Developing a Trauma Informed Social Entrepreneurship: Resettled Refugee Entrepreneurs' Experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand

Background and Purpose: Social work’s commitment to social and economic justice is reflected by the growing interest in the role of social entrepreneurship (SE) in fostering inclusive and equitable economies. Alongside the development of the SE sector, entrepreneurship research at-large has begun to embrace “non-traditional” founders. While attention and resources for entrepreneurs from marginalized populations are sorely needed, there is currently a large gap in understanding of their diverse experiences. Community-engaged social work scholarship can offer a complementary, critical perspective in this emerging area of research.

Starting a business is recognized as both a risky and stressful endeavour. As social entrepreneurship deepens its engagement with founders from vulnerable populations, it is critical that services are designed to address their unique barriers and meet their specific needs. This research draws from a three-year evaluation of The Iti Rearea Collective’s (IRC) entrepreneurship programs for resettled refugees in Auckland, New Zealand. These programs were co-created with diverse stakeholder groups, with a mission to “remove systemic barriers that keep migrant communities from reaching their full potential.” To support this mission, research alongside IRC's programmes included the question: What are resettled refugee founders’ experiences of wellbeing during their entrepreneurial journey?

Methods: The presenting author conducted 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with prior participants in the Iti Rearea Collective’s programs, NEST and SOAR, from 2021 to 2023. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 60, and represented 8 different countries of origin. Translators were provided for participants with limited English ability. The interviews covered participants’ prior experiences in business ownership, their resettlement journey, current entrepreneurial activities, and overall mental health and wellbeing. Audio from the recorded interviews was transcribed verbatim and uploaded into NVivo12 for analysis. The authors followed an open coding approach to identify thematic areas for further analysis. Sections of the transcripts covering wellbeing were further analysed in second round coding.

Findings: Participants’ interest in entrepreneurship was tied to a pursuit of eudaimonic wellbeing, with business ownership seen as a pathway to an increased sense of purpose and belonging. However, our findings indicate that the cumulative stress in participants’ lives created a high baseline allostatic load, which impacted perceptions of challenges and stress experienced through entrepreneurship. Culturally appropriate restorative coping behaviours emerged as mitigators for participants during challenging periods. Underlying mental health concerns for some participants necessitated professional support; entrepreneurial work was not initially understood to be contributory to this.

Conclusion and Implications: It is critical to proactively address the wellbeing of resettled refugee entrepreneurs building businesses in Global North contexts. Our findings indicate that participants from this population may not recognize the impact entrepreneurial stress is having on their lives and thus not reach out for support even when it would be helpful. In particular, participants’ tendency to underplay the impact of cumulative stress on their health and wellbeing underscores the necessity of integrating restorative practices and psycho-social support throughout entrepreneurial services intended for this population, rather than waiting for participants to self-identify.