Opes Impact Fund

Refolo is a type B social cooperative that sees social agriculture as having a dual impact: social and environmental. Refolo was created with the aim of creating an agro-ecological and social corridor that runs through the province of Brescia from north to south with the hope that administrations and other communities will come together to generate a positive impact on the environment and the community. Refolo operates in an area located between the municipalities of Brescia, Collebeato, Villa Carcina and Montirone, territories that share the presence of agricultural areas that over the years have been abandoned due to their unsuitability for intensive agriculture and lack of interest by new generations and that are now ready to start again.

Equa is a social cooperative that offers a wide range of services for individuals, families, and communities. Equa is thus the result of Genera and Tuttinsieme joining forces to offer even more comprehensive and quality services to the community. The cooperative is active in the Milan metropolitan area, with a particular historical presence in municipalities 7, 8, and 9, as well as in the municipalities of Assago, Buccinasco, Cesano Boscone, Cormano, Paderno Dugnano, Tradate, Bareggio, Muggiano, and Vigano.

Area Società Cooperativa is a social enterprise specializing in the design and management of services aimed at people. The cooperative was established relatively recently, in December 2001, but its history is much more rooted in time. Already in the 1990s, the nearby Co. Ge. SS Cooperative, which has always managed services for disabled people, began to create services for minors, making use of new and specialized educators.

ArticoloUno promotes the employment of disadvantaged people in restaurant-related fields of work. The scope of the work was increased after the first year to include two more areas: industrial and civil cleaning, as well as municipal hall surveillance. The pandemic led to an increase in demand for cleaning jobs at the cooperative as well. Nearly half of the cooperative's workers are currently employed in the cleaning industry, which has developed into a key area for the employment of elderly people and a significant number of women.

CavaRei is a social innovation project that provides services for people with disabilities and social distress. CavaRei operates five facilities, offering numerous services, including two occupational therapy centers, an accredited day and residential rehabilitation center, a mental health center, a group of independent living apartments, a group home, and a center for growing and processing aromatic herbs. Today, CavaRei cares for more than 130 people and prides itself on predominantly female governance.

Albergo Etico is a cooperative that deals with the employment of people with disabilities through hotel activities. The goal of the initiatives is to develop an active and dynamic pathway aimed at the full exploitation of the potential of people with disabilities, providing them with support and accompaniment to work, and helping them find the motivation they need to embark on a path of personal growth. Currently, Albergo Etico has locations in Italy, Argentina, Australia, and Albania, with further openings planned in the United States and Norway.

Il Ponte deals with social inclusion and job placement for disadvantaged people, including individuals with disabilities or social fragility. Il Ponte is a type B cooperative that aims to enable these people to acquire manual skills and abilities through experience and vocational training, in order to enable their inclusion in local businesses and make them feel like an active part of society. The cooperative’s activities include assembly, packaging, and other processing of products for third parties.

Il Calabrone is a type A social cooperative that provides assistance to young people who are struggling so they may make autonomous and conscientious decisions. The cooperative wants to assist those who are struggling to rediscover the worth and meaning of life and to regain their independence. Il Calabrone offers various services that can be grouped into three areas: Community, Projects and Services, and Youth Policy. Regarding the Community area, the cooperative manages two residential communities in Brescia and Collebeato for the reintegration and therapy of people with addiction problems.

Alborea is a cooperative society of social solidarity able to offer excellent service in the catering sector. With a team of professionals in the sector, it operates in the market, carrying out consultancy, catering, banqueting, and important projects for collective catering. Through the management of catering services, Alborea deals with the re-employment of male and female inmates from Brescia’s two prison systems, to whom it wants to offer – just as the Cooperative’s name says – a new “dawn” (“Alba” in Italian) and an opportunity to start again.

La Differenza is a social cooperative that deals with job placement for people with disabilities or socially fragile people. The cooperative also deals with accessible tourism for people with disabilities and social communication through the “Rotellando” project. Priority goals of the cooperative include promoting accessible tourism, catering, and communication, as well as the employment of underprivileged individuals through recruitment, training internships, and social inclusion pathways, as well as the promotion of independent living and mobility for people with disabilities.

ZeroPerCento is a cooperative that focuses on the employment of people with intellectual disabilities. It offers frail people a real job and teaches a trade, helps them grow and become independent, gives responsibility and demands commitment and perseverance, creates ad hoc pathways, supports active job search, and prepares for interviews.

Gea is a social cooperative that manages apartment groups and micro-residential activities for adults with psycho-intellectual disabilities. The GEA cooperative operates with a view to networking and collaboration with the realities of the territory, both with those that deal purely with disabilities and with those that operate in other areas, always related to social contexts. GEA has distinguished itself in the panorama of its territory by carrying out intense awareness-raising activities aimed at breaking down the social stigma that has always been held against mental disability and psychiatric suffering.

La Rete is a type A social cooperative that orients all its activities to coexistence without exclusions, the contrast of situations of discomfort, the promotion of rights, and the growth of an increasingly welcoming and responsible community, hinged on principles of equity, solidarity, and respect for legality. La Rete cooperative has initiated the expansion and integration of social agriculture AGROMANIA (https://agromania.bio/) through the promotion of ORTOCICLO (https://www.ortociclo.it/), a project that presents an “agroecological model of inclusion” created to stimulate the environmental recovery of uncultivated land through the development of agricultural activities involving disadvantaged people and the management of a home distribution chain of agricultural products, starting with products coming precisely from organic agricultural crops, through an eco-sustainable distribution platform: cargo bikes.

Sudiksha Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a social entrepreneurship initiative focused on improving educational standards in India, particularly for underprivileged children. The company operates a network of affordable preschools that provide a holistic curriculum designed to foster cognitive, social, and linguistic development during the crucial formative years of early childhood. By leveraging innovative teaching methods and a research-driven approach, Sudiksha serves as a social laboratory, continually refining its educational practices to enhance learning outcomes. The initiative aims to revolutionize the educational landscape, ensuring that quality education is accessible to all children, regardless of their socio-economic status.

Based in California, The Pachamama Coffee Cooperative of Small-Scale Coffee Producers is a unique global cooperative that is wholly-owned and controlled by small-scale coffee farmers around the world. Pachamama’s member-cooperatives represent tens of thousands of families in Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and Ethiopia. Buying organic coffee directly from farmers means better coffee for you, a better life for the farm family and a healthier environment for us all. Pachamama distributes freshly roasted coffee web-direct and wholesale to select retailers. 100% of profit are paid to our farmer-owners, whose best organic coffee is roasted in small batches in California. If you would like to learn more about Pachamama, please email info(at)pacha.coop, or give us a call at (530) 204-7554. Gracias. Visit our new coffee gallery & factory store at 919 20th Street in Sacramento, California.

Iwokrama is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of an endangered biodiverse forest in Guyana. Governed by an International Board of Trustees, it operates with a professional team of approximately seventy permanent staff based in Georgetown and at the Iwokrama River Lodge and Research Centre located in Kurupukari. The organization focuses on protecting the forest while providing eco-tourism activities, including lodging, meals, and guided tours of the rainforest. Additionally, Iwokrama conducts scientific research and evaluates the forest's economic contributions, offering forest management training to promote ecological, economic, and social benefits for both the local communities and the global environment.