Social Entrepreneurs and small and growing businesses (SGBs) have been acting as frontline responders during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing services to the most vulnerable populations. But the crisis shed light on the constraints & challenges they face. We call on on corporations, (impact) investors, funders, support organizations and government institutions to stand by social entrepreneurs as first responders to the COVID-19 crisis and as pioneers of a green, inclusive society and economic system.
Today, Yunus Social Business together with 60 leading actors in social entrepreneurship - under the umbrella of the World Economic Forum’s COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship - published our COVID Social Enterprise Action Agenda providing practical guidance on what each can do to help social entrepreneurs play their part in fighting the pandemic and in charting the way towards recovery and a reinvention of our systems.
To read our Leaders on the Frontline Action Agenda and to join us in action:
Aavishkaar Group, Acumen, Africa Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), Argidius Foundation, Agora Partnerships, Ashoka, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), CASE at Duke University, Catalyst 2030, Co-Impact, DOEN Foundation, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Echoing Green, European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA), Euclid Network, Fundación Avina, GHR Foundation, Global Innovation Fund, Global Steering Group for Impact Investing (GSG), Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), Greenwood Place, IIX, IKEA Foundation, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, Impact Assets, Impact Hub, International Labour Organization, Johnson & Johnson, KIVA, Latimpacto, Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, Mercy Corps Ventures, Motsepe Foundation, NESsT, Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), Open Road Alliance, Rippleworks, Root Capital, Salesforce.org, SAP, Schwab Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Sorenson Impact Foundation, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United States African Development Foundation (USADF), UNDP Business Call to Action, UNDP SDG Impact, USAID Center for Innovation and Impact (CII), Village Capital, Yunus Social Business, 60_decibels
Every week, through March, YSB’s new CEO Jana Lessenich will ask one of our female social business entrepreneurs questions about leadership and their lives. Stay tuned to this space to read their inspiring insights!
Fresh water is abundant in Bangladesh, in the form of numerous groundwater resources that are shallow and easy to exploit. However, for essentially geological reasons, almost all of the groundwater is contaminated with arsenic, very often at levels that make it a health hazard.
Unusual Pioneers is a platform for corporate leaders and social intrapreneurs turning business into a force for good. Established by Yunus Social Business, The World Economic Forum’s sister organisation, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and Porticus.