In May 2025, Venture 2 Impact (V2I) partnered with Desafío Levantemos Chile to deliver a Volunteer Alliance Program supporting entrepreneurs in Viña del Mar affected by the 2024 wildfires. Through a combination of interactive workshops, personalized mentorship, and collaborative networking events, the program aimed to strengthen business resilience, boost financial literacy, and enhance digital and strategic skills.
Key outcomes included:
- 100% improved understanding and confidence in business model development
- 87.5% increased confidence in applying innovative practices and technologies
- 87.5% improved financial literacy and confidence in formalization and regulation
- 87.5% reported stronger business management and crisis navigation skills
- 75% improved networking and partnership-building capabilities
- 80% of mentees reported greater confidence in mentorship and stakeholder engagement
- 60% of mentees increased confidence in value proposition, customer targeting, and financial management
- 100% of volunteers reported achieving their goals and would recommend the program
- 100% of volunteers felt the experience added value to their career development
THE CHALLENGE
Viña del Mar, a vibrant coastal city in Chile, faced a devastating wildfire in early 2024 that profoundly impacted its residents and local economy. The fires, exacerbated by extreme heat, caused loss of life and extensive damage to homes and businesses. As the city began its recovery, supporting small entrepreneurs and local businesses became critical to rebuilding economic stability and community resilience.
Entrepreneurs in Viña del Mar confront multiple intertwined barriers in this post-disaster context. Financial constraints remain a major obstacle, with limited access to capital and complex government aid systems creating hurdles for business continuity and growth. Many suffered direct losses of physical infrastructure, including shops, equipment, and inventory. Beyond physical damages, businesses struggle to regain customers, with restricted market reach due to insufficient digital presence and marketing skills.
Regulatory complexity and high tax burdens further discourage formalization and expansion, while a lack of financial literacy and management skills threatens long-term sustainability. Additionally, many entrepreneurs lack access to mentorship, professional networks, and innovative digital tools that could accelerate recovery and growth. Women entrepreneurs, in particular, face amplified challenges due to social and cultural barriers.
In light of these challenges, the key question guiding our work was:
How might we support local entrepreneurs in Viña del Mar affected by the fires to overcome their largest barriers through educational workshops, one-on-one mentorship, and networking opportunities?
PARTNERSHIP ORIGIN: From Shared Values to Shared Impact
In mid-2024, Venture 2 Impact (V2I) partnered with Desafío Levantemos Chile (DLC), a leading Chilean NGO focused on disaster recovery and community empowerment, to launch a skills-based volunteer program in Viña del Mar. This collaboration aimed to support local entrepreneurs affected by the devastating wildfires earlier that year through tailored workshops, one-on-one mentorship, and networking opportunities.
Desafío Levantemos Chile has a strong track record of mobilizing resources and providing practical support to communities impacted by natural disasters across Chile. Their deep roots in Viña del Mar’s local networks and commitment to economic recovery made them an ideal partner.
Building on DLC’s community connections and V2I’s expertise in volunteer-driven capacity building, the partnership was designed to co-create solutions aligned with the real needs of entrepreneurs rebuilding their businesses. Together, they aimed to foster inclusive economic resilience, particularly for women-led ventures and micro-entrepreneurs facing heightened challenges.
THE PROJECT
To address the pressing challenges faced by Viña del Mar’s entrepreneurial community post-fires, V2I and DLC launched a comprehensive, three-week volunteer program in early 2025. The initiative brought together skilled volunteers specializing in finance, digital marketing, business strategy, and mentorship to deliver workshops and personalized coaching sessions.
The program focused on strengthening core business skills and digital literacy tailored to local realities, including financial management, strategic marketing, and the use of accessible digital tools for business operations and e-commerce. Workshops included practical training on navigating government aid and regulatory processes, helping entrepreneurs formalize and access support.
Recognizing the critical role of networks, the program incorporated facilitated networking events to connect entrepreneurs with mentors, peers, and potential partners. Special attention was given to supporting women entrepreneurs through leadership and confidence-building sessions addressing gender-specific barriers.
The co-design approach ensured that content and delivery methods were adapted continuously based on feedback from participants and DLC staff, guaranteeing relevance and practical impact.
The Impact
The program strengthened the capacity of local entrepreneurs to recover and grow their businesses by equipping them with critical financial and digital skills, improved business planning, and enhanced market outreach capabilities. Entrepreneurs reported greater confidence in managing their finances, utilizing digital platforms, and navigating regulatory requirements.
Desafío Levantemos Chile staff gained valuable tools and methodologies to integrate these capacity-building practices into their ongoing programs, fostering sustainable community support beyond the initial intervention.
Participants highlighted the value of personalized mentorship and networking opportunities, which bridged gaps between theory and practice and fostered new collaborations and business opportunities. The program demonstrated the power of targeted volunteer expertise combined with local knowledge to accelerate economic recovery in disaster-affected communities.
OUTCOMES
We implemented a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework to measure the program’s outcomes across key learning and confidence metrics.
Keel Entrepreneurs (C1) (Business Consolidation Focus – Mentorship Participants)
Objective N°1: Support entrepreneurs in refining their business ideas by improving their understanding of key concepts such as value proposition, financial management, customer identification, as well as other areas identified by the entrepreneurs.
