We began the month with a lively discussion about the impact and social Entrepreneurship. Among our participants, we had the pleasure to welcome change-makers to share experiences and learn from each other. We met with participants who are working on a wide range of sectors, such as protecting children's rights, developing sustainable and nutritious food supplements extracted from Caribbean seaweed, launching a skincare line upcycling natural ingredients, and building a platform connecting job seekers with impact job opportunities. All of them contribute to impact and improve other people’s lives.
Social entrepreneurship is a term that is gaining momentum, founders are trying to align their missions to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges. But who is considered to be a social entrepreneur? And how do we measure impact? Our guest speaker, Merve Nur Okutan, who works at Ashoka, one of the largest global networks for social entrepreneurs, shared with us some insights on the matter.
Based on her experience at Ashoka, a social entrepreneur is someone with an innovative idea who can create a social impact on a large scale. In other words, using a systematic change approach a social enterprise could work at a large scale and make an impact big enough to change the established rules of the game.
For instance, Wikipedia, created by an Ashoka fellow, started with the idea of democratizing information so people would not have to pay to have access to the most basic information. Nowadays, accessing and sharing information is easier than ever.
The gathering brought along an interesting discussion and highlighted the importance of exchanging ideas and building a supportive community. But most importantly, it filled us all with hope in knowing that there are many people trying to make a change.
Participants:
Gloria-Karin López, experienced project leader, and sustainability coordinator specialized in children's rights. She works as project manager and theme-leader for "Innovation and cooperation for the rights of the child" at Mötesplats Social Innovation.
Irene Atance, founder and CEO of Go Cirkulär AB, a skincare and personal care brand that upcycles natural ingredients to produce skincare products that are good for the skin and the planet.
Krishma Jean-Baptiste, founder of Seatrients, a company showcasing traditional health secrets of the sea through food supplements extracted from Caribbean seaweed.
Kristina Pihlblad Bohnerth, founder of Impact Jobs Sverige, a community for purpose-driven job seekers who have decided to build a sustainable career.
Merve Nur Okutan, a social entrepreneurship enthusiast, has been working for one of the widest networks of social entrepreneurship, Ashoka, for the last 7 years.
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