TWISE: This week in Social Enterprise
Welcome to the latest news and insights from the global social enterprise community.
Events:
As shared last week — AVPN South Asia Summit
What: A two-day summit with the goal of bringing together AVPN’s 100+ members in South Asia, as well as to invite members from across their global network to participate in discourse looking at setting the path for a cohesive development agenda in the South Asian region.
Who: Open to all
Where: Mumbai, India
Date: 19–20 January 2023
Tickets: Complimentary for members, member plus ones US$125, standard US$150
Catalyst 2030 Catalysing Change Week
What: The ‘world’s largest event’ led by social innovators and entrepreneurs to share knowledge, exchange ideas and accelerate collaborative systems change.
Who: Anyone can join from anywhere worldwide; Catalyst 2030 members are invited to plan in person activities, hybrid events and sessions at a local level and everyone is encouraged to contact other Catalyst 2030 members to co-create and submit sessions on behalf of a collaboration.
Where: Global
Date: 1–5 May 2023
Opportunities:
Business and Human Rights Accelerator
FROM COMMITMENT TO ACTION ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Mitigate risks, build competitive advantage and become a powerful force for good with the Business & Human Rights Accelerator.
Media organizations, employees, consumers, clients, partners, NGOs and investors are increasingly taking note of corporate impacts on human rights. In response, responsible businesses are looking for ways to actively respect human rights and prevent negative human rights impacts — while managing their reputation. How does your company know and show that it respects human rights?
The Business & Human Rights Accelerator is a six-month programme that activates participating companies of the UN Global Compact across industries and regions to move from commitment to action on human rights and labour rights. Through identifying salient human rights impacts, establishing an ongoing due diligence process and developing an actionable plan, the Business & Human Rights Accelerator will empower your company to advance its human rights journey.
To find out more, check out the full details here. But be quick — the deadline is 16 December 2022.
2022 Australian Impact Investment Awards
The 2022 Australian Impact Investment Awards offers a unique opportunity for organisations and individuals to showcase and be recognised for their expertise, commitment and outstanding activity in the Australian impact investing ecosystem.
To read the details and to find out more, click here.
Villgro USA — Incubator Application Form
Villgro USA is a Global Network of Social Enterprise Incubators.
They currently have our incubator network spread across 8 countries, including India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Zambia, Ghana and Cote de Ivoire, with the Villgro hubs present in India, Africa and Philippines. Leveraging two decades of on-the-ground experience of our founding members, they aim to support incubators that work with impactful social entrepreneurs, and help them succeed and scale.
For full details and information on what they offer, click here.
Global Innovation Fund
The Global Innovation Fund is a non-profit, impact-first investment fund headquartered in London with offices in Washington, D.C. and Nairobi. We invest in the development, rigorous testing, and scaling up of new products, services, business process, or policy reforms that are more cost-effective than current practice and targeted at improving the lives of the world’s poorest people.
Through our grants and risk capital, we support these breakthrough solutions from for-profit firms, non-profit organisations, researchers, and government agencies to maximise their impact and catalyse meaningful change. Because the best ideas for solving some of the world’s most critical development problems can come from anyone, anywhere, we provide an open window to receive innovative ideas and assess whether they are right for GIF investment.
For full details and information on what they offer, click here.
iMPACT direct — Change the story of Giving
iMPACT direct connects a large group of donors to underfunded African non-profits with successful local solutions. We enable direct donations to their projects. In this way, your donation reaches more people and creates more impact.
Check out the latest opportunities on their website here.
News, Insights & Key Stories:
Social Change Central — Statistics from Around the World
Social Enterprise — is it a trend, a revolution, or something in between?
The fact that most social enterprises fail, won’t ever experience even a fraction of the fame enjoyed by the Airbnbs and Ubers of the world, and are unlikely to exit at any point — isn’t deterring thousands of purpose driven people from giving it a shot.
This should come as no surprise, as the motivators for launching and building a successful social enterprise can be intoxicating. More than ever before, the exciting success stories of social enterprises like Toms, ThankYou Group, Patagonia, Terracycle, and One Acre Fund continue to enchant idealist, consultants, developers and problem-solvers to jump on the entrepreneurial wagon in the hope of creating a commercially viable business that generates significant social impact.
For more details, and to submit your solution, visit here.
Pioneer Post and the British Council — First Global Social Enterprise Census
How many social enterprises are there worldwide? Finally, we have an answer to this perennial question in a new report which highlights social enterprises’ unique characteristics, the challenges they face and their crucial importance in the global pandemic recovery.
To read the full article, click here.
Opinion: Forget the buzzword — I’ve seen what real collaboration can do
So-called collaboration in the social sector is often inefficient, hierarchical and even competitive. Obama Fellow Alex Smith calls for “generous leadership” instead — a model he’s about to put into practice in expanding the work of his own organisation across the UK.
To read the full article, click here.