- 60% of the entrepreneurs strongly agreed that after the program, they improved their understanding and feel more confident in developing a strong value proposition for their business.
- 60% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they feel confident in managing their business finances effectively
- 60% of the entrepreneurs strongly agreed that after the program, they improved their understanding and feel more confident in identifying and reaching their ideal customers.
Objective N° 2: Equip entrepreneurs with strategies and recommendations to navigate and overcome specific business challenges identified by the entrepreneurs, helping them improve their businesses and gain confidence in strategic decision making.
- 80% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding and feel more confident in identifying and addressing specific business challenges.
- 60% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding and feel more confident in building professional relationships through networking.
Objective N° 3: Connect entrepreneurs with mentors, peers, and local stakeholders to build relationships that can support their business growth beyond the program.
- 80% of the entrepreneurs strongly agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding and feel more confident in participating in and benefiting from mentorship opportunities.
- 80% of the entrepreneurs strongly agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding and feel more confident in engaging with stakeholders relevant to their business.
- 60% of the entrepreneurs strongly agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding and feel more confident in negotiating and building business partnerships.
Anchor Entrepreneurs (C2) (Resilience & Recovery Focus – Workshop Participants)
Objective N° 4: Support local entrepreneurs in developing effective business models, adopt innovative practices, and improve negotiation skills to support growth and stakeholder engagement.
- 100% of the entrepreneurs strongly agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding of business models and feel more confident in their ability to develop them.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs strongly agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding of innovation and feel more confident applying innovative practices in their business.
- 75% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their negotiation skills and feel more confident negotiating for business growth and partnerships.
Objective N°5: Support local entrepreneurs to improve financial capabilities by enhancing their financial literacy, guiding them through regulations, and supporting formalization processes for long-term stability.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their financial literacy and feel more confident managing their business finances.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding of regulatory requirements and feel confident navigating them.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding of business formalization and feel more confident formalizing or growing their business.
Objective N°6: Support local entrepreneurs to expand market presence and improve overall efficiency by providing them with skills in digital marketing, e-commerce, and modern technologies.
- 75% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their knowledge of digital marketing and feel more confident using it to promote their business.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding of e-commerce and feel more confident applying it to their business.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have learned about technologies that support business growth and feel more confident using it in their business.
Objective N°7: Support local entrepreneurs to strengthen their ability to manage businesses, navigate challenges, and optimize operations to build resilience and sustain success.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their business management skills and feel more confident running their business.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their ability to handle crises or business challenges and feel confident managing them.
- 87.5% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding of how to make their operations more efficient and feel more confident applying those strategies.
Objective N°8: Support local entrepreneurs to connect with the community, potential customers, and industry partners through networking and collaborative events.
- 75% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding of networking and feel confident building and using professional connections.
- 75% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their understanding of how to engage with my community through their business and feel more confident doing so.
- 75% of the entrepreneurs agreed that after the program, they have improved their ability to build partnerships with other businesses or organizations and feel confident maintaining them.
Additional Highlights
Training Satisfaction and Impact
- 100% of the volunteers strongly agreed that they gained a deeper understanding about the challenges faced by nonprofits.
- 75% of the volunteers strongly agreed that they found fulfilling to use their expertise in a new or different context.
- 100% of the volunteers were very satisfied with their overall experience.
- 100% of the volunteers would likely recommend the skills-based Venture 2 Impact program to others.
- 100% of the volunteers accomplished their goals in participating in this volunteer project.
- 100% of the volunteers were satisfied with the assistance by V2I staff and the effectiveness of orientation.
- 75% of volunteers were strongly satisfied with the Clarity of Program Objectives.
- 100% of the volunteers agreed that participating in this activity will have direct value to their career development goals.
Volunteers & Participants Testimonials
From Participants
“It was a unique experience, more than I expected.... I attended the 3 weeks and learned a lot in the 3 mentoring groups and I think it was done in a very orderly, correct and entertaining way plus all the new learning taught me to grow as a person according to what I was taught...in a few words it was a success and I was happy and very grateful for the experience.”
“Very good experience, very good atmosphere in every way.”
“Most valuable was the diverse knowledge in crisis management, self-confidence, finance, marketing strategies and interpersonal relationships.”
“The most valuable thing I take away is the formalization and accounting for our business.”
“As a result of this program, I created my own company, redesigned my website and redesigned the business.”
From Volunteers
“I felt the program set volunteers up for success with various training and cultural context before and during the program. If I had to choose, I enjoyed presenting my workshop the most because I was able to thread my learnings and training into my delivery and feel I had impacted the entrepreneurs in a positive way.”
“The thing I loved the most was the amazing volunteers that I got to serve alongside during the program.”
“I feel like the local entrepreneurs benefited from the frameworks we provided. They have a lot of knowledge about their businesses and know what they need. I think we provided a good sounding board to figure out an action plan on how to take the next steps.”
“I will never forget the resilience and strength of the local entrepreneurs when I find things getting difficult at work. They’ve given me a transformed perspective.”
“This experience improved my ability to be a supportive team member, active listener, be flexible to change, and more accepting of feedback.”
“The overall experience was incredible. I felt safe, encouraged, and supportive throughout.”
