
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

Since the 1980s, pioneers like Bill Drayton, Muhammad Yunus and Anita Roddick have led through action, creating powerful examples of business solutions to societal or environmental issues. They called it social business, social entrepreneurship or impact entrepreneurship.

As consumers, we are constantly demanding more. We want faster delivery, logistics and services to our door. To satisfy this demand, there is a huge focus in the investing space on “last mile” - finding the cheapest and most efficient way to serve the furthest to reach places. The last mile is the most expensive and time-consuming part of the delivery process

The network wave has surged, and many organisations today are following a similar network-centric approach. A popular example is Spotify’s world-famous culture - driven by its organisational structure.