IE Center for Social Innovation & Sustainability
Driving Impact through Knowledge Generation and Partnerships
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.
Concepción Galdón
Director/Academic Lead
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
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!
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!
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.
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).
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.
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.
Concepción Galdón
Director/Academic Lead
Joaquín Garralda
Senior Advisor
Gustavo F-Mazarambroz
Project Lead / Engagement Director
Poliana Muñoz
Project Manager
Carmen Álvarez
Lead Project Manager
