World Economic Forum Events 2009

Since 2000, the World Economic Forum has been promoting the powerful models developed by the world’s leading social entrepreneurs in close collaboration with the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs are invited to actively participate in the regional meetings of the World Economic Forum as well as the Annual Meetings. They participate in Forum Initiatives, the conversations shaping the future agendas of industries and are experts for the Forum’s Global Agenda Councils.

Social Entrepreneurs at World Economic Forum Events

  World Economic Forum on East Asia 2009

  Annual Meeting 2009

Social Entrepreneur of the Year - India Winners    Press Release

Rajendra Joshi, Saath

Brij Kothari, PlanetRead, Puducherry and IIM-Ahmedabad

Padmanabha and Rama Rao, RIVER http://www.rishivalley.org
Teachers in India’s 1.1 million single-teacher schools lack the appropriate methodologies, curricula and support systems to educate their students. RIVER’s education model helps teachers adapt to these challenges. Government curricula are adapted for local context, and divided into smaller modules so learning is aligned with each student’s ability. Local accountability chains are established between teachers, parents and government. RIVER’s success in improving the quality of primary education has led to its replication in over 75,000 schools as part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, reaching eight million children across India per year.

 

A Schwab Foundation Welcome was held before the public program to help orient the Social Entrepreneur participants and to encourage community building.  Our Social Entrepreneurs shared networking best practices, current organizational challenges, as well as goals and expectations for the East Asia event. Many looked forward to the potential partnerships, especially through the private sector, to be developed in addition the learning new ideas outside of their everyday environment. The meeting was also joined by partner company, Swiss Re, represented by the Head of Korea Client operations, Mr Mark Senkevics.  Afterwards, the Social Entrepreneurs went off-site to Haja Center, a local social impact support hub, where we met 20 Korean and Japanese social enterprise leaders, and watched a musical performance by Noridan.  Our host Work Together Foundation also prepared a brief presentation, which provided an overview of the social enterprise space in Korea, followed by an interactive Q&A period. Informal networking continued over a traditional Korean dinner buffet. 

The next morning, preceding the public program, Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurs and World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders had a joint “Meet the Leader” session over breakfast. The guest speaker, Mr Rajat Nag, Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank shared about his experience at ADB and how collaboration is needed in all sectors of society to address poverty alleviation.

This group of social entrepreneurs from across the African continent as well as others from Europe and Latin America are active participants in the discussions at the Forum on Africa. Their primary focus is not maximizing profit, but maximizing benefits for society and the environment. They develop innovative business models in energy efficiencies, education, waste management, health, education, youth and rural development, with a vision of large-scale impact.

Click here for profiles of the winners
Press release

Present at the event, other leading social entrepreneurs from Brazil, Cambodia, Germany, Turkey and the United Kingdom. They are active participants in the discussions at the meeting. Their primary focus is not maximizing profit, but maximizing benefits for society and the environment. They aim to develop innovative pro-poor business models in energy efficiencies, education, waste management, health, education, youth, and rural development, among others with a vision for large-scale impact.

“This crisis teaches us that we need to refocus the economy on serving society. It is these social entrepreneurs who show us the way to a sustainable future,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum and Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment by implementing innovative approaches to the key challenges the world is facing. They operate social businesses or organizations that are a mixture of non-profits and for-profits. The winners of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year for the Middle East 2009 were presented with their awards by the Chairperson and Co-Founder of the Schwab Foundation, Mrs Hilde Schwab, at a special plenary session of the Middle East meeting on 16 May 2009, in the presence of the distinguished guests and participants of the World Economic Forum.

Webcast
Press release
Profile of winners

“This crisis teaches us that we need to refocus the economy on serving society. It is these social entrepreneurs that show us the way to a sustainable future,” said Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum and Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurs emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment by implementing innovative approaches to the key challenges the world is facing. They operate social businesses or organizations that are a mixture of non-profits and for-profits.

 press release: English, Portoguese, Spanish

"Our goal with a social business is to reach the entire population. We keep inventing, redesigning and calculating until we reach this goal" - Muhammad Yunus






Restoring Growth through Social Business

Moderator: Kishore Mahbubani
Conventional wisdom is changing to suggest that businesses that tie social and environmental concerns to their mission are better positioned than others to weather the effects of a prolonged economic downturn. What are social entrepreneurs teaching other businesses?

 session summary

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship hosted a dinner session,
"Business Becoming Social Entrepreneurs"
on 28 January 2009.






Discussion Leaders: Taffy Adler, José Ignacio Avalos Hernández, Peter Blom, Neal Goldman, Reed Paget, Paul Rice, J. B. Schramm

Moderator: Rick Aubry

Approximately fifty World Economic Forum Annual Meeting attendees came together to discuss the role of social entrepreneurship in the light of the financial crisis. It is precisely amidst this difficult economic environment that social entrepreneurs shine. They can ‘sniff out’ market failures and creatively pursue new opportunities, serving not only social values but returning honest profit. "It’s not either/or – it’s both," explains Reed Paget, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Belu Water. "Social impact and sustainability are equally important. Social entrepreneurs must understand and apply market discipline to a social objective without compromising values. It’s a huge challenge, but it also gives social entrepreneurs a competitive edge," says Rick Aubry, President of Rubicon Programs. Indeed, social entrepreneurship is not merely a buzz word, but a macrotrend – it’s here to stay. In fact, mainstream businesses are now turning to social entrepreneurs to explore emerging markets through joint social ventures and a variety of other partnership models. Social banks and social venture funds are also developing alongside this effort. With all this activity in spite of the financial crisis, what do we see for the future of the market? "Social enterprises will no longer be the exception," predicts Aubry. Social impact will be an integral part – a natural byproduct – of every business in the future.

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Specific social entrepreneurship related sessions at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will include:

•  “Business Becoming Social Entrepreneurs”
  Conventional wisdom is changing to suggest that businesses that tie social and environmental concerns to their mission are better positioned than others to weather the effects of a prolonged economic downturn.
  What are social entrepreneurs teaching other businesses?
  
• “Restoring Growth through Social Business¨”
  The current economic slowdown provides an opportunity for companies to pursue business opportunities in currently "insulated" markets by involving low income groups as producers and consumers.  What are the key success factors and lessons learned from current partnerships between social entrepreneurs and companies?
  
• “Four Billion Consumers, Producers and Entrepreneurs”
  The base of the pyramid represents a growing US$ 1.3 trillion market of over 3 billion consumers, producers and entrepreneurs.  How can companies develop successful strategies to tap this potential and unleash economic growth that benefits the poor?
  
• “Women and Entrepreneurship”
  Women entrepreneurs are a vital source of income and economic growth in communities around the world, yet these businesses are often limited in scale. What institutions, mechanisms and partnerships are needed to scale up these micro-businesses into small enterprises?
  Short descriptions of social entrepreneurs attending the Annula Meeting 2009