Beyond Dialogue: Corporation and Social Enterprise Partnerships
On April 12th, Acumen and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship hosted a workshop in Oxford, England with representatives from large corporations and smaller social businesses from around the globe. At the workshop, entitled “Beyond Dialogue,” we asked: How can we build business models that truly serve the poor through collaboration among corporations and social […]
Transcending the Boundaries of Business School
In order to transform our world and achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we must look beyond the ‘way we do things’ in our own industries, learn to be adaptive and work in multi-sector teams. In early 2006, I walked into a room where the global CEO of Unilever, Barclays Bank, Porsche and […]
SDGs and Corporate Strategy – Putting the Two Together
Novozymes is a world leader in the industrial biotechnology space, head quartered in Denmark and providing B2B solutions (enzymes and micro-organisms) that on average save customers 100kg CO2 for every 1kg of product applied. As such, sustainability and positive societal impact are embedded in the corporation’s DNA. That was true 10 years ago, when the […]
The Paradox of Partnership
At the heart of every partnership lies a paradox, an inherent contradiction that cannot be ignored in the process of building a successful collaboration. A primary goal of cross-sector partnership is to bring together organisations with different but complementary attributes and to achieve something together that neither organisation can achieve independently. That is what most […]
Bringing Your Company’s Values to Life
I have been farming organically at Riverford since 1987. The concept of combining good food, good farming and good business was inherited from my father and is at the heart of everything we do. In the 1990s, as my skills improved at home, I wanted to disprove the naysayers who claimed organic farming was a […]
Scientific Research for Gender Equality
This year on International Women’s Day, efforts to advance gender equality and sustainable development go hand in hand. The UN is commemorating the day under the theme “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it Up for Gender Equality,” highlighting the importance of closing the gap in gender equality while building momentum to implement the Sustainable Development […]
Collaborations Expand Tech Uses to Aid Refugees
Technology is playing an unprecedented role in addressing the global refugee crisis. In part, this is due to a level of collaboration that is new to the traditionally competitive, independent tech community. The massive numbers of people fleeing war and deprivation – over 82,000 refugees sought refuge in the first two months of 2016 alone, […]
Engaging Diaspora in Development and Diplomacy
Diaspora means “to scatter” in Greek, but today we use the term to describe a community of people who live outside their shared country of origin or ancestry but maintain active connections with it. With the rise of globalization, the number of people leaving their home countries to seek education and employment opportunities has skyrocketed. […]
Connecting Corporations and Social Enterprises
By Sheena Raikundalia, Senior Consultant, Intellecap Kenya-focused entrepreneur Moka Lantum, Founder and Managing Director of Microclinics, is preparing for pitch to a large pharmaceutical company. The Nairobi-based healthcare management company provides patient and clinic management systems to peri-urban and rural clinics. The software developed by his company, tracks commodities in clinics and enhances, availability, accessibility, […]
Cross-sector Approaches in Countering Violent Extremism
In the spirit of this year’s Global Partnerships Week (GPW) theme of “Leveraging Innovation in Partnerships”, Concordia has long been a proponent of innovative and collaborative efforts that advance global security agendas combating violent extremism (CVE). Many of the GPW partners, and a number of the affiliated organizations and events this week, have dedicated significant […]
How USAID Views the Future of Partnership
By Chris Jurgens, Director, Center for Transformational Partnerships, U.S. Global Development Lab, U.S. Agency of International Development Today, new economic powers have emerged, private investment to developing countries has soared, and new technologies have opened opportunities as never before. The nature of development is changing, with collaboration across diverse stakeholders now a central feature of […]
US State Department Celebrates Collaboration
By Andrew O’Brien, Special Representative, Global Partnerships The word “partnership” seems to be everywhere these days — and the U.S. Department of State is proud to be at the center of it. While public-private partnerships (P3s) have been around for years, they are increasingly becoming a primary way to achieve our objectives in diplomacy and […]
Reaching the SDGS – New Alliances in Digital Development
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call on all of us to work as partners to end extreme poverty, fight inequality, and address climate change. Digital technologies enable government and citizen action towards these global goals. The rising ubiquity of mobile phones, the increased global use of communication and social media applications such as WhatsApp and […]
Business Impacts – Action Where It Matters
The UN’s Global Goals herald a new era where companies are being asked to play their part in solving some big global challenges. They require more action; collaboration; scaled impact; faster change. Business now has to step up. But where should companies focus their efforts? Which impacts matter most for development? In today’s fast-changing world, […]
A New Model for Gender Lens Partnerships
By Suzanne Biegel, Investment Director, SPRING, and Founder/Chief Catalyst, Women Effect On this 2016 International Women’s Day, it pays to reflect on the global partnership efforts achieved since 1975 – the International Women’s Year, when the United Nations (UN) officially started to commemorate the accomplishments towards women’s empowerment and gender equality. The theme set by […]
Building Effective Partnerships for Development
The Ripple Effect of Vision Care on the SDGs
When the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) were formally adopted last year, many in the sustainability community saw this as a moment of triumph. The seventeen goals are not only ambitious but also universal, and the private sector worked hand in hand with government and academics in their development. Yet sceptics have wondered whether the […]
Tackling Global Challenges
A special form of leadership, system leadership, is needed to tackle global challenges like food security, climate change, job creation, and gender parity. These challenges are complex and systemic, rooted in the actions and interactions of diverse yet interconnected, interdependent stakeholders. Leaders in business, government, and civil society increasingly recognize that they cannot be addressed […]
Think Globally, Act Locally to Meet Development Goals
Richard Wafula, a farmer in Western Kenya, struggled to make a profit from his farm due to poor-quality seeds, pests, and lack of adequate storage. A partnership called Grow Africa helped the Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF) identify suppliers, marketing and storage providers. Richard’s production has now doubled, generating increased income for his family. Across […]
Partnership for Indonesia Sustainable Agriculture
In late October I joined a site visit to a sustainable coffee project, which is part of the Partnership for Indonesia Sustainable Agriculture (PISAgro) partnership. It is no exaggeration to say that I was blown away by the project: impressed; inspired; and, most of all, convinced by the multi-stakeholder approach. The coffee project is led […]