Social Entrepreneurship: Creating positive impacts on society and environment

Transcription

1 Social Entrepreneurship: Creating positive impacts on society and environment Manju George, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship November 2013 For further information, see Website: Blog: Twitter:

2 What is social entrepreneurship? Innovative, practical, and sustainable approaches to benefit society in general, with an emphasis on those who are marginalized and/or poor. The innovation can in a product or service, method, process, population served, new organisational structures or funding models. Use of business methods and practices Optimization of financial value creation as a secondary objective A learning process that involves conceiving; testing and refining the initial concept; mobilizing the resources and partners necessary to scale; and continual improvement. Strongly rooted in values

3 Schwab network of social enterprises by geography Europe 38 Asia 42 USA and Canada 16 Africa 21 Middle East and North Africa 17 Latin America 39 Australia 1

4 Schwab Social Entrepreneurs by Field of Activity

5 Examples from the Schwab network... Social enterprise: Aravind Eye Hospital Area of activity: Corrective eye surgery Beneficiaries: Those with cataracts and vision problems Founded: 1976 Headquarters: India Idea: Radical cost reduction for lenses, eye surgeries, and other medical technologies Offer products and services for free or reduced fee to 60% of patients who qualify as low-income Dr. G. Venkataswamy ('Dr. V ) Achievements: 2.5 million examinations and 300,000 surgeries annually Financially self-sustainable through cross-subsidization model

6 Examples from the Schwab network... Social enterprise: First Book Area of activity: Access to educational materials Beneficiaries: Low-income school age children Founded: 1992 Headquarters: Washington DC Idea: Access to books is key in determining whether a child ever becomes a reader, and yet studies show in the poorest US neighborhoods there is one book for every 300 kids Solved a market failure by aggregating demand of the bottom 30% of the market, enabling them to purchase from publishes at bulk and get top titles into inner city classrooms and community groups for $2-3 a book, including shipping Kyle Zimmer Achievements: Serves over 42,000 educational groups across the US, Canada Over 100 million books distributed Expanding into India

7 Examples from the Schwab network... Social enterprise: ENOVA Area of activity: Access to technology, education Beneficiaries: Low-income children, youth, communities Founded: 2007 Headquarters: Mexico Idea: A significant digital divide and low quality education prevent many Mexicans from realizing their full potential A learning and innovation network, with educational games, digital libraries, that provide underserved communities access to information technologies, quality educational opportunities Mois Cherem Arana Achievements: Serves over 350,000 beneficiaries Following an aggressive, nationwide expansion plan Every week 3,000 individuals sign up to become members.

8 Examples from the Schwab network... Social enterprise: TerraCycle Area of activity: Recycling waste Beneficiaries: Communities Founded: 2001 Headquarters: US Idea: Recycling rates of the world s discarded waste remains low posing a challenge to available resources, health of our planet. Developed proprietary recycling processes for waste streams from potato chip bags to cigarette butts; mobilizes individuals to collect previously unrecyclable waste and incentivizes corporations to sponsor recycling of the new waste streams Tom Szaky Achievements: over 80,000 tons (2.5 billion units) of waste diverted from landfills or incineration between 40% 80% carbon savings on upcycled and recycled products (2012)

9 Today, supporting ecosystem for social entrepreneurship is larger and growing... Funding Networks Incubators Talent Govt, Corporate Support #SIBs

10 but challenges remain Funding and access to grants Talent recruitment/retention/management Corporate partnership development Attracting impact investors for loans or equity Legislative and policy hurdles Impact monitoring and evaluation Marketing/communication/media strategy Governance structure/legal forms Navigating the economic climate

11 and many questions still being explored How to scale? How to measure and ensure impact? How to effect systems level change? How to facilitate cross-sector collaboration and leadership? How to mainstream social innovation? How to mobilise the youth to make it happen?

12 Back Up slides

13 What elements do we look for in the social enterprises we select? Innovation Achieves social change and transformation with innovative ideas Sustainability Can be for-profit or non-profit, but primary goals are social or environmental in nature rather than profit maximization. Reach and scope Initiative goes beyond original beneficiaries and has the potential to be expanded further throughout the world Social impact Role model Initiative brings direct positive effects for beneficiaries The social entrepreneur helps spread knowledge and tools, acts as an ambassador to advance the sector, and can function as a role model for the general public

14 Want to learn more?