Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur Award in partnership with Ernst & Young

Please note that government personnel or public sector organizations will not be considered, nor will intermediary organisations, research institutions or foundations that seek to create social value through the provision of knowledge, or financial and/or technical support to community-based groups.

The top 3 most important criteria to be considered a finalist are:

1. Innovation: The candidate has brought about social change by transforming traditional practice. Such transformation can have been achieved through

• an innovative product or service,
• the development of a different approach, or
• a more determined or rigorous application of known technologies, ideas and approaches.

A salient characteristic of a social entrepreneur is coming up with a pattern-changing idea and implementing it successfully.

2. Sustainability: The candidate has generated the social conditions and/or institutions needed to sustain the initiative and is dedicating all of his/her time to it.

• If set up as a non-profit entity, the organisation is achieving some degree of financial self-sustainability through fees or revenues or is engaged in creating mutually beneficial partnerships with business and/or the public sector. Where possible, economic incentives are embraced. In any case, there is a clear difference from traditional charity and a move towards community-based empowerment and sustainability. There is also a difference with traditional business.

• If set up as a for-profit entity, the orientation toward social and environmental value creation predominates, with financial return treated as a secondary means to an end, rather than an end in itself.

3. Direct social impact: The candidate has founded, developed and implemented the entrepreneurial initiative directly, together with poor or marginalised beneficiaries and stakeholders. Impact manifests itself in quantifiable results and testimonials and is well documented. There are no significant negative externalities.

The Schwab Foundation will also consider the 2 criteria below in determining the winner:

4. Reach and Scope: The social entrepreneur’s initiative has spread beyond its initial context and has been adapted successfully to other settings in the country or internationally, either by the entrepreneur him/herself, or through others who have replicated or adapted elements of it.

5. Replicability: The initiative can be adapted to other regions of the world to solve similar problems. The entrepreneur is open to sharing with others the tools, approaches and techniques that are critical to the adaptation of the initiative.

For more information and to enter please visit http://www.schwabfoundseoy.org/en/account/login

Common Traits shared by Social Entrepreneurs

An unwavering belief in the innate capacity of all people to contribute meaningfully to economic and social development

A driving passion to make that happen.

A practical but innovative stance to a social problem, often using market principles and forces, coupled with dogged determination, that allows them to break away from constraints imposed by ideology or field of discipline, and pushes them to take risks that others wouldn’t dare.

A zeal to measure and monitor their impact. Entrepreneurs have high standards, particularly in relation to their own organization’s efforts and in response to the communities with which they engage. Data, both quantitative and qualitative, are their key tools, guiding continuous feedback and improvement.

A healthy impatience. Social cannot sit back and wait for change to happen – they are the change drivers.

NEWS RELEASE: AFRICA “SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR” AWARDED AT WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM’S REGIONAL SUMMIT FOR AFRICA 2011

 The Schwab Foundation announces four winners of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year in Africa at the World Economic Forum Regional Summit 2011 in Capetown, South Africa

 Winners working across Africa are among a group of 15 Social Entrepreneurs from around the world taking part in the Meeting – they provide an on-the-ground perspective to sustainability and social innovation

Capetown, South Africa, 5 May 2011 – Three Social Entrepreneurs will be recognized as regional social entrepreneurs of the year for the Africa Region, joining the 2010 South Africa national winner on the stage during the World Economic Forum’s Regional Summit Africa 2011, held in Capetown, South Africa on 5-7 May.

The Africa Social Entrepreneur of the Year Awards will be conferred by Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. “The next chapter for Africa requires us to look both at the tremendous opportunities for economic growth, and the challenges the continent in being able to tap into this growth. Social entrepreneurs, and the innovations they bring to make this economic growth inclusive of all is critical to improving the state of the world, and therefore the work we do at the World Economic Forum.” said Schwab.

Mirjam Schoning, the Head of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship explained, “Social entrepreneurs have an important lesson to share in today’s economic climate. They emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gain. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment through innovative and effective business models. Their approach to entrepreneurship is one of sustainable economic growth across sectors and industries, from renewable energy and education to waste management, health and rural development.”

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is proud to award Aleke Dondo of Juhudi Kilimo, Juliana Rotich of Ushahidi and Olivia Van Rooyen of the Kuyasa Fund with the title of Social

Entrepreneur of the Year.

 Aleke Dondo – Juhudi Kilimo : Aleke Dondo, often called the grandfather of microfinance in East Africa, built Juhudi Kilimo from two of his strongest passions: microfinance and rural development. He holds a Master’s degree in economics and has carried out more than 30 major studies in the fields of small enterprise and microfinance development.

