This past January, twenty-five social entrepreneurs
(myself included), who are part of the 260+ strong social entrepreneur network
of the Schwab Foundation (http://www.schwabfound.org/content/about-us), were
invited by Klaus and Hilde Schwab to attend the Annual World Economic Forum
(WEF) meeting in Davos. I was a newbie
to Davos, but for many, it was not their first time there. Social entrepreneurs have been invited to
the Annual meeting ever since the inception of the Schwab Foundation many years
ago. Our purpose in being there was to
represent and make heard the sometimes forgotten voices of the people that we,
as social entrepreneurs, aim to serve.
I have attended many of the regional WEF
meetings around the world - in Africa, India and China, but the Annual meeting
in Davos is the most well known as it brings together many of the world’s top
business leaders, international political leaders and selected intellectuals
over a 4 day period to discuss the world’s most pressing issues. Davos for me has always been shrouded in
mystery and I had many questions before arriving there. What actually goes on? Were there going to be lot of high-level
panel discussions with few results (like too many conferences we all attend!)
or would Davos deliver tangible outcomes and live up to its reputation as a
place where deals are done? Are business and government
leaders going to be motivated to listen to and act on what social entrepreneurs
have to say? Will social entrepreneurs have a role to
play in shaping the global agenda?
After four days of terrific discussion, I
realized that the experiences of social entrepreneurs are extremely important
to top business and political leaders who sometimes lack the willingness or
ability to address market failures that they know to exist. That is where social entrepreneurs step in -
to fill in the gaps often left by the private sector and government. So yes, social entrepreneurs have a huge role
to play.
As for the meeting itself, sure, there were
a lot of high-level panel discussions, but even those were very inspiring. How often does one get to hear Richard
Branson, Bill Gates and Muhammad Yunus talk about the Future of Capitalism in a
discussion moderated by Tony Blair? http://pinchukfund.org/en/projects/11/
That said, it was during the much more
intimate Workshops and IdeasLabs that the power of Davos came to light for
me. Here, we had a chance to directly interact
with and to learn from some of the most brilliant change makers in the
world.
The other social entrepreneurs that I met
were nothing short of inspirational, each with oddly familiar, lengthy tales of
the hurdles they have faced and how they persevered to overcome them. Their stories were truly motivating to me in
particular, as there have been many times where some of our obstacles (at Nuru
Energy) have almost overcome me! It was
good to know that I was not alone.
The collective experience of the Schwab Foundation’s
Social Entrepreneur network is tremendous and this became even clearer to me in
Davos. But I left Davos with an aching
question - how do we leverage this experience, bring it together, to affect the
global agenda?
For that to happen, I do believe that we as
social entrepreneurs must first come together and harmonize our own
agendas. Too often, we work on similar
issues, and face the same obstacles, yet operate in silos coming up with our
own solutions to problems that have already been solved by others. We must find a way to work together,
especially given the army of new social entrepreneurs on the scene.
The Schwab Foundation in particular does a
great job in facilitating collaboration between (and among) the social
entrepreneurs in its network and the wider WEF community. But what about other social entrepreneurs
outside of the WEF community?
What if we could harness the raw energy and
passion of new social entrepreneurs and combine that with the experience of
seasoned social entrepreneurs who have already carved the path? What if we could also then rally the
resources of the private sector and government around specific solutions that
are already working? If this were to
happen, social enterprises would then finally live up to their full potential
and like Davos, deliver on a commitment to improve the state of the world.
Sameer Hajee
CEO
Nuru Energy
www.nuruenergy.com Nuru Energy co-created with households earning less than $2 per day, a unique off-grid mobile-money enabled, recharging platform that uses either human energy or solar power to fast recharge Nuru Energy’s portable LED Lights (5 lights recharged in 20 minutes) as well as mobile phones and other USB-charged devices. Nuru Energy deploys its innovative technology via a network of micro-franchises operated by village level entrepreneurs, who sell Nuru Lights and then provide recharging services for a small fee.
In addition to Sameer, who did his MBA at INSEAD in 2004, the following Schwab Fellows who also attended Davos this year and have graduated from our INSEAD Executive Education Programme in Social Entrepreneurship called ISEP.
Marcela Benitez, Social and Economic Recovery of National Rural Villages at Risk of Disappearing (RESPONDE), Argentina
RESPONDE promotes the social and economic recovery of rural communities in Argentina at risk of disappearing due to poor services and migration. Its programs foster the entrepreneurial spirit of villagers and the sustainable development of their communities. In addition, Marcela created a social venture developer for rural villages: “clinch” that connects philanthropic families, organizations and companies who wants to make a difference with little resources.
Veronica Colondam, YCAB Foundation, Indonesia
YCAB Foundation was founded to empower underprivileged youth to be independent through education and economic empowerment. Over the years, YCAB Foundation has impacted more than two million people, and evolved to be a sustainable social enterprise. YCAB pioneered social investment in 2009 through its education-linked micro-loan, where education attainment is the precondition of loan.
Jane Hunt, Fitted for Work, Australia
Fitted for Work helps disadvantaged women get and keep work by providing a dressing service that supplies work-appropriate clothes, interview coaching, transition to work and mentoring programs. Once the woman is in work she is assisted to maintain work through career development programs. Since 2005 Fitted for Work has helped more than 13,500 women prepare for and get work. 75% of the women transition to work within 3 months of accessing Fitted for Work’s programs.
Runa Khan, Friendship Bangladesh, Bangladesh
Friendship delivers effective development solutions using a holistic needs-based approach to the most marginalised communities in remote isolated areas of Bangladesh. Founded in 1998, it started its journey with the provision of basic healthcare services through the innovative concept of a floating hospital. The programmes are extended today to cover Disaster Management and Infrastructure Development, Education and Good Governance, Sustainable Economic Development and Cultural Preservation. These programmes are interrelated to facilitate an overall improvement in the lives of Friendship beneficiaries, allowing them to rise from poverty with dignity.
Thorkil Sonne, Specialist People Foundation, Denmark
Specialist People Foundation believes people with autism have special abilities that uniquely qualify them for certain types of work. Through the operational arm, Specialisterne, people with autism are trained and accommodated to excel in data and testing jobs in the labour market for partners like SAP. The goal is to enable 1M jobs for people with autism and similar challenges.
