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A love of music and the desire to continue in the tradition of Dvořák and Smetana led Robert Schönfeld to be awarded the prize of Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012

Robert Schönfeld, founder of the International School of Music and Fine Arts, has won the prestigious award of Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Czech Republic. The school makes it possible for top-class Czech artists to enjoy a steady income despite giving regular concerts, and offers children and adults music, art and dance courses in their free time. Eva Katrušáková of the organisation Every Czech Reads to Kids was a finalist in the Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 competition.

The Social Entrepreneur Of The Year competition is an extension of the Entrepreneur Of The Year project in the Czech Republic. The organiser is Ernst & Young in collaboration with the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Social Entrepreneurship is neither charity work nor philanthropy. A social entrepreneur is someone who creates and supports an organisation, be this for-profit or not-for-profit, aimed at achieving systemic social change through the introduction of new ideas, methods or approaches to the issue at hand.

“In the case of the International School of Music and Fine Arts the judging panel was impressed by the innovative approach taken to confronting a challenge that had never been resolved in the Czech Republic. Mr Schönfeld brought both maestro and pupil together as used to be the case in the past. Music is taught by motivated people who are actively involved in live performance and the great project logistics mean that the teacher-student encounter is made-to-measure. The individual approach is enhanced by tutoring in Czech and other languages. This original project has proved its viability and could be transferred to any other country,” says Petra Vitoušová, chair of the judging panel in the category Social Entrepreneur Of The Year and herself Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2002 and founder of the organisation Bílý kruh bezpečí.

“Winning the prize for Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 means recognition of fifteen years of hard work, absolute determination and persistence. Our ambition is and will continue to be the provision of an open school that is not in any way elitist, an institution that will offer the best education without suffocating the children. The aim is simply to encourage a love of music and pleasure from a child’s own creative work,” said the winner Robert Schönfeld – International School of Music and Fine Arts.

Robert Schönfeld, businessman and philanthropist, is the founder of the investment and advisory group RSBC. He studied at the Academy of Music in Prague and has an MA in music and art history and the violin. Upon returning from a study trip to Finland in 1997, he realised that the Czech Republic was not offering a musical education in any language other than Czech. He also saw how limited job opportunities were for Czech artists, whom the education system at that time did not allow to combine the obligations of a concert artist with teaching activities. He decided to establish using his own finances a school that would be innovative in its approach both to teachers and students. This would be an institution providing top class Czech artists the backup allowing them a regular income and offering children and adults the possibility of expanding their talent in a natural, playful form. The International of Music and Fine Arts, the first international school of its kind in the CR, opened its doors in 1998 to a small group of pupils. These days the school has 500 students and provides work for more than 100 teachers. As well as music the school offers art and dance lessons, and organises concerts, exhibitions and educational seminars for music teachers.

“For Robert Schönfeld and for the previous winners social entrepreneurship is not simply work but their mission in life. I believe that social entrepreneurship is the way forward to a better society and that each of the winners is an ideal role model,” adds Magdalena Souček, Country Managing Partner, Ernst & Young.

Eva Katrušáková of the organisation Every Czech Reads to Kids was nominated a finalist in the competition Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012.

Eva Katrušáková, Every Czech Reads to Kids, o.p.s.

After completing her studies at the Philosophy Faculty of the Palacký University, Olomouc, Eva Katrušáková worked as a teacher. At the end of the 90s she opened the Pygmalion private foreign langue school. In 2006 she changed course, entered the non-profit sphere and founded the organisation Every Czech Reads to Kids (CČČD). The organisation, which conducts a successful educational and media campaign around the whole country, aims to create strong family bonds through reading together. Scientific research and practitioners in the field have shown that reading aloud to children is of huge significance in the development of their emotional maturity. And 20 minutes a day is enough. Reading aloud develops language skills, memory and the imagination, as well as teaching moral values. The campaign is especially important these days, when a child’s leisure time is dominated by the computer and the television. Though the original inspiration came from abroad, the campaign has a distinctively Czech flavour. Great credit for the work of the CČČD goes to dozens of volunteers acting as regional coordinators, who disseminate the campaign’s ideas to all corners of the CR. More than 80 well known personalities have actively joined the campaign, including the Havels, Michal Horáček, Barbora Špotáková and Jaromír Nohavica. So far most of the nurseries, schools and libraries involved in the campaign are located in the regions of Central Bohemia and Moravian Silesia.

Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 judging panel members:

• Petra Vitoušová – judging panel chair, Bílý kruh bezpečí, Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2002
• Dolores Czudková  – Ergon – Chráněná dílna, Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011
• Pavel Křížek – Ochrana fauny České republiky, Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010
• Drahoslava Kabátová – Letohrádek Vendula, Social Entrepreneur Of The Year
• 2008 Jozef Baláž – Social Entrepreneur Of The Year
• 2007 Sandor Nagy – Associated Director, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
• Monika Mudranincová – Mladá fronta DNES, head of the City Magazine

Previous winners of the Social Entrepreneur Of The Year competition:

• 2011 – Dolores Czudková, o.s. Ergon – Chráněná dílna
• 2010 – Pavel Křížek, Ochrana fauny České republiky o.s.
• 2009 – Emilie Smrčková, Pod křídly civic association
• 2008 – Drahoslava Kabátová, Letohrádek Vendula civic association
• 2007 – Jozef Baláž
• 2006 – Vojtěch Sedláček, Agentura ProVás, s.r.o.
• 2005 – Rut Kolínská, Síť mateřských center, civic association
• 2004 – Petra Vitoušová, Bílý kruh bezpečí, civic association

The Social Entrepreneur Of The Year competition is an extension of the Entrepreneur Of The Year project in the Czech Republic. The organiser is Ernst & Young in collaboration with the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Social Entrepreneurship is neither charity work nor philanthropy. A social entrepreneur is someone who creates and supports an organisation, be this for-profit or not-for-profit, aimed at achieving systemic social change through the introduction of new ideas, methods or approaches to the issue at hand.