From school project to social entrepreneurship: The story of ‘‘Trinity’’
Milena,Hasmik, and Arsen are the founders of a student social enterprise. While stillstudying at school, they took part in the EU-funded EU4Youth programme regionalgrant project “Fostering Practical Entrepreneurial and Career ManagementSkills of Young People through the Innovative Student Social EntrepreneurshipApproach.” Through this initiative, they gained the knowledge and skillsnecessary for their activities.
The programme isdesigned to equip young people with entrepreneurial, digital, and careermanagement skills by integrating the Student Social Entrepreneurship (SSE)approach in schools. Through practical business activities, students identifyand address local or global social challenges, while gaining hands-onexperience in entrepreneurship, sustainability, and leadership. The programmewas launched two years ago and has been implemented in Armenia by the NGO CODE-SEHUB.
The story of ‘‘Trinity’’
These young people arecurrently 12th-grade students at Secondary School No. 187 in Yerevan. Theyfirst heard about the programme from their social studies teacher, ArayikHakobyan, two years ago, then joined the training sessions, and startedthinking about creating their own social enterprise. Although there wereinitially more participants, over time the group became smaller, and finallythe ‘‘Trinity’’ student social enterprise was established with Milena,Hasmik, and Arsen as its founders.
Their firstinitiatives were carried out at school, starting with a waste collectionproject. The income they generated was used for further activities. Later, theycame up with the idea of creating a board game called “Sutlik Vorskan”(named after Hovhannes Tumanyan’s well-known fairy tale). The game’s maintarget audience is teenagers and young people, and it has an educationalpurpose: it helps players strengthen and review the knowledge they acquire fromschool textbooks. All the questions in the game are based on school materials,allowing learners either to discover new information or to revisit what theyhave already studied.
The personal stories behind “Trinity’’
Milena Sargsyan leads a veryactive life. Alongside co-founding “Trinity”, she is passionate about music andregularly takes piano lessons. Nevertheless, she has chosen architecture as herfuture profession and will soon begin her studies at university. She says sheenjoys combining different interests and believes that every situation is anopportunity to gain new knowledge and skills.
Hasmik Grigoryan’s favorite pastime is watchingmovies, and she is especially interested in detective literature. When it cameto choosing her future profession, she decided on management and marketing.Hasmik explains that she enjoys presenting a brand and strengthening itsreputation. After co-founding the social enterprise, she also realized thatthese activities truly match her personality.
Arsen Sahakyan describes himself as verymeticulous and responsible, with a strong passion for initiating, creating, andmanaging organizational tasks. He notes that his skills have been particularlyvaluable in learning and practicing social entrepreneurship.
Once the team wasformed, they decided to name their social enterprise “Trinity” and began working on their firstprojects. The idea of creating a board game was suggested by their teacher,Arayik Hakobyan. The students say they had considered several differentdirections for their enterprise, including launching a school magazine, butultimately they wanted to choose something that would serve not only asentertainment but also as an educational tool.
The game development process
At Hasmik’s suggestion, thegame was named “Sutlik Vorskan”, after the well-known fairy tale byHovhannes Tumanyan. “The game is based on true and false statements, most ofwhich come from school textbooks”, Milena explains. “Players are askedwhether a given statement is correct or incorrect. If they don’t know theanswer, they learn it while playing. This is what makes the game special for us– it carries an educational purpose. Through it, we teach our peers, youngerstudents, and even adults in an engaging way.”
During the training sessions, the studentslearned what social entrepreneurship is, how it is managed, and how a businessmodel operates. They studied examples of real-life social enterprises, tooktests, and explored the content of various guides and materials.
According to Arsen, the school staff also playedan important role in this process. He highlights that the greatest opportunitywas being able to show their peers and younger students how to create anenterprise that not only functions as a business but also benefits thecommunity. He adds that their experience has inspired other students as well,and new groups are already forming within the school.
Arsen also notes that although he hasparticipated in several programmes and seminars before, this one was unique,because the skills and knowledge they gained could be applied in practice.Throughout the entire process, consistent support was provided by the NGOCODE-SE HUB, which offered mentorship and closely followed their progress.
The creation of the game went through severalstages: content development, printing, and the involvement of partners andexperts. Before that, however, the students studied the field and existingexperiences.
According to Hasmik, there are many gamesavailable on the market today, but “Sutlik Vorskan” plays a unique role,as it is specifically designed for schoolchildren and is based on materialstaken from textbooks. “Another important point for us is that this game isone of the few created by teenagers themselves, with almost all the workcarried out thanks to our efforts. It represents student social entrepreneurship,which is still not very common in Armenia”, adds Arsen.
The team also emphasized the importance ofmaking the game part of real life rather than the virtual world, encouragingplayers to come together face-to-face. “It was very important for us thatour game not only stand out but also exist in the real world, bringing peopletogether. We tested it with our families, and it worked wonderfully”, Arsennoted.
The game went through a testing phase, duringwhich they presented it to different target audiences and made improvementsbased on feedback. They also manage the printing themselves, with friendsstepping in to help. Each team member has a specific role: Arsen managesorganizational tasks, Milena is in charge of external relations andpartnerships, while Hasmik is responsible for marketing.
The game is nowbeing showcased at various exhibitions and promoted through pre-sales.
Lasting impact
“The programmehad a significant impact on me. At this age, not everyone gets the chance tomaster such details and acquire such skills. We learned how to manage finances,deal with risks, and understand legal issues – all of which gave us invaluableknowledge”, says Milena.
Hasmik highlights the importance of networkingand building connections with experts from different fields, who can continueto support them in the future.
Arsen adds that beyond the skills, the programmeprovided them with direction and practical experience that will help thempursue their professional paths and, why not, continue leading their ownenterprises. “What matters most for us is continuity – so that, by seeingus, younger students and the next generation will also carry this workforward”, he concludes.
The EU4YouthPhase III: Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship programme, funded by the European Union and the Ministryof Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, is implemented by the Central ProjectManagement Agency (CPVA) in the Eastern Partnership countries, Armenia,Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The programme aims toprovide technical assistance to governmental and non-governmental organisationsto tackle youth unemployment and improve employability.
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