
What a ‘green recovery’ might look like
03.07.2020“Whatever it takes!” has become a motto for saving the global economy as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the planet and shuts down entire countries.
Want to report your impact? Here is a list to get you started
12.06.2020Over the past few months, our team has been focused on assessing our impact: internally, as an organisation working within a community and an environment, and externally, through the projects we have been supporting. This blog post details one of the frameworks that has helped us in this endeavour, the Impact Management Project (IMP).
5 tips for fostering creative thinking, starting tomorrow
03.05.2020But more recently, I’ve been interested in how to foster that creativity on others. Is there a secret formula for bringing creativity into the problem-solving process within teams? What is the right way to lead your team to more creative outcomes?
Fumaça is the 2020 MAZE runner
28.02.2020Each year, MAZE awards a MAZE Runner. The 2020 award went to Fumaça, an independent investigative non-profit journalism project focused on human rights.
André Figueiredo e Bruno Ferreira are THE MAZE Runners of 2019
01.03.2019Each year, MAZE awards a MAZE Runner. This year, there are two people who stood out for their tireless role that allowed the success of MAZE and supported projects.
The launch of One Value
23.06.2018MAZE partnered with European Investment Bank Institute to prepare and advance training to bankers in order to improve access to funding for socially driven organisations
Portuguese Social Investment Taskforce Progress Report
21.06.2018On June 20 2018, the Portuguese Social Investment Taskforce gathered to reflect on the progress made thus far regarding the national strategy for invstment and social innovation set out in 2015
Cross-Sector Collaboration for Better Social Outcomes
09.06.2018European Venture Philanthropy Association partnered with MAZE to produce a report on the learnings from various examples of cross-sector collaboration for social outcomes
Luís Jerónimo is a MAZE Runner
27.03.2018Each year, we will award a Maze Runner. Someone who is paving the way towards effective solutions for society’s most pressing challenges.