In the TRANSFORM Support Hub, we have the privilege of working with leading social entrepreneurs from over 100 countries. Increasingly, we’re seeing these pioneers embrace emerging technologies like AI to catalyze their growth and impact — whether that’s to develop highly tailored solutions that meet the needs of their customers, drive more effective collaboration for systems change, or optimize their internal and external processes.  The potential applications of AI for good are vast. To make it more real, we’ve rounded up 15 impact startups from our TRANSFORM Support Hub network that ar ..read more

Weaving Racial and Ethnic Equity into the Fabric of Business In the current debate about diversity, equity and inclusion, it is easy to focus on the backlash and lose sight of the practical solutions that can make a real difference. A new report from the Schwab Foundation, Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship, Echoing Green, and Dalberg takes a fresh look at the issue by focusing on how working with social innovators who are advancing racial and ethnic equity is a smart business decision. In it, you’ll find actionable pathways and case studies that promise to address systemic inequaliti ..read more

In this month’s Social Impact News Roundup, we highlight: AI for social innovation Evolutions in impact financing The human factor of sustainable transformation Some exciting impact jobs from our network Upcoming impact ecosystem events  Exciting wins and updates from our TRANSFORM Support Hub social enterprises Let’s dive into the details below: Artificial Intelligence for Social Innovation The World Economic Forum estimates that the potential value add of AI to the social economy is $308bn — a tremendous opportunity, if we can chart pathways to its responsible adoption in the context ..read more

The State of Social Enterprise in 2024 Quantifying the size and scope of the social enterprise movement globally has been a persistent challenge…until now. First-of-its-kind research by the Schwab Foundation’s Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship found that there are approximately 10 million social enterprises operating worldwide — and that collectively, they are generating $2 trillion in annual revenues and creating over 200 million jobs. To put that into perspective, the social entrepreneurship sector is now larger than the $1.57 trillion apparel industry and twice the size of the $87 ..read more

In a world where companies prioritize profit and have historically let the broader interests of stakeholders take a back seat, a remarkable shift is under way due to the growing global movement of social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Thanks to a first-of-its-kind piece of research published earlier this month, we now have the data to quantify the scope of this market. The State of Social Enterprise 2024 estimates that there are approximately 10 million social enterprises operating worldwide — and that collectively, they are generating $2 trillion in annual revenues and creating over ..read more

F5 is a global technology company committed to being a force for good. That commitment is shared across the company up to the highest levels of leadership, and from Day 1, CEO François Locoh-Donou has fostered a culture that is passionate about serving others. Its Global Good Program exists to extend that passion beyond the company’s walls: empowering employees to provide time, skills, and grants to inspiring nonprofit organizations actively making their communities a better place. To mobilize even more support to these valued partners, F5 Global Good partnered with MovingWorlds to expand its ..read more

Democratizing Access to Finance for Micro-Entrepreneurs In the Global South, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises are some of the strongest drivers of employment and economic growth. Yet, most are unable to access the services they need to grow through mainstream financial systems. Promising innovations are being tested around the world to help close that gap — like this pilot from Mercy Corps Ventures using decentralized finance for micro-entrepreneurs in Colombia, this micro-loan and financial literacy program launched by HYCF to enable financial independence for rural women in Malawi ..read more

Social enterprises are paving the way towards a more equitable and sustainable future, and an entire ecosystem has developed around them to mobilize the business development support they need to succeed. Quality business development support is proven to accelerate enterprise growth in emerging markets — increasing incomes, employment, and resilience.  For that reason, most of the funding from donors and corporate sponsors is directed at the delivery of business development support to the entrepreneurs themselves, with little attention being paid to the organizations that actually facilita ..read more

Enabling Access to Capital for Social Entrepreneurs In order to raise capital successfully, entrepreneurs need to have clarity around what type of funding they are after, and how to ask for it in a compelling way. To make it easier for entrepreneurs to evaluate which type of funding makes the most sense for their businesses, our friends at Village Capital recently launched the new Capital Explorer tool, bringing reliable information about different options together all in one place. Then, to help entrepreneurs ask for that funding in a way that gets a “yes,” we teamed up with the Miller Center ..read more

There’s a certain art to asking investors for money in a way that gets a “yes.” That art is something that the team at Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship knows well — graduates of its accelerator program go on to raise an average of $1.2 million within three years. So, how do they do it? We recently had the pleasure of hosting Miller Center’s Senior Director (Andy Lieberman), Director of Impact Investing (Paul Belknap), and Director of Partnerships (Jeff Pilisuk) for an exclusive two-part workshop all about “The Art of the Ask,” where they took us behind the scenes of their proven fundr ..read more