Has it really been ten yeas? Looking back, it is staggering to see how far we and the social-impact sector have come since that first fateful encounter between our Chairman Nobel Peace Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and our CEO Saskia Bruysten.
The concept of picking up the tools of business and applying them to tackle social and climate challenges was, at that time, almost unheard of. When we brought the idea to funders and corporations, we were almost always met with a roomful of blank stares and raised eyebrows.
Now, a decade later, we are happy to see that we have been able to prove this model. Our portfolio of social businesses overall has served 17.8M customers, supported incomes for 1.3M people, and avoided 5M tons of carbon emissions in India, East Africa and Latin America.
Discover the facts, figures and faces behind our journey in our 10-Year Anniversary Report.
Needless to say, the increased global focus on business as a force for good has not by a long shot been the work of our team alone, nor, for that matter, has even our own success. Rather, both have been the patchwork tapestry of thousands of hands: social-business entrepreneurs, forward-looking funders, intrepid social intrapreneurs, our teams in all our operating countries and supporters in manifold forms.
For this reason, we have made our theme for this year ‘It Takes a Village.’ That is, it takes a village to create a world of zero poverty, zero unemployment and net-zero carbon emissions. We wish to take this opportunity to highlight some of the incredible partners who have shared our vision, taken chances on us, partnered with us and worked together towards achieving our ambitious goals. For those of you reading this to whom this refers - and you know who you are - a big, big thank you goes out to you!
Corona has already delivered a punishing blow in Germany. In developing countries, it’s hitting like a Tsunami. The economy has been brought to its knees. Half a billion people could slip deeper into poverty. Social businesses are part of the solution.
Read this 5-minute article for an easy English overview of the Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz or the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains.
Yunus Social Business (YSB) and Upaya Social Ventures (Upaya) today announced the launch of their 2022 Accelerator Programme to help small and growing businesses (SGBs) in India scale and create jobs to lift people out of extreme poverty.