From Passion to Impact: How a SEMA Graduate Built a Sustainable Social Enterprise
Social entrepreneurship is about creating impact, challenging norms, and building a better future.
For Eveline Vente, a graduate of Tallinn University鈥檚 Social Entrepreneurship Master鈥檚 Programme (SEMA), this journey led her to found Yanantin Alpaca, a sustainable fashion brand empowering women in Bolivia and Peru. Her story is a testament to how passion, education, and purpose can come together to create lasting social change.
Eveline鈥檚 journey started with a deep fascination for Latin America. Studying Spanish Language & Culture at Utrecht University fueled her love for the region鈥檚 history, literature, and people. During her travels and fieldwork, she witnessed firsthand the harsh realities of inequality and disempowerment - especially among women. These experiences planted the seeds for what would later become Yanantin Alpaca.
While conducting fieldwork in Bolivia, Eveline met Nona, a talented artisan who would become the first knitter for Yanantin Alpaca. Nona longed for a flexible job that would allow her to support her family while caring for her grandson. Seeing an opportunity to make a difference, Eveline provided Nona with alpaca wool and encouraged her to create something beautiful. The result? An exquisite, handcrafted alpaca scarves - each infused with skill, tradition, and empowerment.
Nona and Eveline. Photo from
The Power of Ethical Business
Unlike many fashion brands that pay only minimum wages, Yanantin Alpaca takes a different approach. The brand ensures that artisans earn a salary nine times higher than the local minimum wage. Eveline believes that fair wages are not just a legal requirement but a moral one. By providing a livable income, Yanantin Alpaca helps artisans achieve financial independence, access better healthcare, and secure quality education for their children or grandchildren.
This approach creates a powerful ripple effect - when one person is financially empowered, it benefits entire families and communities.
Yanantin Alpaca products. Photo from Yanantin Alpaca webshop.
How SEMA Helped Make It Possible
Eveline credits the SEMA programme at Tallinn University for equipping her with essential entrepreneurial skills. The interdisciplinary approach - combining innovation, design thinking, and business development - gave her the tools to scale her business.
The collaborative projects at SEMA also played an important role. Working alongside students from diverse backgrounds helped Eveline refine her business model, understand different perspectives, and develop creative solutions for real-world challenges.
Advice for Future Social Entrepreneurs
For those considering a career in social entrepreneurship, Eveline has simple but powerful advice:
鈥淭he beauty of social entrepreneurship is that there are no rules. Nothing is set in stone and it is up to you to decide, you know, that you want impact to be the most important driver or that you want to pay this type of salary or do you want to provide these types of benefits? Like it's, it's your call and you are the one to design the rules. And that is beautiful and terrifying at the same time. but if you really, really stick to your values, when times get hard, you're going to be able to use that as an anchor to keep you moving forward鈥
Are you inspired to create meaningful change through business? The SEMA programme at Tallinn University provides the tools, knowledge, and network to help you launch your own social enterprise.