The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship has announced the winners of the year 2015 at the World Economic Forum – Dead Sea in Jordan.
Thirty-three social entrepreneurs have been recognized by the Schwab Foundation as awardees of 2015 Social Entrepreneur of the Year. The winners were selected by Schwab Foundation board members, including Muhammad Yunus, in recognition of their innovative approaches and potential for global impact.
Several winners were announced by Mrs Schwab, who is a founding member of the Schwab Foundation some 35 years ago, with the presence of the Kind Abdallah of Jordan and Mr Schwab.
A radio station, Nissa FM was one of the most prominent winners as being the first Radio for women in the Middle East. Maysoun Odeh Gangat, founder and Director of Nissa FM received the award at the ceremony that took place during the World Economic Forum in the Dead Sea area – Jordan,
The definition of a social entrepreneur by Shwap foundation is mainly concentrating on the fact that Social entrepreneurs drive social innovation and transformation in various fields including education, health, environment and enterprise development. They pursue poverty alleviation goals with entrepreneurial zeal, business methods and the courage to innovate and overcome traditional practices. A social entrepreneur, similar to a business entrepreneur, builds strong and sustainable organizations, which are either set up as non-profit or for-profit social enterprises.
A social entrepreneur is a leader or pragmatic visionary who:
- Achieves large scale, systemic and sustainable social change through a new invention, a different approach, a more rigorous application of known technologies or strategies, or a combination of these.
- Focuses first and foremost on the social and/or ecological value creation and tries to optimize the financial value creation.
- Innovates by finding a new product, a new service, or a new approach to a social problem.
- Continuously refines and adapts approach in response to feedback.
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides unparalleled platforms at the regional and global level to highlight and advance leading models of sustainable social innovation. It identifies a select community of social entrepreneurs and engages it in shaping global, regional and industry agendas that improve the state of the world in close collaboration with the other stakeholders of the World Economic Forum.
