Unusual Talks

Plan A manages and analyses the carbon footprint of companies such as BMW, Societe General or BCG DV. We talked with Lubomila, Plan A CEO and Co-Founder about the developments on the carbon market and concrete options for companies to reduce their footprint.

Peter Smith, the author of “Procurement with Purpose”, takes us on a deep dive into the world of impactful procurement, how companies can build structures to integrate sustainability and inclusion into their value chains and how we can move the needle through collaboration. This episode highlights how we can leverage diversified supply chains with various partners to create meaningful impact. And it addresses how procurement managers can overcome challenges with working with smaller organizations – such as social businesses.

Corporates often struggle with deeply understanding their customers needs. This is especially true when it comes to issues of sustainable consumption and the so-called "conscious consumer". Kantar's data driven approach helps companies to discover trends and to deepen their understanding of the market in order to act on sustainability and social responsibility. They are able to show companies how to cater to the individual needs of vulnerable groups and minorities. Jonathan Hall, Kantar's Partner for Sustainability, gives tangible recommendations for meaningful marketing and transformational products.

In this year-end episode, we take a look back at 2021 to highlight key developments in social intrapreneurship, social business and social procurement. We take this opportunity to share our high- and lowlights, talk about the future of the stakeholder economy and how we want to contribute our small part to this transformation at Yunus Social Business.

More and more companies understand that diversification of their workforce has a massive impact on their performance, sustainability and social impact. However, only few seem to be able to realize their diversity plans. Inclusively helps companies to hire people with disabilities and manage their special needs. Karen McEliligott at the Autodesk Foundation highlights how they have been working with Inclusively to bring people with special needs to the company.

100 million people across India depend on the textile industry as their main source of income. However rural artisans which are mostly women often lack the skills to operate on a wider market and hence live under the poverty line. RangSutra provides the bridge between these rural artisans and the global industry. They give access to training, working capital, and quality control. By seeling their textiles to IKEA, Rangsutra was able to impact over 20.000 lives. Rural artisans working with RangSutra were able to increase their income by a factor of five. Especially the female workers profit from a better social status due to their financial independence. Learn more about this inspiring partnership.

Almost 50% of Colombia’s rural population still live in poverty and have no chance to build up assets – such as land ownership, technical support or irrigation. Putting thriving communities at the heart of its strategy, McCain decided to launch the social business Campo Vivo to tackle this issue.

Since 40 years The Body Shop acts as a perfect example to prove that higher spendings on a sustainable supply chain can make a perfect and impactful business case. What started with a store is Brighton is now a sustainable global cosmetics company. They leverage their supply chain to fight poverty and safe resources by working together with social businesses like Plastics for Change. Plastics for Change acts in highly polluted areas where it collects and recycles plastics providing clean material to their partners. The Body Shop and Plastics for Change collaborate to provide recycled packaging to their customers.

This fragile state of the globalized economy makes it painfully obvious that our value chains may need a revision. A Capgemini Supply Chain Survey amongst 1,000 companies has revealed that two thirds of all organizations will rethink their supply chain strategy post-COVID. What if we actually created positive impact through procurement? What if companies had the chance to work with impact-first organizations – social businesses – to use their procurement spend in order to scale social and environmental impact? Inspiring civic sector organizations have engaged in “social procurement” – the practice of companies buying products or services from social businesses. Companies such as SAP, Zurich, IKEA, Unilever or EY have created social procurement practices and concrete commitments. Our latest research and that of our peer organization Acumen highlights pathways to social procurement

Today, we bring you an inspiring story about an extraordinary woman, Gisela Sanchez. Having experienced poverty herself growing up, she understood the realities of families at the base of the pyramid. With hard work and a beautiful mind, she rose up the ranks at FIFCO, a leading mid-cap company in Costa Rica. And when she heard about the concept of social business, she hunted down our co-founder Muhammad Yunus to convince him to build a social businesses together with her company. What started seven years ago, is now a sustainable business that serves the underprivileged with affordable, fortified food. In many ways, malnutrition is a key contributor to poverty. Globally, 149 million children under 5 are estimated to be stunted (too short for their age) and 45 million are estimated to be too thin for their height. Malnutrition leads to severe deficiencies in a child’s ability to learn, leading to lower education, little income opportunities and thus a spiral of poverty. And ultimately, 45% of deaths among children under 5 are linked to undernutrition.