Juhudi Kilimo has provided asset financing to over 7,500 smallholder farmers, roughly half of which are women. The average income of Juhudi Kilimo clients doubles or triples as a result of their loan. In addition to offering loans for rural farmers to invest in productive assets such as cows, agricultural equipment and transport, Juhudi Kilimo offers compulsory asset insurance and life insurance to the borrower at a small cost . These two insurance products ensure that the borrower and her family can not be further indebted by the loan, mitigating the risks the rural poor face often face when becoming clients of many microlending institutions.

Olivia Van Rooyen, The Kuyasa Fund : Olivia van Rooyen, MBA, established Kuyasa in 1999, after working with rural workers in the hospitality and retail industry as a trade unionist and as a project manager for end-user financed community projects.

In South Africa, the demand for housing far outweighs supply, especially in urban areas where there is an ongoing inflow of population due to economic migration. An estimated 68% of South Africa’s population falls into the low-income portion of the population that remains unbanked and therefore unable to access credit. The Kuyasa Fund bridges this gap, providing demand-led, short-term loans to finance incremental building and supplying a suitable mechanism through which the poor have been able to build financial and social capital through investment in housing.

The underlying belief of Kuyasa is that by improving the quality of housing, people improve the education, health and social status of the household. It enhances pride and the process of improving a home builds the self-esteem of the borrower, mostly women, and creates empowerment in other aspects of their lives.

Juliana Rotich – Ushahidi

Julian Rotich was in Western Kenya in 2008 when the election violence broke out. It was near impossible to get accurate and timely information. It was with this, that the impetus for Ushahidi was born. Ushahidi builds tools for democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories.

Since 2008, Ushahidi has grown to nearly 2 million users and has 17,000,000 unique visitors.

It has strengthened democracy and economic development, such as verifying election results across Brazil or tracking teacher absenteeism in Uganda. It has facilitated market efficiency, through mapping bio-gas markets prices and production across six countries in Africa. And it has helped aid workers in Haiti and Japan reach those affected by natural disasters.

Abigail Noble, Head of Africa for the Schwab Foundation explains the decision for these four awards.

On Juhudi Kilimo, Noble commented, “In Sub-Saharan Africa, 60 – 75% of people are employed in agriculture, mostly as subsistence small-scale farmers, and often they have little access to bank loans or technical training. Juhudi Kilimo`s model of providing 6 months of financial literacy and animal husbandry training to borrowers before receiving their first loan, and then pairing the loan with both asset insurance and life insurance takes a multi-pronged approach to empowering small-scale farmers to create a virtuous cycle of income generation and asset accumulation.”

On The Kuyasa Fund: Noble said, “Nearly 1.1billion live in deficient homes around the world. The Kuyasa Fund has built successful partnerships both the government, federal and local, as well as with commercial investors, to help South Africans both build stable houses and create vibrant communities. Stable homes and vibrant communities are linked to child development, reduced crime, improved democracy, economic growth. This is key for the next generation and for the future of the economy.”

On Ushahidi, Noble explained, “Ushahidi is one of the few social enterprises that has, in just a few short years of existence, dramatically changed the face of how individuals and communities can influence democracy and economic development around the world. With Ushahidi, an individual with a cellphone can be instrumental in enhancing the availability and accuracy of information that makes governments more transparent, responsive and accountable and makes markets more efficient. It is a social enterprise that was born out of the frustrations of what was not working in the world and it was started by a team of young, driven and passionate African professionals. It serves as superior example of how social entrepreneurship can and will change the world.”

About the Schwab Foundation

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship was co-founded by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, and his wife, Hilde. Since its inception in 2000, the Foundation has been identifying the world’s leading social entrepreneurs in over 40 countries around the globe. Social entrepreneurs implement innovative and pragmatic solutions to social problems by tackling the root causes and creating social transformation. Selected social entrepreneurs of the Schwab Foundation network participate in World Economic Forum events, thus providing unique opportunities for them to connect with business, political and media leaders.

About the World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is not tied to political, partisan or national interests.

www.weforum.org

Good Card rakes in charity cash by Asha Speckman

April 21 2011 at 04:52pm

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Asha Speckman

A novel concept of social entrepreneurship that is creating small business owners in its wake is promising to take the country by storm.

At first mention, it sounds suspiciously like a charity project evolved into a pyramid scheme, but The Good Card programme, managed by The Giving Organisation, is monitored by The Law Review Project and audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers on a pro bono basis.

The Good Card programme was launched in 2008 with the aim of bridging the major financial challenges charities face in the current socioeconomic climate. It was officially launched in November last year and already has 1 000 subscribers – a figure The Giving Organisation hopes to triple by the end of this year.

Kelvin Glen, chairman of The Giving Organisation, said: “An enterprise development project was launched in the beginning of this year. The aim of this initiative is to uplift social entrepreneurs via the Good Card business opportunity. The main aim of our initiatives is to create sustainable sources of income for charities, which enable them to budget and commit to projects rather than focusing on fundraising,” said Glen.

