Social Entrepreneurs at the 2016 edition [Part 2]

Social Entrepreneurs at the 2016 edition [Part 1]

11. Winner Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2016Yasmina Filali, Fondation Orient Occident, Morocco

Fondation Orient Occident primarily focuses on underprivileged Moroccans, sub-Saharan migrants and refugees, providing them with job training. The organization, in collaboration with the Moroccan Government and CISCO facilitates the integration of migrants and refugees into Moroccan society.

This collaboration provides accredited courses offered at 40 dollars/year (for hospitality) and 150 dollars /year (for IT). 95 percent of IT graduates and 60 percent of hospitality graduates find regular employment following their training due to partnerships with major hotel chains and IT companies. Refugees and migrants also benefit from targeted assistance helping them integrate into Moroccan society.

12. Winners, Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2016David Risher and Colin McElwee, Worldreader, USA

Worldreader, a global, non-profit, is working on creating a future where everyone can be a reader. Using low-cost technology, a personal digital library, and a worldwide network of corporate and non-profit partners, it helps millions of people reach their potential. They offer a collection of over 31,000 titles from more than 331 publishers in over 40 languages apart from English such as Kiswahili, Hausa, Afrikaans etc. contributing to local heritage and identity.

Since 2010, Worldreader has reached over 3 million readers, with an average of 400,000 reading per month. Rigorous monitoring and evaluation determine the educational impact of Worldreader’s program: 8 out of 10 library patrons report reading more, and in-school Early Grade Reading Assessment scores increase significantly versus control schools.

13. Janet Longmore, Digital Opportunity Trust, Canada

Digital Opportunity Trust operates youth-led economic, education and leadership programs all over the world. They train underprivileged youth as interns in the powerful use of technology and business. As DOT interns, they become leaders in their communities, helping their peers find jobs, start businesses and become engaged citizens.

After completing their internships, they are equipped to enter the workforce as experienced and in-demand professionals. Localized DOT programs and a network of private and public sector partners support youth as they lead change. 4,000 DOT youth leaders have reached 800,000 peers and community members so far. The Government of Canada has officially partnered with DOT to scale up their program with local youth in Africa.

14. Thomas Granier, Association la Voute Nubienne (AVN), France

Association la Voute Nubienne (AVN) promotes a housing construction technique that is affordable and ecologically sustainable in Africa. The organization trains farmers to build vaulted earth brick roofs using locally available materials, while at the same time creating a self-sustaining construction market for homes with a low-carbon footprint. Over 10,000 inhabitants in Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal benefit from these houses.

15. Gisele Yitamben, Association pour le Soutien et l'Appui à la Femme Entrepreneur (ASAFE), Cameroon        

ASAFE provides business training and development services, alternative financing and access to IT training for the bottom of the pyramid, especially disadvantaged women in Cameroon and other parts of Africa. Using information and communication technologies, ASAFE has brought its entrepreneurs closer together and connected them to larger markets.

16. Ned Tozun, d.light, USA

Founded in 2007 as a for-profit social enterprise, d.light manufactures and distributes solar lighting and power products designed to serve the over 2 billion people globally without access to reliable electricity. d.light’s product lines ranges from small solar lanterns up to Pay-As-You-Go solar home systems. Through over a dozen field offices and four distribution hubs in Africa, China, South Asia and the United States, d.light has sold 13 million solar light and power products in nearly 60 countries, improving the lives of over 60 million people, a number that is to reach 100 million by 2020.

17. Simon Henschel, Sunlabob Renewable Energy Limited, Laos

Through public-private partnerships, Sunlabob brings sustainable renewable energy solutions to off-grid areas by installing solar lantern rental systems, solar home systems, hybrid village grids and water purification systems. To encourage local enterprise development and ownership, Sunlabob trains village technicians and village committees to maintain, recharge and rent out the lanterns. In addition, Sunlabob provides consultancy services, expanding internationally into Uganda, Cambodia and Afghanistan through franchise agreements.

18. Anne Githuku-Shongwe, Afroes Transformational Games, South Africa

African youth present an interesting paradox to the continent's future: the mobile revolution has created massive potential to inform, connect, and educate youth; on the other hand, yet many of these 400 million youth are disempowered, jobless, and considered a threat to the stability of countries or a burden to states. Afroes is utilizing interactive mobile learning strategies to teach youth about entrepreneurship and leadership, and to empower them as citizens to address their countries’ challenges.

19. Martin J. Fisher, KickStart International, Africa

KickStart helps people out of poverty by creating and bringing to market new low-cost technologies and services that local, dynamic entrepreneurs can use to establish and run profitable small scale enterprises that offer waged jobs. KickStart trains private sector manufacturers to mass-produce the tools, and uses innovative marketing techniques to sell them to entrepreneurs in poor communities through a network of local retail shops.

20. Masa Kogure, Table for Two (TFT), Japan

One in seven people suffer from malnutrition, whereas 1.6 billion adults in the world are overweight or have health conditions related to 'over-nutrition'.  TFT corrects this imbalance by transferring excess calories across the globe from developed countries to developing countries.  Corporate cafeterias, university dining halls, and public restaurants serve balanced and healthy TFT meals, donating 20 cents (USD) per meal to purchase free lunches in impoverished African village primary schools.

21. Jean-Marc Borello, Groupe SOS, France

Groupe SOS is an umbrella social enterprise overseeing 330 stand-alone organisations addressing social needs. Today, with 12,000 employees in 330 organisations, Groupe SOS is arguably the world’s largest social enterprise. Groupe SOS’s portfolio of services encompasses youth, employment, health, senior citizens, and more.

For example, it operates 33 youth centres in France, serving 2000 children from disadvantaged families, many of whom have severe disabilities, including several centres for youth offenders. Groupe SOS’s family of social enterprises directly impact over one million people annually in 20 countries.

The 2016 World Economic Forum on Africa will hold from May 11-13 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda.