Many years ago a small team of innovators, realized that the power of collaboration was the thing that would lead the world. At a time when the “One-Man show” was at its peak, they saw the change.
Anyone else would be too scared to grasp that opportunity, but not that team. They came together and on March 5th, 2005 IED was born.
At the time, nothing more than a small business taking its first steps, in a world ruled by corporations. Their vessel was the IED ship, their strength to paddle, the power of collaboration. Their compass, a better world through entrepreneurship.
Soon enough, they knew what they had to do. They had to transfer knowledge from the point where it is produced to even the most remote parts of society. The knowledge that would be translated and shaped for every individual to use as needed.
And so it begun!
They started by going to the most remote villages, helping women realize their strength, believe in themselves and change society, the stereotypes and all the outdated opinions. They helped them train skills that they did not have. They gave them the knowledge that they were never given. The support that they needed. And finally, a small team of women succeeded in this difficult journey.
They changed their lives and the lives of everyone around them. Their small endeavor evolved and offered job opportunities to many people in the village. They gave life to the local society and offered the young people of the village, a reason not to migrate to the big cities or even different countries.
And it was that first little project that inspired that team of innovators to try again, this time even harder and help more people and more societies that needed them.
They worked hard, identifying funding opportunities to achieve their goal and offer more knowledge, this time enhanced with cost-free tools. Knowledge, after all, belongs to everyone.
We grow still
Now, fifteen years later, that team has grown. The small IED ship is now a frigate and onboard that frigate, 27 innovators aim to achieve what others only dream about.
We are the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development and we continue to change the world, every day. We transfer knowledge to those who need it. We develop our own tools and we give them for free to teams of dreamers/ startuppers and companies that want to make a difference.
Over the past fifteen years, we established collaborations all across the world, now counting more than 2500 partners.
It wasn’t nor will it ever be easy. We have traveled the world covering the perimeter of the earth more than 50 times, to acquire and impart knowledge, to enhance our expertise and to help all those that need us.
Our mission is an ambitious one. What drives us is the need for constant change, innovation and most importantly, our goal to complete what we started to the best of our abilities.
For us what matters the most is the journey with the IED ship, because no matter how big that ship gets, it will always be that one small vessel from fifteen years ago.
As the Nobel winning poet Constantine Peter Cavafy once wrote:
“Once you set out for Ithaka
hope your road to be long,
full of adventures, full of knowledge.”
