SOCIAL INNOVATION AWARDS
Social Impact Through Innovative Solutions.
Social innovators work to address social and environmental challenges, driving systemic change, sustainability, and community empowerment. In partnership with Fundación MAPFRE, we have supported social entrepreneurs for the past eight years, and continue to do so by offering funding, training, mentoring, and long-term support. As innovation shapes everything we do, the 9th edition of the Awards brings an exciting shift: the launch of a GLOBAL CHALLENGE - “Contribute to Improving People’s Quality of Life and Well-being.”
This new challenge seeks projects that are already consolidated, or ready to scale, and that deliver solutions across three main scopes: Well-being (physical, mental, and financial); Demographic Transformations (longevity, migration, rural innovation, and urban concentration); and Social Inclusion (employment, education, inclusive mobility, and reducing vulnerability).
Since 2017, we’ve partnered with global innovators from Latin America, the U.S., and Europe. Our mission is to identify transformative, scalable solutions with long-lasting social impact. Finalists receive personalized mentoring from IE Business School faculty experts, coaching, and international visibility. The global winner is awarded €100,000, while three additional finalists receive €10,000 each, all joining Red Innova — our international community of social entrepreneurs fostering collaboration, learning, and impact.
To know more about the Fundación MAPFRE Social Innovation Awards, we invite you to visit the project’s official website here.
TRAVEL4IMPACT
Supporting small and medium-sized businesses’ growth and impact to make travel a powerful force for good.
Travel entrepreneurs strive to make tourism a driver of positive change, embedding sustainability, innovation, and community impact into the way we travel. In partnership with Amadeus, we have led Travel4Impact since 2021, empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to grow through training, knowledge exchange, collaboration, and digital transformation. For five consecutive years, the program has supported entrepreneurs in building more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive travel models. Starting in Spain, it has grown regionally and became a global initiative in 2024, currently running its fifth edition with 27 active participants.
Each year, selected participants join a six-month online journey that combines training, expert mentoring, and collaborative “CoLab Sprints” designed to strengthen strategies and maximize impact. After completing the program, they became part of the Travel4Impact Network, a global community dedicated to peer learning, collective growth, co-creation, and sustainable transformation across the travel sector.
Since its launch, the initiative has supported more than 120 entrepreneurs worldwide. Today, in its 5th edition, 27 active participants are part of this growing community, fully funded and supported to expand their reach and accelerate their impact. Through this global network, Travel4Impact continues to foster resilience, innovation, and collaboration in the travel industry, ensuring tourism becomes a true force for good.
To know more about Travel4Impact, we invite you to visit the project’s official website here.
GROUND-UP DIALOGUES
Empowering Local Voices for Transformative Impact.
The Ground-Up Dialogues are an innovative initiative by the IE Center for Social Innovation and Sustainability, designed to inclusively and regeneratively integrate the voices of local communities and stakeholders. These dialogues aim to address challenges and opportunities while fostering deeper engagement and driving impactful social initiatives.
The initiative focuses on ensuring inclusive participation by placing local communities at the center of every endeavor. Through collaborative engagement, it facilitates active cooperation among stakeholders using transparent and systematic dialogues. By leveraging insights from these dialogues, transformative recommendations are developed, tailored to the unique needs of each community, resulting in significant social impact.
To know more about the Ground-Up Dialogues, we invite you to explore the project’s executive summary here.
360º PROJECT
Empowering Vulnerable Businesses for Success.
Launched in July 2023 with the support of J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation and the Madrid City Council, the 360º Project set out to strengthen small business owners in Madrid, helping them navigate a challenging economic environment. Fully funded by the organizers, the initiative provided holistic support to build resilience, focusing on digital skills, business management, and financial planning to ensure long-term competitiveness.
The program engaged 206 small business owners across two cohorts. The first cohort of 106 participants began in October 2023, followed by a second cohort of 100 participants in May 2024. The initiative concluded in April 2025, equipping participants with tailored guidance to refine their business strategies and foster sustainable growth in the local economy.
For further insights into the development and impact of the project, including the evolving needs and progress of participants over these two years, we invite you to read our Empowering Small Business: 360º in Madrid Report.
To know more about the 360º Project, we invite you to visit the project’s official website here.
JOIN4IMPACT OBSERVATORY
Technology-based Impact.
Launched in 2023, the Join4Impact Observatory focuses on exploring the potential of new technologies to generate positive social impact. Through applied research and multidisciplinary collaboration, the observatory aims to promote proactive impact management as a key tool for driving technology-intensive, innovative projects. Its core activities include generating knowledge, fostering innovation, sharing insights, and disseminating best practices.
Our first published report examines the state of the art in impact measurement with technology. It features three sections: a conceptual framework, a mapping of the impact measurement ecosystem, and an analysis of opportunities, barriers, needs, and solutions for technology integration. The findings, derived from focus groups and research, will serve as a foundation for future studies and tools to advance impact measurement practices.
To know more about the Join4Impact Observatory, we invite you to visit the project’s official website here.
OBSERVATORY OF DEMOGRAPHY
Deepening in Fundamental Demographic Questions and their Socioeconomic Implications.
Our research is primarily oriented towards practical applications, with a strong focus on diversity and social innovation within the corporate sphere. We exploit available data and actively seek to fill gaps through methods like surveys, focus groups, and proprietary tools that we develop in collaboration with corporate partners. - Demography and Generational Diversity Observatory -
We encourage you to explore our latest research which examines the long-term care ecosystem in Latin America and The Caribbean. It features 3 main sections: A theoretical framework for the Development of an entrepreneurial long-term care system adapted to the context, roles and actors of the adapted model and a Model plan for the development of an entrepreneurial long-term care ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean.
To know more about the Observatory of Demography, we invite you to visit the project’s official website here.
