You may have ever wondered what the bigger picture is behind Impact Foundation’s interventions. In this blog we will reveal to you the methodology according to which we work as an organization.
The story of Impact Foundation was started by Elena Ivanova and Igor Mishevski in 2019. Namely, they have been practicing market systems development (MSD) methodology for half a decade, where they realized that they want to use exactly this methodology for the progress of individual markets in our country. Market Systems Development represents a development approach that is a guide in understanding the reasons why the next level of development of the market environment cannot be reached and how to act systemically for long-term change in these systems.
With this premise, Impact Foundation has developed several interventions that we will explain through the prism of market systems development.
Promotion of the self-employment market
Impact Foundation together with the Swiss Intercooperation Helvetas are implementing the RECONOMY project where the driving methodology is the development of market systems. Impact Foundation approached a niche target group – freelancers who have a great potential for self-employment. Demand, supply and the environment in which market actors operate are primarily analyzed. We always keep in mind who the target group in focus of the intervention is. In our case, we focus on future freelancers, people who want to do digital work, want to work for international employers, would like not to be fixed to a permanent location and prefer flexible working hours. Among them, we especially took care to find the convenience for vulnerable groups: young people, women. Our analysis helped us understand which are the most important 10 digital jobs for which there is technical training in private training centers. Our analysis helped us understand which are the most important 10 digital jobs for which there is technical training in private training centers. So with the help of an open call, we asked training centers who would like to introduce freelance skills training in addition to their technical digital skills training, and we will help them develop and launch it in the training market.
As we work in parallel to strengthen the supply of freelance skills, we have mapped all the stakeholders in the freelance environment such as:
- Ministry of Education and Science
- Insurance companies
- Macedonian Banking Association
- Digital Labor Platforms
- International Labor Organization
- Freelance Instructors
- Career Centers
- Private Pension Funds
- Organizations like Startup Macedonia and Women in Tech
And with all of them, in individual interviews and working groups, we analyze the necessary steps to develop better conditions for freelancing. All these activities imply raising awareness about this type of work, public dialogue with institutions, association in entities that will represent freelancers and so on. All this in order to encourage future freelancers to take this step without having the feeling that they are in an unregulated or unpopular form of self-employment.
If you want to start working freelance, read the following blog post 7 Top Platforms To Find Freelance Projects On.
