IE Center for Social Innovation & Sustainability

Driving Impact through Knowledge Generation and Partnerships

IE CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION

At IE, Social Innovation and Sustainability are key drivers to pursue our mission to shape leaders with a global vision, an entrepreneurial mindset and a humanistic approach to drive innovation and change in organizations. As a leader in higher education, we have a paramount role to play in instilling a purposeful search for positive impact in our community as we frame together a better present and future. Being a founding member of Spain’s Global Compact Network, we believe in the potential of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to advance our contribution to the world's most pressing challenges.

Drivers

(Social) Entrepreneurship

Technology based social innovation

Conscious Leadership

THE ERA OF SOCIAL INNOVATION

IE University has an inherently innovative spirit, with initiatives blossoming everywhere. With this in mind, our aim is to drive innovation through all the IE channels, promote a collaborative effort by facilitating the exchange of knowledge and resources within our IE community and between our broader partner network and us.

We are constantly on the lookout for corporate partners who want to get involved in social innovation initiatives. We are also open to collaborative efforts with exceptional alumni who might need additional resources in making their ideas or projects both a reality and a success. If you’d like to join in our cause, contact us.

We work towards our mission hand in hand with our partners by promoting Social Innovation and Sustainability as key levers for building a better future. 

 

Team

Joaquín Garralda

Senior Advisor

Gustavo F-Mazarambroz

Project Lead / Engagement Director

Poliana Muñoz

Project Manager

WHAT WE DO

We look forward to working with partner organizations willing to support the projects already on our roadmap and initiate conversations about additional opportunities that might contribute to:

KNOWLEDGE GENERATION

· Academic research · Applied research, including impact evaluation for decision making / best practice dissemination · Learning Experiences that Instill a Social Innovation Mindset in your Organization

KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION

· Create knowledge exchange opportunities leveraging our faculty/speake network · Train chagemakers / social innovation and sustainability leaders · Make ie training available to deserving individuals who have difficulty accessing it

IMPACT INITIATIVES

· Results oriented : impact evaluation and best practice dissemination · Leveraging our global network / applied experience · Design and implement cutting edge impact projects · Facilitate high value add communities · Promoting Climate Actions · Scholarships programs

BOOSTING IMPACT THROUGH INNOVATION

TRAVEL4IMPACT

Building a community for like-minded SMEs in the travel and tourism industry

As we are facing new social and environmental challenges, the travel industry is at a pivotal turning point. We must take advantage of the opportunity to work together to support SMEs to jointly drive positive impact in our communities and help the travel and tourism industry in a responsible, inclusive and sustainable way. By working together with Amadeus, we have developed a social innovation network, Travel4Impact, designed to support SMEs to prosper and amplify their positive impact. We are looking for SMEs such as travel agencies, tour operators, accomodation services, destination experiences who want to make a change.

For more information click here or visit the official page!

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FOR INCLUSIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

First, Second and Third Edition

The Digital Transformation for Inclusive Business Development Project has been carried out by IE Foundation with the support of JPMorgan and Madrid City Hall  and with the collaboration of Orange since 2018 and is currently about to start its third edition. The project acknowledged that there was a gap in the current tech-savvy society, with many small or “micro” businesses excluded from the opportunities available to tech-focused entrepreneurs in the startup ecosystem. This gap has expanded even more due to the socioeconomic crisis produced by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

To contribute to rebuild the resilience of the small business in Madrid the project focused on leveraging existing e-commerce and online marketing tools for these micro businesses. The project offers beneficiaries the possibility of receiving personalized training that suits best their business needs as well as personal tutors and students to support them in the digitalization of their business. 

To measure impact, this initiative combined fieldwork with academic research to assess the impact on the selected small business owners, before learnings from the projects were consolidated. Visit the First , Second and Third edition and get to know our previous beneficiaries

 

 

FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE AWARDS FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION BOOSTED BY IE

Thanks to our partnership with Fundación MAPFRE we provide funding, training and mentoring to social innovators to scale their projects. This initiative aims to support innovative solutions that have the potential to make a major social impact in three categories: 1. Improvements in health and digital technology (e-Health), 2. Innovation in insurance and 3. Mobility and road safety. Fundación MAPFRE and IE work with communities of social innovators in Brazil, LATAM (except Brazil) and Europe to identify projects that have the best chance of effecting social transformation. Finalists will receive support from mentors and specialized coaches to prepare their presentation in the Grand Finale , where 3 winners (one per category) will be presented with a donation of €30,000 each to boost their projects. Semifinalists and finalists are also invited to join Red Innova, our exclusive global community of social innovators.

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ACCESS TO IE TRAINING: SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR REFUGEES

Political instability worldwide has unleashed a refugee crisis that is bringing thousands of refugees, mostly from Latin America, into Spain. Through IE’s Social Innovation Challenge, IE Student Clubs can unlock full scholarships for refugees on IE’s High Impact Online Programs (HiOPs) on behalf of IE Foundation. High Impact Online Programs are five-week long fully online programs on different topics that are flexible and practical. These programs include a variety of learning experiences including live sessions with professors (some of them through the WOW Room).

PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY

At IE, we believe in the power of innovation and technology to go beyond the limits and to see further than the horizon. As a founding member of Spain’s Global Compact Network, we believe in the potential of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to advance our contribution to the world’s most pressing challenges. Being a world-renowned academic institution, it is our belief that education is a driving force of change in the economy, society and biosphere. Sustainability is an universe where humans are at the center, and IE University promotes sustainability by training the future leaders of our world.

IE ALUMNI IN SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL INNOVATION CLUB

In our eagerness to join our Alumni interested in Sustainability and Social Innovation, the Center created the IE Alumni in Sustainability and Social Innovation Club, a dialogue and cooperation platform for ie alumni interested in sustainability and social innovation. The SSI Club is all about making connections and catalysing action on the ground to help achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We want to ensure that IE Alumni who are interested in sustainability and social innovation can connect with other like-minded Alumni, and promote opportunities for collaboration between them.

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Promoting cultural change for impact we create experiences that instill a social innovation mindset in your organization where your team will:

•       Learn critical global frameworks and concepts affecting Social Innovation

•       Apply these concepts to real contexts of your organization with support from mentors and experts

•       Design new proposals for social innovation interventions

Blog

ANOTHER 26 INNOVATIVE PROJECTS TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Looking to strengthen social projects at an intercontinental level, we find avant-garde initiatives in Health, Mobility and Insurance. 26 more projects will join Red Innova and develop their social activity, together with Fundación MAPFRE and IE University, from northern Mexico to Patagonia and from Quito to Eastern Europe.

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WHAT ARE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)? BY MJN (RED INNOVA)

MJN, como ganador de la primera edición de los premios de la fundación Mapfre en la categoría de Salud Digital forma parte de la red Innova, iniciativa del IE para conectar proyectos de impacto a nivel global. Está iniciativa, como así los premiso de la Fundación están perfectamente alineados con los ODS y todos juntos, sumando esfuerzos, podemos tener un impacto mayor en el entorno que nos rodea.

MORE INFO

INVESTING FOR IMPACT – SOUTH EAST ASIA- ASIA SERIES

We recently sat down with Nicholas Lazos, partner and Chief Investment Officer at Insitor Management, a Venture Capital Fund Management providing venture capital funding to social startups throughout emerging and frontier Asian markets.

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CONTACT US

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