Fabienne was the keynote speaker at the #Ashoka Forum, Istanbul, in November 2019.
During her talk, Fabienne addressed various topics pertaining to the evolution and future trends within the field of Social Entrepreneurship.
Positive Trend 1: Social Entrepreneurs are increasingly speaking the language of business:
Social Entrepreneurs are equipping themselves with the tools and language of the business world: idea, problem to solve, strategy, business plan. Investors are responding well to this and this is boosting these social entrepreneurs' chances of obtaining the financial investment they need in order to bring their vision to reality. There is much that this sector can continue to learn from business: how to select ideas that have a higher chance of success, how to incubate and accelerate them, and how to measure this success and course-correct strategy where necessary.
There is one consideration here, however: if taken too far, this mindset could devolve into "just business" and lose its systems change focus, as described below.
Positive Trend 2: Businesses are engaging their DNA into the social space:
Businesses are learning to expand their perspective from a two- to a three-dimensional approach. Thinking strictly in terms of risk/return is no longer enough for most customers: this became more the case for the GenY / Millennial customer base, for whom the need for companies to also have a social conscience beyond their products and services became a central issue. The emerging GenZ / iGen demographic, who is currently reaching adulthood is further raising the bar: the social impact dimension of businesses is now a key factor driving adherence.
This has led businesses over the last decade to increasingly think along three dimensions: risk, return, and impact.
Global sustainable investment is now estimated to be at 30 trillion dollars, up 70% in 5 years. It is here to stay, with increasing evidence that better performance in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) correlates with higher equity returns.
The focus of the co-creation between corporates and social entrepreneurs is thus emerging on 3 areas:
- Develop talents and intrapreneurship through employee engagement
- Accelerate the innovation process
- Develop new business models, transformative, co-created with social entrepreneurs: build ethical supply chains; develop the right ecosystems inside and outside the company
Not all trends are perfectly positive, however: if we are to consistently drive these trends we must bear in mind the risks of over-focusing on the "Entrepreneurial" side of Social Entrepreneurship, and of knowing that growing Impact is not the same as growing a Company.
Challenge 1: There is a risk to over-focus on the "Entrepreneurship" side of Social Entrepreneurship:
A word of caution: if taken too far, we risk falling away from systems and mindset change and into “just business”. We seem to have fallen in love with the word “Entrepreneur” in Social Entrepreneur and sometimes lose the focus on the deeper systems change that was originally intended.
There are some areas where a synergy of systems change and balancing profits is achievable: good examples of this are the renewable energy sector, mainstream education, or health care; but there are other areas where financial sustainability simply cannot be center-stage, such as Humanitarian rights violations, loss of Freedoms (such as expression) or with Environmental Justice.
Challenge 2: Growing the Impact is not the same as growing a Company:
Good leadership is no longer about just taking charge or designing a strategic vision; but about creating platforms, networks, and frameworks that allow others to flourish, while encouraging the replication of your idea without “copyright to cash in on". We encourage a more encompassing, longer term view, beyond just "growing the business".
Learn more about Ashoka at: www.ashoka.org
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