#HTE

7 Social Enterprises That Are Investing in the Future

While traditional for-profit enterprise is rewarded for investing in visions of the future, social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders are only rewarded for reacting to problems that already exist. While it is crucial that the social sector continues to react to the problems of today, we must also advocate for an integration of strategic foresight in social enterprise and nonprofit management. These are the topics explored in our new book, Toward a Preemptive Social Enterprise.

Toward a Preemptive Social Enterprise is a manifesto and collection of essays inspiring a new generation of social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders to move from a founding principle that is informed by reaction to one that is driven by strategic foresight.

“Social entrepreneurship is almost always too late. As practitioners of social enterprise, we hold the assumption that our responsibility is to exclusively act post-crisis in order to gradually chip away at a persistent problem, or to maintain a state of peace. The art of reaction is necessary, but the expectation of post-traumatic innovation as the singular starting point for an entire industry is limiting. What if social enterprise was also responsible for preemption? What if social entrepreneurs were also futurists?”

The good news? There are exciting social enterprises and impact-driven businesses that are challenging the norm by investing in the future. These organizations are thinking big, leveraging emerging technologies, and are blazing new trails to change the world! Here, we highlight 7 of those preemptive social enterprises.

The Hydrous is empowering local stakeholders by leveraging design thinking and exponential technologies to co-create sustainable communities and massive social impact. Coral reefs are an incredible resource – they produce 50% of all oxygen in our atmosphere, and house 25% of all marine biodiversity. The problem? Coral reefs are at severe risk due to climate change, and traditional methods of monitoring are limited. To combat this, The Hydrous uses new media to capture corals in 3D. In doing so, they are uncovering incredible insight into these resources.

M-Kopa is a Kenyan startup that is set to deliver solar power to more than a million homes at an incredibly affordable rate. According to a recent feature in Quartz, with a setup fee of $35, and a daily payment of 50 cents, the company is currently offering its technology to over 275,000 homes. From Quartz: “About the size of an iPad mini (but a few inches thicker) M-Kopa’s home solar energy system provides three lights, five USB connections for phone charging, and a portable radio. Only one third of Kenyans are connected to the national grid, and more than half of Kenyans still rely on kerosene, batteries, and candles for light and power, according to the company." 

Singularity University provides startups with a path toward accelerating their understanding of, and innovation in, cutting-edge technologies. The organization accomplishes this by developing innovative partnerships and education programs. At the center of the University’s teachings is an expectation that the products and services their students make must be capable of impacting one billion lives. With over 100 startups now out on the market, initially incubated by SU, it is certain that exciting breakthroughs are in our near future.

Ava is a mobile platform that aims to break down the barriers of communication between the deaf and hearing worlds. They do this by deploying innovative products that combine audio and visual accessibility in an affordable manner. From their manifesto: "If you can compensate for [a] loss of visual cues, you [can] dramatically increase accessibility. Captioning, subtitles in movies, or even sign language are great examples of adding the visual layer. And it kicks ass.”

Andela “identifies and integrates the top 1% of global tech talent to help accelerate your product roadmap.” Recently funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Andela invites developers in Kenya and Nigeria to apply for a four-year leadership program. The program is designed to help them master the professional and technical skills they need to succeed in technology by working on projects with real-world companies. 

GiveDirectly is a bold campaign that aims to engage Internet users around the world in the crowdfunding of a Universal Basic Income. “We plan to scientifically test the idea of a universal basic income by providing regular cash payments to thousands of extremely poor households in East Africa for more than ten years. ” As a study, this fundraising campaign aims to understand if a Universal Basic Income is truly the best approach to ending global poverty. The best part? Anyone can get involved, and just $1/day is all it takes to provide a basic income for an individual in the communities GiveDirectly works in.

TerraCycle is a revolutionary recycling company that offers free recycling programs, funded by brands, manufacturers, and retailers around the world. The programs, leveraged by over 60 Million people, have a special emphasis on making hard-to-recycle waste more simple to collect and recycle. Their programs include recycling rallies that take place at various schools, zero waste boxes that allow you to recycle almost anything, and more! As if that isn’t enough, the programs also benefit local charities, with over $15,000,000 dollars donated thus far.

Here’s the thing. Not all of the world’s problems are solved. The notion of preemptive social enterprise is not trying to claim that, and it is not trying to dismiss all of the necessary work of traditional social enterprise and nonprofit management. Instead, it is arguing that we need even more work to be done. We need a new wave of social entrepreneurs who balance reaction to existing problems with taking the time to consider that which has yet to happen. No one has a crystal ball, but there are some amazing methodologies that exist in the strategic foresight field that make this easier. Welcome, the new social entrepreneur. We need you. We’re glad you’re here!