The extent of the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is, frankly, bewildering. For us at Yunus Social Business, both as individuals and as an organisation, 2020 was a year that posed huge challenges.
In the midst of these setbacks, one thing has brought us particular encouragement: through our partnerships with our funders, through our collaboration with our portfolio social businesses and through teamwork with our remarkable colleagues and team members, we have been able to carry out work which has shown us that we are an organisation that lives up to its mission and remains true to its purpose.
Discover more in our 2020 Annual Report.
For us, COVID-19 has made clearer than ever the importance of social businesses within our societies and economies throughout the world. How many times have we heard about “building back better” or increased focus on “stakeholder capitalism”? Social businesses represent the better, more inclusive capitalism that we all want to see, and businesses great and small throughout the world have a huge amount to learn from them.
Going forward, we at Yunus Social Business will continue to do everything in our power to finance and support these game-changing social businesses and bring more attention to them, as they deserve. At the same time, we will continue to work with corporations and support them in learning best practices from the fantastic social-business entrepreneurs in our portfolio and beyond.
Unusual Pioneers is a platform for corporate leaders and social intrapreneurs turning business into a force for good. Established by Yunus Social Business, The World Economic Forum’s sister organisation, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and Porticus.
Back in March, when we were first reacting to the lockdowns of the early pandemic, it became clear very quickly that the economic and social effects were going to hit the poorest people the hardest.