Zakia Moulaoui, founder and CEO of Invisible Cities, a social enterprise which helps those who have experienced homelessness to train as tour guides, has been named as one of the winners of The Cambridge Social Innovation Prize.
The prize is awarded to social entrepreneurs who have created social change through business. Invisible Cities began in Edinburgh and has expanded to York, Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow. It has certainly made a difference to the many people who have become guides some of whom have progressed to a career after Invisible Cities.
Zakia said: “Winning the prize is such a great recognition of all the work that has gone into building Invisible Cities for the last 7 years. It is also the perfect opportunity for me to reflect on what is next not only for the social enterprise but for myself personally. I think I will only believe it once I am in Cambridge, and I can’t wait for this next chapter in my life!”
These awards are made annually to extraordinary founder-CEOs of scale-up social enterprises to support their growth as leaders. Uniquely, the Cambridge Social Innovation Prize recognises mid-career social innovators. The prize includes a £10,000 cash award for personal and professional development. Additionally, mentoring from experts at Cambridge Judge Business School and support from an expanding community of social innovators at Trinity Hall will help them to develop the skills, resources, and networks they need to create more impact from their work.
Nicole Helwig, Executive Director for the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation said: “On this the fifth anniversary of the Cambridge Social Innovation Prize, we are thrilled to celebrate five outstanding individuals. They come from diverse backgrounds with expertise and skills channelled towards creating social impact. They represent their ventures, but also the many people who work alongside them, behind the scenes and who are empowered through their efforts”.
Zakia’s achievement will be celebrated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge on 5 July 2023.
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