The Power of Cross-Sector Collaboration & Visionary Ideas for Transformative Change

Partnering for Change 2024: Innovation for a more inclusive Sweden

On Thursday, September 26th, we celebrated the 14th edition of our event series, Partnering for Change, in Stockholm, Sweden. Partnership is deeply ingrained in Reach for Change 's DNA, originating as an initiative by actors from civil society and the private sector. Over time, our reach has extended to include partnerships with the public sector and academia. We firmly believe that this collaborative approach is the most powerful way to address some of the most critical challenges in our world.

This years edition "Innovation for a more inclusive Sweden" centered around the power of local heroes/social entrepreneurs and the impact and change they are creating every day for a more inclusive Sweden. We call them Change Talks. In addition to this, we hosted two insightful panels discussing social sustainability in the private sector and the potential of the social economy globally.

Andréa R?sberg , our Country Manager in Sweden reflects on how the event left her with an unusual sense of renewed energy and warmth, but also vulnerability.

• In a society with negative headlines about increased polarization and segregation, it's important to remember the positive actions being taken to counterbalance these trends. Our three-hour session with a hundred guests and ten speakers discussing how we can create a more inclusive Sweden demonstrates this positivity.??
• Openness and humility are crucial when building a resilient society. Our Change Leader Charbel Gabro took us on a journey sharing his personal story, but also expanding it beyond himself to help open our eyes and expand our understanding of how and why cultural differences are crucial to understand to avoid that it hinders positive change.
• While numbers and facts are important for making well-informed decisions, stories are more effective in convincing people to join us on the journey and in truly understanding a situation. At the event, we introduced our new speaker series "Change Talks" featuring Pamela Clemente from Right By Me , John Laselle from L?parakademin (The Runner Academy), and Muna Idow from Mermaid Simskola . Their stories deeply touched us, providing a firsthand look at social entrepreneurship and why it matters. Their stories perfectly complemented the perspectives shared in the two fireside chats.
• We need innovation to solve new problems. During the fireside chats with Henrik L?nnevi , CEO of Kivra , Niklas R?nn , CEO of Hogia-gruppen , and Karin Berglund , a professor at Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University , we discussed integrating social sustainability into the private sector. Kivra and Hogia-gruppen have shown that what's good for business can also benefit society. We also talked about redefining the role of business to include ecological and social values, not just growth and profit. Additionally, we emphasized the importance of disseminating solutions that have valuable local impact, not just scaling to reach millions.

Do you want to join our mission to contribute to a more inclusive Sweden? We are currently on the lookout for:

• Partners who can strengthen our work supporting local social entrepreneurs?through funding or sharing of your expertise and network with us and our entrepreneurs. Together we can join forces to broaden the picture of what entrepreneurship is and increase the knowledge of entrepreneurship as a method of social change.?
• Brave municipality leaders and decision-makers. Social entrepreneurs often have solutions for the same challenges the public sector is tackling. There is a huge potential for cooperation here to amplify impact and to solve the problems together.

Reach out to [email protected]

Social Procurement Training for Social Entrepreneurs

Are you a social entrepreneur interested in learning more about social procurement as a tool to scale your business and impact?

Join our online training program led by Marija Mazic , our Senior Project Manager with a profound passion for nurturing social entrepreneurs.

With over six years of experience supporting aspiring changemakers in transforming their visionary ideas into thriving and sustainable business ventures, she will provide the requisite knowledge and understanding of social procurement to help you on your journey!

You can now register to access the video training materials whenever possible. The link is available on the BuySocialEurope B2B website .

The innovative partnership between SZUNO, a social enterprise that crafts unique gym bags, and Decathlon Hungary , the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, to fight generational poverty in Hungarian villages is worth sharing!

Initiated in 2021, the partnership led to the creation of a unique gym bag adorned with children’s drawings manufactured by SZUNO and retailed through Decathlon’s network.

The impact:

• $32.500 net revenue generated for SZUNO in 2023
• 2776 gym bags sold in 2023
• 9 employees from the impoverished area engaged in the project.

Have you heard about our Research Assistant for Social Entrepreneurs?

The Research Assistant is an AI-powered tool to assist social entrepreneurs in analysing the social problems they aim to solve more efficiently while simplifying the process of developing specific tools to gather evidence about their impact.

On Friday, October 25, we are calling on all social entrepreneurs everywhere to join us for an "Ask Me Anything" session, where you will have a safe space to ask questions and receive answers on how the tool can be of value to your problem-solving journey.

We aim to provide an AI solution that gathers real-time data from trusted sources. This will make it easier for social entrepreneurs to recognize and define problems and underlying causes of societal issues. Hristina Popova and Johanna Nilsson cannot wait to share more about the opportunities and value of the tool for your work!

Register for the session here: https://bit.ly/AMAresearchassist .

See you soon!