Social Entrepreneurs

The document profiles a diverse group of social entrepreneurs and organizations focused on poverty alleviation, healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability. Key initiatives include BRAC's antipoverty solutions in 11 countries, South Pole Carbon's climate finance projects, and various ventures providing solar energy and healthcare technologies to underserved populations in the Philippines, Myanmar, and beyond. The profiles highlight a range of models, from micro-franchising and crowd-funding to the development of low-cost medical devices and sustainable urban communities.

• BRAC is a development organization that focuses on women, grassroots empowerment, health, education, and inclusive financial services, reaching approximately 135 million people across Bangladesh and 10 other developing countries with a workforce of over 100,000 employees.
• South Pole Carbon facilitates climate change and renewable energy solutions by providing access to climate finance, which has enabled more than 250 global projects in forestry, waste treatment, and renewable energy, resulting in the reduction of millions of tons of CO2.
• Several organizations are addressing energy poverty through solar technology: Hybrid Social Solutions Inc. (HSSi) has connected about 30,000 individuals to solar power in the Philippines, while Nuru Energy Group provides a mobile-money enabled recharging platform for LED lights and devices in Mauritius.
• Healthcare innovation for low-resource settings is exemplified by Embrace Innovations, which developed a low-cost infant warmer that does not require constant electricity, impacting over 40,000 babies in 10 countries.
• Educational and digital access initiatives include Enova's Red de Innovación y Aprendizaje (RIA) in Mexico, which has served over 450,000 people through 70 educational centers and 25 Digital Libraries since 2007.
• Environmental and sustainable development efforts include the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPE) in Brazil, which focuses on biodiversity conservation, carbon offsets, and reforestation, and the BioRegional Development Group in the UK, which created the BedZED eco-village in London.
• Financial inclusion and entrepreneurship support are provided by MYC4 A/S, which uses the internet to provide African entrepreneurs with crowd-funded loans averaging €1,700, and Water.org, which has helped over 1 million people access safe water and sanitation via its WaterCredit initiative.

APA

World Economic Forum (2014). Social Entrepreneurs. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/AM14/WEF_AM14_SOC_Profiles.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Social Entrepreneurs. 2014. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/AM14/WEF_AM14_SOC_Profiles.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Social Entrepreneurs |date=2014 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/AM14/WEF_AM14_SOC_Profiles.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2014social, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Social Entrepreneurs}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2014}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/AM14/WEF_AM14_SOC_Profiles.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }