In 2013, Melina Taprantzi visited a community food bank intending to donate food and clothing. The only items available for people in need that day were razors. That image became the starting point for Wise Greece, an initiative that does not design solutions from an office in Athens for people living elsewhere, but builds bridges within the communities where Greece’s small producers live and work. Communities that, as she says, teach us how to listen. Moments of doubt have never disappeared. They simply take on a different meaning when you see what your work can achieve. In 2020, her initiative was recognised by the United Nations and the World Bank as one of seven leading initiatives worldwide for sustainable development. Melina Taprantzi, President and Founder of Wise Greece, speaks to The New Athenian about the importance of being present, listening and finding solutions together with the people they are designed to support.
People often ask how an idea was born. I’d like to go one step further back. What image, encounter or moment of thinking, “this cannot go on”, made you realise that commenting on the problem was no longer enough and that you needed to do something to change it?
It was 2013, during an extremely difficult period for Greece. I had visited a community food bank to donate some food and clothing. When I arrived, I saw that the only thing they had available to give to beneficiaries that day were razors.
When I asked why, the answer was very simple: “That’s the donation we have, so that’s what we can give.” The image stayed with me. I thought it was simply unacceptable that, in a country with such fertile land, such high-quality produce and such a strong food culture, people could lack access even to the most basic necessities.
At the same time, there were small Greek producers creating exceptional products who were struggling to survive and gain access to the market. That was how Wise Greece was born: not as another one-off donation, but as a mechanism capable of generating value again and again. On the one hand, it helps small producers promote their high-quality products. On the other, the profits from their sale are used to buy food for people in need.
For me, that was the moment when I thought, “this cannot go on”. Rather than focusing solely on what was missing, I began thinking about how we could connect the resources we already had.
Every success story has a chapter that never makes it onto the CV. Was there ever a point during the journey of Wise Greece when you questioned whether it was worth continuing? If so, what happened, and what kept you going?
It would be a lie to say that, over these 13 years, there have not been moments when I wanted to give up. Wise Greece was born and developed during a period in which Greece went through one crisis after another: the financial crisis, the refugee crisis, the pandemic, the energy crisis and many others.
When you are trying to address major social problems, something happens almost every day, large or small, that can make you feel insignificant in the face of reality. So there was never just one moment of doubt. There were many.
At the same time, we constantly find new reasons to keep going. It is seeing food reach people who genuinely need it. It is hearing positive feedback from people who have taken part in our educational programmes and gained new skills and opportunities, particularly in remote and rural areas. It is seeing a small producer manage to take the next step. It is our colleagues and volunteers feeling that they are contributing to something with a genuine sense of purpose.
When you see that what you do can change someone’s life, even in a small way, the exhaustion and doubt do not disappear, but they begin to mean something. Ultimately, it is all these people who remind us why we started and give us a reason to continue.
Wise Greece was born in Athens, but its heart beats in villages, on islands and within small producer communities. What is it like to build a bridge every day between a fast-moving city and places that operate at a completely different pace? What can each side learn from the other?
That bridge lies at the heart of the programmes we design. Whether we are working on corporate social responsibility initiatives in local communities, skills-development programmes for unemployed people, projects supporting women in regional Greece, or initiatives helping students and young people develop their professional and entrepreneurial skills, we follow one fundamental principle: we do not sit in an office in Athens designing programmes for people who live elsewhere.
From the very beginning, we made a conscious decision to be physically present in these communities. We listen to local people and organisations, try to understand the genuine needs of each place and shape our programmes together with them. We do not assume that, simply because we have the expertise to design an initiative, we automatically know what a community needs.
That is what transforms a programme from a simple box-ticking exercise into something capable of delivering genuine value and creating meaningful impact.
Athens and other large urban centres can offer networks, tools, expertise and access to opportunities. Local communities, however, teach us to listen more carefully, not to rush into proposing solutions and to understand that every place has its own needs, capabilities and dynamics. For us, that means the bridge cannot be built from a distance. It is built by being there, by listening and by designing alongside people, rather than simply for them.
You often say that success cannot be measured purely in financial terms. If, instead of numbers, you had to show us a single moment that encapsulates that philosophy, what would it be?
There are many moments from this journey that I could share. But if I had to choose one, it would be the great honour of having Wise Greece’s work recognised by the United Nations and the World Bank in 2020. Wise Greece was selected as one of just seven initiatives worldwide to receive an award for its contribution to advancing sustainable development.
The recognition came during the pandemic, another particularly difficult time. Because of the restrictions, we were ultimately unable to travel to Washington to receive the award in person. Even so, the moment we learnt that our work had been selected meant an enormous amount to us.
Not simply because of the prestige of the award, but because it confirmed that even a small initiative that began in Greece could create internationally recognised impact. Particularly in a country that, unfortunately, is not always regarded as a frontrunner in sustainability and social innovation, it sent a very powerful message: you don’t have to be big to do something meaningful. You need to be consistent, persistent and able to demonstrate that your work genuinely improves people’s lives.
Many young people today want their work to have meaning, but fear that reality will eventually force them to compromise. If you were speaking to a 25-year-old who wanted to build something rooted in values without ignoring the need for financial sustainability, what advice would you give them?
I would tell them that social and environmental impact is no longer a luxury. It is an essential part of success.
We see major companies investing in social responsibility programmes, actively involving their employees and taking their social and environmental footprint far more seriously. We see social enterprises putting impact at the heart of their business models, as well as many smaller businesses and organisations doing exceptional work.
A 25-year-old today therefore has far more opportunities to create something that is financially sustainable while also reflecting their values and generating a positive impact, certainly far more than were available in Greece 20 years ago, when these ideas were often regarded as a luxury or as something relevant only to very large organisations and those with substantial financial resources.
My advice would be not to see values and financial sustainability as opposing forces. Financial sustainability is what allows a good idea to endure and multiply its impact. Start with a real problem, listen closely to the people experiencing it and look for a model that creates value for everyone involved.
You do not have to choose between a successful career and meaningful work. The real challenge, and the real opportunity, is to create something that brings the two together.
The bridge cannot be built from a distance. It is built by being there, by listening and by designing alongside people, rather than simply for them.
