"They come in feeling tense, but leave with wings."
Sustainable Development Goals:
Text: Willem Pijnenburg | TextVast
They have been doing it for years with equal conviction. Paul Ypinga (director) and Maaike de Jonge (intermediary) of Samen voor onze Regio are closely involved in organizing the Brainport voor Elkaar dinner. “Because it works,” says Paul. “Because it creates a real connection between two worlds that otherwise wouldn’t easily come together.”
Maaike has now been involved in half of all the dinners. “It started out as the Maatschappelijk 040 dinner and grew into Brainport voor Elkaar. We organize it together with partners such as NXP, DLL, Philips, and the municipality of Eindhoven. Each dinner brings companies and social organizations to the table, literally and figuratively.”
Clear request for help
“The social organizations that participate all have a specific request for help,” explains Maaike. “We help them formulate that request in advance, because during such a dinner you suddenly find yourself sitting across from CEOs of large companies. You want your request for help to be clear.” In addition, organizations are given 90 seconds to present themselves. Maaike: “The other companies don’t arrive unprepared. They know in advance what the questions are, as they are sent to them beforehand. This leads to focused discussions and valuable matches. Social organizations often arrive feeling tense, but almost always leave feeling inspired.”
To kill seven birds with one stone
The number of matches is sometimes higher than expected. “During the previous edition, seven social organizations had a similar communication piece. A communications agency recognized the common thread and decided to give them a workshop. One match, seven organizations helped. That’s the power of the dinner.” According to Paul, that’s exactly why Samen voor onze Regio has been involved for 12.5 years. “It fits in with our mission to connect worlds. When there is more mutual understanding, you can strengthen each other. We help to create and maintain that match.”
Happie040
The match is only the beginning. “We also offer aftercare,” says Maaike. “We remind organizations to contact their match. That way, it’s not a one-off, but sustainable.” The successful format itself remains largely unchanged, although its reach is slowly expanding. After years in Eindhoven, the dinner is now also in Veldhoven and will soon be in Helmond. “The anniversary edition will be held at Happie040 in Eindhoven; it’s their unofficial opening. Our ambition is to organize one event in Eindhoven and one elsewhere in the region each year. Because we’ve noticed that the need isn’t limited to this area.”
