Vojtěch Sedláček, the entrepreneur who lends money to the poor without having to pay it back

He learned this lesson from his grandfather, who, before the First World War, made a loan to his neighbors without expecting the money to be returned.  Vojtěch Sedláček, born in Prague in 1947, He is a social entrepreneur who, through a foundation called Nejdřív doma (which can be translated as “Home first”), lends money to people in difficulty without charging interest or, in many cases, requiring repayment of the loanThe opposite of loan sharks who put the final noose around the necks of desperate people looking for money.

Sedláček began his career as a computer technician and programmer, but after the fall of the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia, he devoted himself to a variety of entrepreneurial and social activities, including the creation of businesses and projects for the employment of people with disabilities. He founded, for example,  Obslužna spol. e Agentura ProVás, two companies aiming to create job opportunities and businesses for people with disabilities. And then, starting in 2020, a new organization specializing in small loans (starting from the equivalent of €800) to the poor. The Czech entrepreneur doesn't like being called a philanthropist, but simply "a person who tries to lend a hand to those who can make it and just need a little help." This is something banks often deny to the most vulnerable.