Giving Compass' Take:

• The Skoll Foundation has joined 60 organizations to launch the COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs, which recently released its COVID-19 Action Agenda. 

• How can social entrepreneurs play a role in COVID-19 response? 

• Read more on how social enterprises can address COVID-19 concerns. 

As the massive scale of the COVID-19 pandemic became apparent, social entrepreneurs across the world, including many Skoll Awardees, have stood on the frontlines as first responders in this time of unparalleled crisis. They were able to bring affordable healthcare to those in need, protected livelihoods, and provided emergency relief swiftly.

For social entrepreneurs to lead during this crisis, they need each of us—funders, investors, corporations, supporting intermediaries, and governments alike—to provide the capital, support, and ecosystem to adapt, continue, and expand their work.

To that end, the Skoll Foundation has joined 60 organizations to launch the COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs, initiated by Schwab Foundation, in partnership with the GHR Foundation and Yunus Social Business. The goal of the Alliance is to Support social entrepreneurs who protect the most vulnerable in the crisis and shape the transition to a new normal in its aftermath.

Today the Alliance released its COVID-19 Action Agenda to call on their peers to stand by social entrepreneurs in their capacity as front-line responders to the health crisis and as pioneers of a green, inclusive society and economic system. Along with a group of social enterprise representatives participating in the Alliance, the members have identified five core COVID response principles and concrete areas in which different actors can take action:

  • Make the voices of social entrepreneurs and their communities heard
  • Prepare to respond, recover, and reset – taking the opportunity to shape a new tomorrow
  • Collaborate across sectors in recognition of the complexity and scale of the crisis
  • Look beyond healthcare, given that COVID-19 touches all areas of people’s lives
  • Support the shovel-ready solutions that grassroots organizations are already able to
    provide today.

Read the full article about social entrepreneurship during COVID-19 at Skoll Foundation.