The Good Card, a network marketing programme with the potential to uplift societies countrywide, is a project launched by 10 of South Africa’s well-known charities which include Cansa, Choc – Childhood Cancer Foundation, Reach for a Dream Foundation, Cotlands and the Desmond Tutu HIV/Aids Foundation. The campaign is virtual and internet-driven.

Each person who subscribes to the Good Card receives his or her own personalised Good Card website to forward to friends and contacts. Each website has a personalised link. Everyone who receives a link will automatically open a website that includes the contact details of the person who sent them the link.

According to Glen, the model for the programme is a direct selling referral model that rewards people for securing additional funds for charities. Individuals receive commission when selling the Good Card with its benefits to others.

Benefits include development of your own marketing website, a Visa Good Card, which includes cash back and cash discounts at a range of retailers such as Makro, Hi-Q, Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, life cover for the card holder and family, lifestyle benefits including telephone assistance and advice for legal, educational, medical, trauma and HIV issues. It also includes a business optimiser software tool which assists the cardholder with financial planning.

“Network marketing is an international business model and is currently a multibilliondollar industry in the US,” he said. The Good Card is one of several business ventures for the benefit of charity including eBay auctions with Charlize Theron and Nelson Mandela, Celebrity Big Brother, Payroll Giving and other creative fundraising initiatives that the Giving Organisation has initiated since 1996.

To date, more than R50 million has been generated for the various charities. The Good Card initiative alone has already contributed close to R1m for charity.

For more information visit: www.goodcard.co.za

Donald Trump explains why network marketing / social entrepreneurship is a B-quadrant business (Big Business Owners such as himself)

Donald Trump says, ‘ A network marketing business is a B-quadrant business because it meets several criteria I look for in a business or investment.’  Those criteria are:

1. Leverage: Can I train other people to work for me?
2. Control: Do I have a protected system that belongs to me?
3. Creativity: Will the business allow me to be creative, and develop my own personal style and talents?
4. Expandability: Can my business grow indefinitely?
5. Predictability: Is my income predictable if I do what is expected of me? If I am successful, and keep expanding my business, will my income increase with my success and hard work?

MoneyWeb article – Social entrepreneurs: A missed opportunity in SA by Shawn Hagdorn, Independent Analyst

12 April 2011 01:53

Govt has become so inward looking that it fails to grasp the opportunities just beyond its doorstep.

The keynote speaker for last week’s Social Enterprise World Forum at Johannesburg University was Minister Ebrahim Patel, chief architect of the New Growth Plan.  People of various political persuasions seem to habitually point out how brilliant this man is – as if to suggest either 1) even he can’t make the government’s ideologically-blinded economic policies work or 2) that all that was lacking from earlier plans was a bit more interventionist-minded intellectual heft.  Viewed against what united the other speakers and delegates – problem solving through creatively designed solutions – the minister’s attendance seemed to signal that the best government can offer is still too inwardly focused to see continent-sized opportunities.

Among the conference’s many inspiring presenters was a highly successful entrepreneur whose globally expanding company assists visually-impaired poor people. This initiative resembled those of the other participants in that they typically begin with little or no political clout or financial capital.  The only currencies common to these entrepreneurs are farsightedness and determination.

This global conference of social entrepreneurs provided various lens through which to appreciate how SA’s government is devoid of vision.  It is rare for creative geniuses to be attracted to government service but sometimes extreme challenges prove irresistible.  In this regard, SA’s government would seem to offer high volume appeal. But government service globally is becoming less attractive to those who are inspired to contribute. Social entrepreneurialism offers an alternative path for those with a knack for cobbling solutions and a need to make a difference – and without all the grime inherent to faction-driven politics.

Less stressed parts of the world motivate social entrepreneurs who seek to fill the gap between their business sector’s focus on shareholder returns and their government’s capacity to adapt to rapid change.  It should come as no surprise that SA’s social entrepreneurs can outperform government and hold their own internationally at problem solving.

What is surprising is the magnitude of government’s refusal to see what is so obvious to others.  Since late last year when Patel updated prior job-creating schemes through further emphasis on state intervention, there have been a series of top quality insights which answer the question:  What must SA do to massively decrease unemployment?

Government has become so inward looking that it fails to grasp the opportunities just beyond its doorstep – notwithstanding how clear they are to global decision-makers.  The world’s largest vendor has been seeking a controlling interest in a leading SA retailer. Why?  Many first-tier South African companies have further confirmed the same vision. Two of the world’s largest banks from Asia and Europe had invested in top SA banks and recently a third came close. Why?  SA’s interventionist-leaning government seems blasé about dismissing market signals from the employer sector yet further confirmation came from leaders of some of the world’s most dynamic governments when China, Brazil, India and Russia invited SA to join their exclusive club. Still further validation of this common vision was in evidence at the social entrepreneur conference.

