* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
These 5 Different Categories Of Game-Changing Social Entreprises Are Transforming The World Today
At Ashoka, we’re interested in social impact initiatives that address the root causes of problems and transform entire sectors. But how are today’s social entrepreneurs creating profound systemic social impact that changes the rules of the game?
Through years of experience in the field, Ashoka has been able to identify the 5 most common patterns of systemic change. Read on to learn more:
Pattern 1: Market Dynamics and Value Chains
Each product or service you buy is the end result of a chain of activities that contribute to the creation of it. At each point in the chain, there is space to add value to the product or to cut cost or waste.
Social entrepreneurs can effect change by redefining and restructuring these interactions and by identifying areas where value can be added to benefit the producer, consumer, or both. A system-changing idea increases access to goods, services, or trade in the existing market; creates value for a product or service where previously it did not exist; creates new markets that allow people to trade or access a product or service they previously could not; provides low-income people with ways to generate income and change; or increases the flow of market information.
For example, Fidaa Abu Turky, a Palestinian social entrepreneur, adds value to women-run businesses in rural areas and opens up new markets for them to sell their goods. Fidaa adopts a three-pronged approach based on a venture capital model. First, she assesses each proposed project’s needs and provides relevant seed funding, and she runs regular evaluations to ensure the project runs smoothly. Secondly, she provides business support services through a network of 34 rural organizations, and finally, she partners with local marketing companies that market and sell the end products locally, regionally, and internationally.
In this way, Fidaa opens new markets, introduces new buyers, and adds value by providing investment, technical assistance, and practical and theoretical training that allows the women to more effectively manage their businesses.
Pattern 2: Public Policy and Industry Norms
A social entrepreneur can change the rules that govern societies and industries, and thereby effect positive systemic change. Social entrepreneurs influence key legislation or executive policy statements, provide testimony or research on public policy, and organize citizen action to influence government officials.
Sameh Seif, an Egyptian social entrepreneur focused on introducing improved sewage and sanitation systems to rural areas, encountered a situation in which the prevailing government policies and public attitudes hindered investment in and amelioration of such projects.
For Sameh, inventing the new technologies and sewage systems was only one aspect of his work. In order to create real and lasting systemic change, he realized he had to affect government and industry policy and also improve rural communities’ understanding of health, sanitation, and sewage. Sameh created a network of grassroots organizations to advocate for wider adoption of his idea in other villages, and also to lobby policy-makers.
Pattern 3: Business-Social Congruence
Social entrepreneurs often seek to erase the lines between the private and social sectors. Businesses are becoming more socially aware, and citizen organizations are becoming more business savvy; the distinction between the two sectors is disintegrating. Social entrepreneurs seek to accelerate this trend by linking industries and procedures that create scale in business with socially conscious ventures traditionally overlooked by investors (the most obvious case being access to finance and investments). Concurrently, an important part of a social entrepreneur’s job is to convince the business sector that social and environmental returns are equally as important as financial returns, which helps to create a powerful common vision between the business sector and the social impact sector.
Raghda El Ebrashi creates employment for marginalized Egyptian youth through a market-based sustainable model that caters to market needs. Raghda realized that companies would not hire youth simply because of “good will,” nor would they devote significant resources to training them. By identifying a company’s needs and tailoring training for marginalized youth to meet those needs, Raghda is able to provide employment for unemployed youth and fill a skills gap in the business sector.
Pattern 4: Full Citizenship and Empathetic Ethics
Social entrepreneurs work to fully integrate marginalized populations into society, including people who are disadvantaged by class, disability, ethnicity, gender, poverty, or religion. Once the voices and actions of these groups are taken into account, they can powerfully realign social dynamics to create a more equitable system for all.
Reda Shoukry focuses on the rights and health of the most vulnerable groups in order to combat the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in Egypt. Reda works with sex workers directly through legal, health, and “listening” sessions. She encourages sex workers to seek regular medical checkups and provides alternative life choices, if needed. Reda also effects change by sharing data and testimony with other organizations and the general public, a strategy that allows other groups to understand and empathize with the difficult lives and circumstances of these women.
In traditionally conservative Egyptian society, Reda ensures open-minded dialogue by framing the conversation as a public health debate, rather than a criminal investigation. She emphasizes that her aim is to protect wives and children from the spread of HIV and STDs.
Pattern 5: Creating a Culture of Changemaking and Social Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurs increase the number of people who are social problem-solvers and provide the necessary supportive environment, so that each person has the ability to realize their potential to change his or her community for the better. Social entrepreneurs achieve this through media coverage of their work, receiving awards and recognition, directly training individuals to build their specific skill set to solve social problems, partnering with institutions to create programs that promote social entrepreneurship, and educating others about social entrepreneurship through speeches and events.
Asma Mansour, a Tunisian social entrepreneur, is challenging the prevailing attitudes of young people by introducing a cultural shift in which young people take solving social problems into their own hands, rather than waiting for governmental solutions. Asma creates an enabling environment that is supportive for social enterprises and social entrepreneurs.
Asma campaigned to change public opinion and to provide the foundational structure for an enabling environment that is aware and supportive of social enterprises. Furthermore, Asma and her team have drafted a law for regulating social enterprises and established a credit line via the Ministry of Employment, targeting social ventures identified by Asma and her organization.
- This post was written by Omar Al-Amin, a research assistant with Ashoka Arab World. It appeared originally on Forbes.
