Learning to Look Outside the Box

In case you missed it, Kanchi and Dialogue in the Dark were featured in The Irish Times last week.  “Learning to look outside of the box” was written by journalist Amanda Phelan.  She tells of her personal experience as a participant in the workshops which ran all last week.

Read “Learning to look outside the box” published in The Irish Times.

• Posted:17 Jun 2009 at 02:40 pm

Dialogue in the Dark Featured on RTÉ News

Dialogue in the Dark workshops have officially landed in Dublin, running this week only.  Yesterday these business workshops were featured on RTÉ News on Two.  For the first time in 20 years, Dialogue in the Dark allowed infrared cameras to film participants as they discovered the dark.

Watch RTÉ news feature to see what the Kanchi Team could not, as they too learned how to think differntly in the dark.

• Posted:10 Jun 2009 at 01:05 pm

Kanchi Brings Dialogue in the Dark to Dublin

Dialogue in the Dark is a series of eye-opening business leadership workshops with a twist.  They are held completely in the dark and facilitated by blind trainers.  With the support of O2 Ireland, Kanchi is set to bring these innovative workshops to Ireland for the first time June 8th – 12th.

Aimed at senior managers and boards of directors, these workshops mean to improve participant’s ability to communicate, cooperate and lead in an unfamiliar environment.  As Dialogue in the Dark explains it, spending time immersed in darkness while dependent on blind leaders brings about a change of perspective, which can be transferred to the context of work.  For Kanchi, it is a unique opportunity for Irish business leaders to gain a greater insight into the challenges faced by people with disabilities.

Dialogue in the Dark International is the brain child of social entrepreneur, Andreas Heinecke.   He has taken this concept around the world.  To date over 5 million people in 22 different countries have participated in the workshops.  Watch the video below to see what attendees of the World Economic Forum in Davos thought.

• Posted:29 May 2009 at 10:11 am

Follow the Yellow Footprints

If you find yourself in Wicklow Town, curious markings may catch your eye.  Bright yellow footprints have been painted on footpaths across town to raise awareness around access issues faced by people with disabilities.  One aim is to remind motorists that parking on footpaths obstructs access not only for people with disabilities but for penetrations in general.  So take care when parking or you may find a yellow warning sticker on your car.

The ones behind this initiative are East Gelndalaugh Schools’s Young Social Innovators.  Young Social Innovators is Ireland’s leading social awareness and active citizenship education programme.  YSI gives students aged 15-18 the education and support to improve their community.  Projects are youth led, team based and action focused.

YSI’s Annual Showcase will take place tomorrow, May 6th at the RDS in Dublin.  Open to the public, over 6,000 young leaders will attend workshops and present their own projects.

Can’t attend?  Visit YSI’s website to learn more about innovative projects showcased, including projects that address the challenge “Making Our World More Inclusive”.

• Posted:05 May 2009 at 11:53 am

Radio Interview with Caroline Casey

Last Saturday, Founding CEO of Kanchi, Caroline Casey, appeared on the Eamon Dunphy Show.  She chatted in depth about her personal history, eyesight and journey from Management Consultant to Social Entrepreneur.

Listen tot he entire interview on RTE One

• Posted:17 Apr 2009 at 03:29 pm

One Wild Life

Craving an adventure around the world? Author Claire Mulvany, can take you on a journey from Dublin to Cambodia, discovering how unassuming persons are truly making a difference. Released this month, One Wild Life recounts her eleven month adventure with excerpts from her diary and blog. Interviews with “changemakers” she met along the way tell of their journey towards a better world.  Claire hopes to inspire young people into realising their potential, passions and ability to use their talents to effect social change.

Read a few pages of One Wild Life on amazon.co.uk which features fellow Dubliner Caroline Casey.

Claire’s book just might inspire you to set off on your own adventure.

• Posted:17 Apr 2009 at 02:25 pm

Social Edge

Social Edge is a program of the Skoll Foundation and was set up by socialentrepreneurs for social entrepreneurs. Every week they host two online discussions moderated by experts in the field. For blogs, podcasts and expert advice relating to social entrepreneurs check out this website.

• Posted:07 Aug 2008 at 12:08 pm

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

What is Ashoka?

Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs - men and women with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Ashoka describes social entrepreneurs as ‘individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems’. Bill Drayton the Founder and CEO set up Ashoka in the early 1980’s. Drayton aims to find change making leaders around the world, provide them with support and watch as they transform ingrained institutions and improve lives exponentially.

Kanchi’s Founder and CEO, Caroline Casey, became the first Ashoka fellow from Ireland in 2006 for her pioneering work in the field of disability. If you want to find out more about Ashoka and its work check out the Ashoka website

• Posted:07 Aug 2008 at 11:50 am