Global P2P-Support For Social Entrepreneurs

Global Social Entrepreneurs Network

The Global Social Entrepreneurs Network (GSEN) is a new platform, supported by the Cabinet Office, working with social entrepreneurs around the world. It utilises the learning, models and expertise from the UK and from all other country members who join. It will be a peer learning service for support agencies, with the potential to open out to social entrepreneurs themselves as a virtual social incubator at a future point.

Agencies supporting early stage social entrepreneurs are springing up across the world. We can all benefit from learning and sharing as well as technology transfer and this will be vital to achieve the social transformation we all want in our countries.

The secretariat coordinating the approach will be UK based and hosted initially by UnLtd, and expand out to contributions from members on a sharing economy model.

06 June 2013

UnLtd, The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to funding a Global Social Entrepreneurs Network (GSEN) and calls on social investors at the G8 Social Impact Forum to see the potential in supporting start up social entrepreneurs.

Nick Hurd

Announced today by Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd at the G8 Social Impact Investment Reception, hosted by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the UK Cabinet Office, the aim of the Global Social Entrepreneurs Network is to create a worldwide network for social entrepreneur support agencies to ensure the sector continues to develop and thrive.

Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd, said: 

The social enterprise movement is a really important one. This global network looks the right idea at the right time and we are happy to support it. It is another example of the UK leading the way in supporting social entrepreneurs and socially responsible investors.

Cliff Prior, chief executive, UnLtd said: 

We believe that the Global Social Entrepreneur Network will play a critical role in improving the accessibility and quality of support for social entrepreneurs around the world. It will share knowhow, innovations and results to help develop new support agencies and assist us all to improve our work. Support to start up social entrepreneurs is vital to create the pipeline of investible social ventures.

At the moment there’s an intense focus on supporting proven social ventures that show promise of reaching large scale – and that’s great. However, the social investment market is chasing too few viable social ventures. Today, it’s more vital than ever that more social entrepreneurs are supported at an early stage of their development to achieve their full potential. It’s wonderful to see Government and venture philanthropy backing for this work,

he said.

Led by UnLtd in collaboration with early stage social entrepreneur support agencies around the world, the Global Social Entrepreneurs Network will share learning and best practice around how to stimulate and best support social entrepreneurs. For example, UnLtd UK has already successfully shared its Big Venture Challenge programme – a model now adopted in India – and its programme for supporting social entrepreneurs in higher education institutions, now to be replicated in Thailand.

About UnLtd

UnLtd is here for social entrepreneurs. It is the leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in the UK and offers the largest such network in the world. UnLtd resources up to 1,000 individuals each year through their Awards programmes. UnLtd operates a unique model by investing directly in individuals and offering a complete package of support; its Awards include advice, networking, mentoring and practical support as well as funding from £500 to £15,000.

UnLtd enables individuals from age 11 upwards to start and run ventures with the aim of creating social impact on a local, regional or national level. It conducts research to identify the impacts created by social entrepreneurs and to learn how best to support them to succeed. UnLtd’s surveys show that its award winners gain confidence and skills to run social ventures. Nearly half employ at least one person, while over three quarters create volunteering opportunities. They typically reach a median average of 100 beneficiaries each year, while some reach thousands. UnLtd is also committed to developing an ecosystem of support to make it easier for new social entrepreneurs to find the help they need. It actively helps other agencies to develop social entrepreneur support services.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Harding and Harding 2008) found that there were 1.7m people leading social organisations in the UK, 238,000 trying to start one, and that 35% of all early stage entrepreneurs were starting with social ventures. UnLtd is focused on UK social entrepreneurs. Its model has been replicated in four other countries with several more in the pipeline.

UnLtd

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