What is Reach for Change?
Reach for Change is an international non-profit founded in Sweden. Our vision is a world where all children and youth reach their full potential. We're working towards this vision by finding local social entrepreneurs and empowering them to develop and scale innovative solutions that help children to better lives. We support our social entrepreneurs, people we call Change Leaders, to scale their innovations through capacity-building, network connections and funding, all in partnership with multiple sectors.
What is the problem that Reach for Change is trying to solve?
Around the world millions of children’s needs are not being met, and social entrepreneurs who are eager and able to help lack the support they need to scale their impact. Reach for Change is helping to bridge this support gap and empower the most high-potential social ventures to develop faster, better and with a lower risk of failure.
When was Reach for Change founded?
Reach for Change was co-created in Sweden by successful entrepreneurs in the non-profit and the business sector in 2010.
Where does Reach for Change have a presence?
We have a portfolio of over 1000 social entrepreneurs in 18 countries across Africa, Central Asia and Europe. In many of these countries we have local teams on the ground, working closely with social entrepreneurs to enable them to develop and grow their social innovations.
Where does Reach for Change operate?
Reach for Change currently works in Europe, Central Asia and Africa, with footprints in 18 countries globally. We have staff on the ground in Sweden, Denmark,, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Russia, Ethiopia, Ghana and Senegal. We also have a footprint in Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Czech Republic and Estonia, through our alumni social entrepreneurs and our networks there.
What is Reach for Change’s vision and what does it mean?
We envision a world where all children and youth reach their full potential. This means a world where children do not die from preventable causes like malnutrition or lack of access to health care. It means a world where every child has access to quality education and where all young people can find employment opportunities and decent jobs. It means a world where the future is bright for every child; a world in which no child or youth is left behind.
What is Reach for Change’s mission and what does it mean?
Our mission is to unleash the power of social entrepreneurship and innovation to create a better world for children and youth. This means we find social entrepreneurs who have the potential to make substantial contributions towards the Sustainable Development Goals and we support them to develop faster, better and with a lower risk of failure than they would have without our support.
What are the core values of Reach for Change and what do they mean?
Smart: We embrace innovation and are open to learning. We are business-savvy and results-driven and we look for the simplest way to achieve the biggest impact.
Brave: We see potential where others don’t. We bet on untried ideas because that is where innovation happens. We would rather fail than do nothing at all.
Passionate: We are obsessed with creating a better world for children and youth and we will do whatever it takes to succeed. We know that we can’t change the world alone, which is why we invite passionate partners and social entrepreneurs to join us in our work.
What makes Reach for Change different from other social enterprise development organizations?
We see potential where others don’t. We believe in grassroots social entrepreneurs: local people who are very close to the problems they want to solve and have a deep understanding of how the problems their communities face can best be solved. We support these entrepreneurs when few others would: when the risk is high – but so are the potential returns.
We aim high. We guide our social entrepreneurs to dismantle the root causes of social problems and to drive real change, as opposed to quick fixes that only treat the symptoms of larger issues. We partner with like-minded corporations, foundations and others who share in our vision to strengthen our efforts. Together, we set social entrepreneurs on a path to scale their impact, to disrupt the status quo, and ultimately, to create true, systemic change that solves social problems permanently.
What is a social entrepreneur according to Reach for Change?
A social entrepreneur is an individual with an innovative solution to a social problem, with a high potential of creating wide-scale social impact with their innovation. They also have, or can feasibly develop, a sustainable revenue stream that will enable them to sustainably deliver their solution to their beneficiaries and eventually scale to maximize their impact on society.
Is a social enterprise a business or a charity?
A social enterprise is neither a business in the traditional sense of the word, nor a traditional charity. A social enterprise is primarily focused on delivering impact to solve a social problem, but it employs business strategies to deliver the solution.
Some social enterprises employ strict for-profit models while others use hybrid models in which they generate some of their own revenues, but also accept donations to fund their work. Others employ different pay scales for their products and services, for example, charging clients based on income in order to deliver equitable impact.
What is a Change Leader?
A Change Leader is a social entrepreneur who is currently in the Reach for Change incubator or rapid scale program, or has completed either program and is now an alumnus.
How many social entrepreneurs/social enterprises has Reach for Change supported?
Since 2010, we have supported more than 1000 social entrepreneurs around the world.
How many children and youth have Reach for Change’s social entrepreneurs impacted?
Our social entrepreneurs have collectively impacted more than 4 million children and youth globally.
How many women have Reach for Change’s social entrepreneurs impacted? And why does Reach for Change focus on impacting women?
Our social entrepreneurs have collectively impacted over 2,300 women, many of them young mothers. We support social entrepreneurs who impact women because we understand that when women are empowered, their family members also benefit, including children and youth. For instance, UNICEF has reported that higher education levels among women are linked to improved health and development outcomes for children.
How does Reach for Change contribute to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
Reach for Change supports social entrepreneurs who are contributing to the SDGs and helps them improve and increase their impact on the SDGs targets they are working on. The social entrepreneurs that we support impact hundreds of thousands of children every year, and address the following SDGs through their work: SDG 1 – No Poverty, SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing, SDG 4 – Quality Education, SDG 5 – Gender Equality, SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 10 – Reduce Inequalities, SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities & Communities, SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
The majority of our social entrepreneurs work towards SDGs 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10.
How can social entrepreneurs get involved?
If you are a social entrepreneur with an innovative idea that can improve the lives of children or youth and addresses at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals, and if you are based in one of the countries where we work, follow us on social media and keep your eyes peeled for the next application period.
What types of organizations does Reach for Change partner with?
In order to solve major challenges, we believe that we need to work together across sectors, which is why we co-create partnerships in the private and public sectors, with private corporations and non-governmental funders. We work with partners who want to join us in our mission to unleash the power of entrepreneurship and innovation in one or more of the following ways: contribute financially, support us with resources and unique skill sets, help us promote our cause, and/or help us bring social entrepreneurs to scale.
I represent an organization looking to integrate social entrepreneurship into our sustainability / CSR strategy. How can Reach for Change help with this?
We have 10 years of experience in designing innovative and impactful partnerships tailored to our partner’s specific expertise, brand and strategic objectives. We offer four distinct value propositions to enable our partners to do better and more sustainable business.
What are Reach for Change’s value propositions for its partners?
Impact: We help partners efficiently deliver on their specific CSR and sustainability promises and deliver measurable social impact in line with the SDGs.
Brand: We help partners build purpose-driven brands through authentic and engaging content for brand activations and impactful communication.
Employee Value: We help partners enrich their corporate culture through engagement opportunities tailored to employees’ individual expertise and passions.
Network: We provide access to a network of high-profile business partners, entrepreneurs and decision-makers.