With partnerships being the key component to stimulate meaningful and impactful social enterprises, the Authority of Social Contribution (Ma’an’s) Innovation Platform, The Exchange, explored how stakeholders can come together to foster a sustainable start-up ecosystem.
On 24th March, the workshop focused on ‘Partnering with Social Enterprises to Deliver Community Solutions’, looking at the potential for corporations and government entities to take action in delivering community solutions by creating relationships and collaborations with social enterprises.
The workshop began with a keynote speech from Prof. Nikos Nikiforakis, Professor for the Centre for Behavioural Institutional Design at New York University in Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), who shared 11 lessons on the behavioural techniques to adopt to form successful partnerships.
Prof. Nikos Nikiforakis said, “The UAE has a very interesting start-up ecosystem where so many new players are being launched on a daily basis and I cannot think of anywhere in the world where there is an entity such as Ma’an who is trying to make a difference for social enterprises.
Attendees were also welcomed with a second keynote speech from Dr. Chih-Hoong Sin, Director of Innovation and Social Investment at Traverse, who praised Abu Dhabi’s efforts for developing growth strategies for social enterprises during a pre-recorded video.
Dr Chih-Hoong Sin said, “Social enterprises are at the front and centre for Abu Dhabi’s development and the UAE’s capital has been experiencing phenomenal economic growth since the 1970s. Ma’an is offering exciting opportunities for social enterprises to become more engaged with partnerships and launch meaningful collaborations.”
The workshop concluded with a ‘Ideas Lab’ session that was led by Aakanksha Tangri, Founder, Re:Set, UAE with audience members to explore the roadmap for Ma’an in mitigating challenges, providing suggestions for corporations to ensure effective partnerships with social enterprises and how to develop corporate readiness frameworks for social enterprises.
During the session, pre-recorded videos were presented to audience members from key industry experts including Roberto Croci, Managing Director for Startups MEA, Microsoft for Startups MEA, UAE; Åsa Skogstrom Feldt, Manager, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, Sweden; Yasmina Zaidman, Chief Partnerships Officer, Acumen, USA and Lamisse Muhtaseb, HR Director at Deloitte.
The Exchange will be running until Monday 29th March at The Galleria, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, and will welcome Kareem Refaay, Managing Director MENA & GCC for the London Institute of Banking and Finance tomorrow to discuss Financial Literacy for Kids and Financial Literacy for Adults.
Source: Emirates News Agency