Opportunities for social innovators (September 2023)

Building an enabling environment for social innovation

If you’re a social innovator/entrepreneur looking for information, funding, support, learning and events, look no further.

Read about the opportunities from the wider social innovation ecosystem, available for social entrepreneurs and innovators.

Publications

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How to organise to speed up mass systems change

In a fast-changing world, how can systems change accelerate so that it can power multi-system shifts? Cracking this code to create lasting changemaking ecosystems, is too much for any one organisation, or even an alliance of organisations. But in Changemaking Network Effects: A Playbook for Social Entrepreneurs, Sushmita Ghosh makes a bold attempt.

Sushmita draws on insights from some of the most impressive global social entrepreneurs, including members of the Catalyst 2030 community. The playbook outlines five principles, accompanied by practical how-tos, they use to connect different systems, players and concerned citizens to serve positive social change goals. Organising around campaigns like ‘Zero Homelessness’, ‘Health Care Without Harm’ and ‘Holding Power to Account’ in global systems change networks, helps in harnessing collective effects.

The playbook is a must-read for every social sector organisation, company, funding agency student or concerned citizen who cares about a new way of organising mass systems change to outsmart and outpace the world’s biggest problems.

Changemaking Network Effects: A Playbook for Social Entrepreneurs is currently on promotion and you can download it for free.

MAGAZINE DOWNLOAD

Gender-transformative education drives a gender equal culture

Furkan lives in Pathargarh, a little village on the banks of the Yamuna, near Panipat. A few years ago, only one girl from Pathargarh had attended college. Girls barely completed school here. Most were married well before they were ready for it. When Breakthrough arrived, teenaged Furkan and his cousin brother, Inam, attended a session at school called ‘Shaadi ki kya jaldi hai’ (What’s the rush to be married?). Furkan was struck by how important it was for girls to complete their education. He resolved to fight for Inam’s younger sister, Anam to stay in school. Thanks to his determination, Anam’s marriage was staved off and she completed Class 12.

Now, imagine this story of transformation multiplied by four million young lives. Can you see a more equitable world emerging?

Breakthrough’s intervention in schools across North India is bridging gender divides and creating environments of possibility. As we work towards more gender-inclusive educational systems, we’re seeing communities step forward in support. The tide of gender-based violence is beginning to turn.

Join Breakthrough in reimagining education as a tool for societal transformation. Their magazine, Engendering Education, illuminates how gender-transformative education is the bedrock of a gender-equal culture. School is meant to change lives. With your support, Breakthrough is proving it does.

Events

Join Ziva Voices for HerStory in the Making

Women’s Stories Belong on the Big Stage. And we are making it happen together with the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, Kentucky. Join a diverse group of powerful women …and create HerStory. Spend an evening surrounded by women who are leveraging their power to create change and be inspired by remarkable success stories.

Learn to set a new standard for financial independence and prosperity. Be part of where women from all corners of the globe unite to create HerStory. And connect with an extraordinary network of women.

Join HerStory in the Making event on 12 October at the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, Kentucky.

Why Is It So Hard To Work Together? (And How To Do It Nevertheless!)

Tuesday, 26 September 2023 8:00 am – 9:30 am EST / 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm CEST

Harmony, consensus, and collaboration are often the buzz words in international development. Everyone agrees we need all stakeholders to work together better. And yet, in private moments, you’ll hear a different story.

”Collaboration is like herding cats.”
“Everyone’s just paying lip service to the shared work!”
“People say one thing and do another! That’s a competition disguised as a partnership!”
“Please don’t make me participate in another coordination platform! I already have too many meetings…”

This workshop, offered by Dalberg and KONU, explores the ways people resist efforts to change a system. Resistance comes in many forms. Outright opposition, cynical denial (“been there, done that, it’ll never work”), avoidance, downplaying, stonewalling are some of the frustrating tactics. To practice leadership, though, we need to look deeper to understand what’s beneath this resistance – and how to address it to keep making progress.

Why Is It So Hard To Work Together? (And How To Do It Nevertheless!).

WingsForum is back

WINGSForum, one of the world’s leading philanthropy gatherings, is back! From 3-5 October, 2023 more than 350 attendees from over 50 countries will gather in Nairobi, Kenya for the 7th edition of WINGSForum. This year the event is co-hosted with the African Philanthropy Network (APN).

WINGSForum is offering an exclusive discount rate on 10 tickets for Catalyst 2030 members to attend WINGSForum 2023. If you are interested in this offer, please contact us regarding the discounted tickets. The discounted rate is $750 per ticket, instead of the regular price of $1100.

Brazilian Philanthropy Forum

The Institute for the Development and Social Investment (IDIS) is pleased to announce the 12th edition of the The Brazilian Philanthropy Forum which will take place on 14 September 2023 from 9:00 am to 6:00pm (GMT-3) in São Paulo, Brazil.

The forum will be live-streamed in English on Alliance’s YouTube Channel. View the Brazilian Philanthropy Forum Event Schedule, and registration for international attendees is now open.

Fundraising Resources

Segal Family Foundation Equitable Toolkit

The Segal Family Foundation, one of the leading private funders on the African continent has created an Equitable Toolkit to foster more inclusive practices in philanthropy.

This toolkit includes detailed guides on equitable grant making, fundraising resources, hiring practices, and board governance. Their intent in curating this toolkit is to make it readily accessible to a broader audience.

The foundation is a Catalyst 2030 member, and a recent nominee for the Catalyst 2030 Awards.

European Funding Toolkit

You can download the European Funding Toolkit for social enterprises and their support organisations.

Fellowships

Paid fellowship from Mountaintop

Mountaintop, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is offering a paid, one-year, full-time fellowship for exceptional emerging leaders to remain in or return to their home communities, to contribute to systems change in lower-income places around the world.

Mountaintop matches fellows with locally-led NGOs, social ventures and government agencies to lead high-impact projects. The fellowship strengthens the capacity of fellow hosts and amplifies fellows’ potential through mentorship, grants, a lifelong community of inspiring peers and a two-week leadership programme hosted at Harvard University’s Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics. Mountaintop offers paid opportunities for both ‘host-led fellowships’ (placements serving with a predetermined NGO, social venture, or government agency) and ‘applicant led fellowships’ (independent projects proposed by the applicant anywhere outside the United States).

The application deadline is 11:59 pm in your local time on 30 September 2023. Interested? Then begin your Mountaintop application process.