What is this vision that is so obvious to so many and yet eludes our elected officials?  As everyone can see that Singapore should be a top global port, it is just as obvious that SA must play a lead facilitating role in growing Africa’s middle class.

We have been told the New Growth Plan is to be “bold, imaginative and effective”.  In fact, the policies are bold and imaginative in how they ignore the competitive realities of today’s global business arena.  If they prove effective, this will be when ballots are counted; not jobs.  Government officials speak of achieving and sustaining 7% annual growth.  If this were achieved through or despite government policies, many jobs would be created and migration trends would respond accordingly.  SA border controls will be no more effective than those in California or Chad.  Distinct disparities in growth rates and opportunities spur inexorable migrations.

The global population is to increase from 7bn to 9bn between now and 2050 with half the increase occurring in Africa which is expected to swell from 1bn today to 2bn.  Africa currently has nearly 15% of the world’s population but its share of GDP is only about 2.5%.   Youth bulges are common across the continent; jobs are not.  Definitions and measurements vary but, outside SA, the percentage of people in Africa who qualify as at least lower middle class is about 10%.  It is abundantly clear to many global business and government leaders that SA’s future is directly dependent on improving this key metric.

Manufacturing is among the six industries targeted by the New Growth Plan to contribute meaningfully to 5m new jobs by 2020.  Clever South African business people will pinpoint various niched opportunities but the global trends toward manufacturing being clustered in Asia will persist as manufacturing employment contracts elsewhere.  SA’s policies directly contradict those of high growth developing nations.  Those South African companies which successfully expand into new markets will, by necessity, have strategies which minimize SA based employment.

The global trends favour creating service sector employment with the most popular entry-level jobs being in the restaurants and lodging sectors.  In SA as elsewhere, migrants routinely out hustle locals for these jobs – as can be observed when we are handed a menu.

Previously, visionaries would make many millions or billions, normally involving ruthless business tactics, and then in their fading years create foundations.  Foundations were largely a 19^th century invention and they have done tremendous good while social entrepreneurialism is a late 20^th century upgrade with more potential to adapt to today’s increasing pace of change.

Whether motivated by the fear of ever larger migration waves, greed-induced profit maximisation or a desire to make money while doing good, the right vision for SA is to focus on removing impediments to a rising middle class across the continent.  There are however limitations to what social entrepreneurs with all their visions and persistence can do.  It is telling that as the conference participants discussed the raw power of ideas and personal commitments, President Jacob Zuma and his opposite number in Zimbabwe were hurling non-diplomatic criticisms at each other.  The African country with the largest middle class segment had been Zimbabwe.  Zuma’s peace-seeking efforts in Libya, the country with the continent’s highest per capita income, further suggest a bending to the reality that SA’s interests are directly linked to advancing Africa’s middle class.

The most valuable insights will continue to arise far from the halls of Parliament.  Government must gather the courage to see beyond its narrowly focused cleverness and direct its efforts in coordination with all of society’s key stakeholders, particularly those who have the greatest capacity to increase jobs, the increasingly varied business sector.

END

Why Network Marketing? Donald Trump’s response…

Marketing is a powerful tool, and network marketing can increase the power, provided you’re self-motivated. In a simple visual, see a product and remove the advertising agency from it. It’s up to you to do the marketing and advertising. That’s a big job but it can be done if you’re passionate enough to get going on your own, and to keep the momentum and motivation going at a high level. It requires an entrepreneurial spirit, and that means focus and perseverance. I don’t recommend network marketing to people who are not highly self-motivated.

Another important aspect of network marketing is that it’s inherently social, so if you’re not a social or outgoing person, I’d think twice about going into it. Sociability is a requirement. Just like in advertising, there’s no point in having a fantastic advertising campaign if the product is unequally fantastic. Also keep in mind that if you decide to become a distributor, you’ll be legally responsible for the claims you make about the product, the company and the available opportunities. But above all make sure the product is worth your energy and total devotion.

As with any other undertaking know everything you can about what you’re doing before you began. Network marketing has proven itself to be a viable and rewarding source of income, and the challenges could be just right for you. There have some remarkable examples of success, and those successes have been earnd through diligence, enthusiasm and the right product combined with timing. As with so many issues, there are tangibles and the intangibles involved, but success is not a total mystery, and that applies to network marketing, as well.

Most people have heard of focus groups, a research tool advertising agencies use. When they’re testing a new product they go to different locations and simply ask everyday people what they like and don’t like about new product. It’s best if you can keep the focus group idea close at hand when deciding about a product. Just because you like it doesn’t mean everyone else will. Finding a common denominator in product appeal will matter.

My advice about network marketing is to do your research, and put everything you’ve got into your product. Genuine enthusiasm is hard to beat, and the odds will be with you.