Building Back Better: Creating the League of Social Entrepreneurs
We all know that we need to Build Back Better, post-COVID. There are now dozens of campaigns across the globe that are calling for an economy that is intentionally regenerative, equitable and prosperous for all. One that puts people and planet first. But how do we get to that inclusive, affordable, and low carbon future? How do we get to the Next Economy?
For the past 16 years, the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) has been honing its craft, building solutions, and accelerating thousands of nonprofit and for profit small social purpose organizations (SPO’s). These organizations are now helping to solve social and environmental challenges. In response to COVID-19, we are ready to take our work to the next level and to start building the Next Economy.
The Next Economy requires that we intentionally pursue and nourish social enterprises that work to solve pressing challenges while creating generative business models. This is where the League of Social Entrepreneurs comes in. The League will combine their entrepreneurial energy with social innovation labs and the firepower of acceleration and incubation to create enterprising solutions that ”build back better.”
Outcomes
The League will respond to Challenges issued by partners and stakeholders (government, corporate, or institutional) to help develop, pilot, validate, and incubate solutions into thriving social ventures.
- Ongoing
- Challenge, Lab
- Social Ventures
Solutions Lab Process
Convene a small group of government, community, entrepreneurs, NGOs, and institutions (with a special focus on those agencies on the front lines) — to clarify, research, and better understand a specific social challenge.
With a well-defined problem set, we will put out a call for entrepreneurs to explore, ideate, and co-create possible solutions to the challenge. Social Entrepreneurs can apply to either of two streams: Specialists or Creators.
The Specialists are experienced social entrepreneurs, innovators, mentors, and industry experts looking to give back by contributing their skills, knowledge, and connections to respond to social and environmental challenges. When a challenge is issued, we expect the Specialists to converge along with other stakeholders to take part in Social Innovation Labs – a structured, collaborative, and creative space to ideate and prototype solutions. The Specialists will then co-learn about best practices, failures, the social innovation ecosystem, and more, with the goal of revealing market opportunities and building social cohesion.
The Creators are much like The Specialists – only they’re ready to turn prototypes into ventures. These are entrepreneurs ready for their next entrepreneurial undertaking. They can expect sustained support from The League, but they possess the grit, energy, and time to drive action on the ground. They will participate in a Social Innovation Lab, and can then step forward as founders, independently or potentially as part of a consortium, in the fledgling enterprise emerging out of the Lab. The Creators are galvanized and motivated by the sense of opportunity.
After applying, Entrepreneurs who are selected as either Specialists or Creators will get free membership to the Centre for Social Innovation’s Common Platform. This platform will catalyze connection, conversation, and collaboration amongst members of The League, host challenges, and facilitate the work preceding and following the Labs. CSI will also host open innovation platforms to corporates and industry, pinpointing their impact challenges and matching them to the startups with the right solutions.
Part of the CSI Solves Initiative
At CSI, we use labs, social R&D and prototypes that identify new and improved models that can transform existing paradigms and reveal market opportunities. Learn more about our approach here.
