In order to discover more about the Lithuanian Social Business Association (LISVA) we spoke with Viktorija Braziunaite, CEO of LISVA.
Viktorija has both political science and business education backgrounds. She has over 10 years of experience in managing international projects and is currently involved in the Lithuanian Social Business Community, most notably focusing on legal regulation, international cooperation and raising awareness. Besides her focus on uniting social enterprise organisations, Viktorija has experience in international parliamentary cooperation, start-ups mentoring and acceleration, public relations and change management.
LISVA at a Glance
Lithuanian Social Business Association was established as a community of like-minded individuals who aimed to create an encouraging and supportive ecosystem for social enterprises. The association is a national umbrella organisation which was established in 2018 in order to create a favourable environment for social businesses, and to increase awareness and promote the implementation of international best practices.
Currently, the association is working on the Nordic Council of Minister project where they are working with partners from Latvia, Sweden, and Denmark to create a social impact self-measurement methodology toolkit for social enterprises in the green economy. Within one year, the project aims to produce a toolkit that will be available online to help social enterprises work together. Moreover, the association is part of the consortium of the Horizon Europe topic, ‘Participatory Open Social Innovation Through Interlinking Valuable Ecosystems,’ with partners from Germany and Italy. This programme aims to support social innovators through capacity building and connect ecosystems for promoting impact of social innovation.
‘There are a number of other initiatives directed to fostering national legal environment, social enterprise and innovation development on rural level and international cooperation. We are glad to have really good partners, ongoing dialogue with policy makers and active association members.’ says Viktorija.
LISVA’s Mission
LISVA aspires to actively participate in the formation and implementation of social business development policy in Lithuania. Moreover, the association aims to strengthen the capacity and proficiencies of organisations working within the social business sector. Additionally, through public information and education campaigns, LISVA aims to form public opinion about social business.
LISVA Membership
Within the next five years Viktorija wishes that Lithuania will become one of the enabling ecosystems in the EU, which provides necessary conditions for social business start-ups and scale-ups to develop innovative solutions to address societal and environmental problems.
“This is possible to achieve with a clear vision and action plan, necessary resources, right legal conditions and especially a strong voice from the sector.”
Additionally, Viktorija hopes that it will take less than five years to establish a governmental institution to promote social enterprise sector.
Working with Euclid Network
When asked ‘How will LISVA benefit from Euclid?’ Viktorija claimed that the collaboration will help towards making ‘Impact last and spreading as wide as possible. It enables an exchange of different views, experiences, and initiatives. And most importantly – when cooperating and working together we can make our voice even stronger.’ Euclid Network consists of a community of like-minded people who wish to grow and succeed within this sector. Therefore, through training and workshops, EN can generate and spread knowledge, ideas and energy in order to keep the impact going. ‘This makes both, LISVA and Euclid stronger.’
