May 25, 2022

To expand the reach and impact of the TRANSFORM Support Hub, MovingWorlds has partnered with the World Economic Forum’s Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship. The TRANSFORM Support Hub, powered by MovingWorlds – previously launched with SAP, TRANSFORM, and Unilever – connects social enterprises with corporates, peers, learning content, and a global community of pro bono professionals to deliver market-based solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals.

SEATTLE, W.A. - During the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, members of the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship, MovingWorlds, SAP, Unilever along with TRANSFORM announced that the TRANSFORM Support Hub will be expanding its reach and impact as part of their work at the Alliance. The Global Alliance provides a conducive space for the TRANSFORM Support Hub to on the one hand connect with corporations to support social enterprises while finding partners to develop regenerative value chains, and on the other hand, connect social enterprises with more non-financial support, sales opportunities, and capacity building.

“It's essential for actors in the social innovation ecosystem to join forces in their bid to support social entrepreneurs building a just, inclusive and equitable future,” says François Bonnici, Director of Schwab Foundation and Head of Social Innovation at World Economic Forum. “The TRANSFORM Support Hub is that much-needed platform where organizations, including the Alliance members, can directly provide support to social entrepreneurs.”

From working closely with social enterprises through programs, partnerships and research, MovingWorlds has found that financial investment alone is not enough for social enterprises to achieve their world-changing potential. Social enterprises need to have the right connections, resources, training, and partners – at the right times – to become more impactful, while also facilitating their ability to connect with new customers and grow revenue.

MovingWorlds Co-Founder and CEO, Mark Horoszowski, describes the TRANSFORM Support Hub as “a global platform to help social enterprises build the capacity and connections needed to develop revenue-based partnerships with the private and public sectors, in turn embedding sustainable business practices throughout global value chains to advance a more socially responsible global economy. By helping social enterprises grow, we believe they can change industries. When we change industries, we build a better economy that works for all of us.”

Central to the TRANSFORM Support Hub is the belief that by working together across sectors and silos, we can compound the impact of our individual contributions to drive meaningful progress at the global level.

The TRANSFORM Support Hub builds off the individual and collective efforts of its founding partners to advance the social enterprise movement, including: MovingWorlds which has operated a skills-based volunteering platform since 2010, SAP which has invested in social enterprises for over a decade and in 2020 partnered with MovingWorlds to launch the Sustainable Growth of Revenues for International Development program, TRANSFORM which is a joint initiative launched in 2015 between Unilever, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and EY to commit £90 Million to support social enterprises, and the World Economic Forum which launched the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship in 2020 to engage public and private sector leaders in mainstreaming models for purposeful business to accelerate progress of the Sustainable Development agenda.

Clive Allison, Global Sustainability Director at Unilever, has been actively supporting the social enterprise movement since 2015 through the TRANSFORM initiative, a £90 Million collaboration between Unilever, the UK Government and EY providing funding and bespoke business support to social enterprises. “Supporting social enterprises is not only an effective way to help develop the social and environmental change agents of today. Doing so also helps Unilever – and other companies around the world – to build the partnerships that innovate regenerative products, develop sustainable business models, and achieve our ESG targets.”

Amidst the tremendous shift we are living through in the relationship between business and society, there is an unprecedented level of alignment between social enterprises and corporate transformation efforts related to social responsibility. For these corporations, the TRANSFORM Support Hub is a solution to facilitate positive change and sustainable business innovation by using their most important assets: their people, their products, and their supply chain.

Increasingly, corporations that are committed to building a sustainable and circular economy are looking to partner with social enterprises. Moving far beyond philanthropy, corporations have already committed over $500 Billion in annual spending towards social enterprises. The trend of “social procurement” is on the rise in both the public and private sectors. As just a couple examples, SAP has committed 5% of its procurement spending to social enterprises through its 5 & 5 by ‘25 initiative. Unilever is planning for $2 Billion to be spent with entrepreneurs from under-represented owners by 2025. Governments, like the UK, are following suit, and considering the fact that their procurement department spends £284 billion a year on buying goods and services from external suppliers, even a small percentage commitment will result in massive capital flows to social enterprises.

“We are on a mission to make business a force for good. The MovingWorlds platform is fast, simple, and cost-effective, engaging and connecting employees everywhere with social entrepreneurs anywhere,” says Alexandra van der Ploeg, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility SAP. “Ultimately, this experiential leadership program unlocks new opportunities for social impact and leadership development at scale."

By connecting social enterprises with corporates, peers, learning content, and a global community of pro bono professionals, the TRANSFORM Support Hub is helping more social enterprises build the capacity and connections to deliver market-based solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals, making the entire economic system around them more sustainable in the process. This unique, cross-sector initiative offers benefits not only social enterprises, but also individuals, companies, and accelerators across the ecosystem committed to supporting the social enterprise movement:

• For social enterprises: Access pro-bono support from skilled professionals, make corporate connections, and network with investors – while continuing your own education as a social entrepreneur with expert-led workshops and learning content.
• For individuals: The TRANSFORM Support Hub is an easy way to make a difference with the professional skills you use at work every day. Access targeted learning modules on sustainability topics, join live events, and bring your skills to verified social enterprises as a pro-bono consultant, coach, trainer, or mentor.
• For corporations: The TRANSFORM Support Hub offers corporations an all-in-one solution to help you integrate sustainability across your business and engage and develop your employees — without expanding your CSR team.
• For Impact Investors: The TRANSFORM Support Hub helps social enterprises access expertise to overcome any challenges, certifications that can help them build partnerships with corporations, networks for new sales opportunities, and learning to support their growth and impact.

For media inquiries, please contact alexandra@movingworlds.org.