November 2020 Social Impact Roundup: Capacity Building to Create World-Positive Jobs

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, we have seen social enterprises pivot and adapt to overcome new challenges and best support their stakeholders. In November, recognizing the critical role that social enterprises play in development, a variety of SESOs (social enterprise support organizations, like accelerators, incubators, and revenue growth programs) have invested even more to support the social enterprise movement. Already, we are seeing them helping create more world-positive jobs while leading efforts to #BuildBackBetter

Our partners at Siemens Stiftung released a new trilogy study, ‘Social Enterprises as Job Creators in Africa‘ estimating that 1 million new jobs can be created by 2030 by social enterprises alone. However, interventions are needed now in order to support impact-oriented social enterprises in creating such jobs. 

Our partners at ANDE also examined the role of SESOs around the world and have released three reports: (1) Accelerating Women-led Startups: A South African Perspective, (2) Landscape Study of Accelerators and Incubators in East Africa, and (3) Acceleration in Asia-Pacific: Early Impacts on Participating Ventures. These reports share challenges, best practices, and offer a closer look at how programs are adapting to meet local needs. 

One of the keys to social enterprise success are strong supply and distribution chains so that products, programs, and services can be sustainable created and delivered to end users. This past month also saw an increase in SESOs addressing challenges in the last mile of delivery, as you can see in this Impact Report from our partners at Global Distributors Collective. We also saw an increase in supply chain equity and sustainability with a report from the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. 

MicroMentor shared a great example of what this support translates to in practice, sharing the story of Kenyan-American entrepreneur Cera Muchiri, who founded Ecoduni to produce bags and wallets that are ethically made, sustainably sourced, and that empower Black communities. With her mentor Eric’s advice, Cera wrote her first business plan, designed a marketing strategy, and made her first sale. 

Our MovingWorlds S-GRID social enterprise support program also saw participants reach new milestones, like speech startup Voiceitt’s recent corporate partnership with Amazon Alexa. We also had the opportunity to sit down with insiders from Microsoft Philanthropies to share how other social enterprises can follow in their footsteps with these best practices for pitching corporate clients.

Social impact job opportunities

Find opportunities to support the social enterprise movement in building back better with the social impact job opportunities and upcoming events below:

• MovingWorlds is hiring a junior full stack web developer
• Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)is hiring for multiple positions spanning from entry to senior level, including:
  • South Africa Intern based out of Johannesburg 
  • Executive Assistant based out of D.C
  • Finance Coordinator based out of Bangkok
• Philanthropy Northwest is hiring for several positions to start in January 2021! Take a look at the available jobs below, all based in Seattle:
  • Senior Manager, Programs
  • Associate, Programs and Membership
  • Board Liaison and Administrative Coordinator
  • Communications Manager, The Giving Practice
• Mercy Corps is hiring a Director of Operations for its MicroMentor program to join the team based out of Portland, but remote applicants are welcome to apply!
• Splash International is seeking a Chief Operating Officer to join the team in Seattle 
• Novartis is hiring a Senior Manager of Human Rights to join the team in Dublin
• Follow MovingWorlds on LinkedIn for even more job share-outs from our community

Upcoming events & new programs

• December 11th: Colombia-based social enterprise Coomacovalleis hosting a Virtual Forum on the Protection of Children, featuring panelists representing the Colombian Army, National Police, Catholic Church and Coomacovalle. Join the discussion via Facebook Live.
• December 11th: Join MovingWorlds to hear from Dr. Akhtar Badshah, former head of corporate philanthropy at Microsoft and author of Purpose Mindset, for an inside look at the innovative strategies he helped pioneer to create a culture of giving that benefited the company while making the world a better place. Register here.
• December 12th & 13th: Our friends at Phoenix Space are hosting their next Balloon Camp in Lebanon, where instructors will help students design experiments that will be carried aboard a high altitude scientific balloon and executed while up in the earth’s atmosphere. Learn more about the program and becoming a sponsor of an upcoming balloon camp here.
• December 14th: The NFTE World Series of Innovation deadline! Young people ages 13 to 24 can submit innovative ideas and compete for cash prizes. There are nine SDG-aligned innovation challenges in the current challenge cycle, including one – “Environmental Justice” – that is sponsored by PayPal.

Congratulations to….

• Our partners at Coschool for being named one of the world’s most inspiring innovations in K12 education by HundrED! In addition, Coschool CEO Henry May was named a Meaningful Business 100 Leader for 2020.
• Our friends at Pawster Nashville for winning the Binky Foundation’s First Steps Grant for its work advancing animal welfare! 
• Reach52 for its recent corporate partnership with Philips to launch a new ultrasound service for expectant mothers in rural Philippines!

A final bit of inspiration

It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. Charles Darwin