Introduction

Cometa’s mission is to provide to children with difficult family conditions a safe and welcoming environment, a house and a new (temporary) family, education, and work opportunities. Passion for education and commitment to provide opportunities to the less fortunate have been the driving forces behind the development of Cometa’s many initiatives that respond to the needs of an ever-growing number of children and young people:

• 105 children and young people are attending the day center

• 60 families are participating in the welcoming of children

• 105 children and young people are involved in the activities of the afterschool program

• 1,000 minors have recovered the motivation to study and attend school with specific orientation courses for secondary school

Scope

The Cometa Oliver Twist School operated a food and catering business line – including a restaurant, pastry laboratory, shop, and catering service – but failed to realize the commercial potential of its various activities. Our support aimed at redefining the school’s medium- to long-term strategy, to enhance the perception of Cometa’s mission, pinpoint areas for improvement in strategy and organization, and identify possible development initiatives.

We supported Cometa for seven weeks adopting a three-step approach:

1. Diagnostic and high level evolutionary guidelines

2. Drill-down on potential initiatives and assessment of underlying economic and social impact

3. Refinement of assessment and initiatives shortlist definition, including high-level implementation plan

Impact

We identified a set of initiatives that will allow Cometa to increase educational and employment opportunities (roughly 8,000 training hours and 20,000 working hours), reach the breakeven point after years of deficit funding, and improve their relationship with their stakeholders (both internal and external).