Talk by Karl Belizaire from UnLtd, foundation of social entrepreneurs for the Think Business - Act Social international conference in Athens supported by the British Council.
Enabling a culture of social entrepreneurship in higher education
1. Enabling a culture of
social entrepreneurship
in higher education
Social Entrepreneurship Research &
Capacity building within Universities
@khbelizaire
@unltd
2. OUR VISION
A world where people act to make it better
OUR MISSION
UnLtd reaches out and
unleashes the energies of
people who can transform the
world in which they live.
We call these people social
entrepreneurs.
3. OVERVIEW OF UNLTD
THREE MAIN AREAS OF FOCUS
• Supporting social entrepreneurs to start-up
• Supporting those with more established
ventures to scale-up
• Developing the ecosystem of support for
social entrepreneurs to make it easier for
people to find help, get started, and thrive.
4. OUR WORK
Backing social entrepreneurs
We back around 1000 people each year to start their
own ventures for social or environmental benefit, with a
mix of cash, development support and networking.
We then support around 50 per year to get to scale, with
more intensive support.
We support other agencies in the UK and
internationally to develop their own start up social
entrepreneur support programmes.
5. WHY SUPPORT
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS?
SOCIAL IMPACT
ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION
1.2 million
43%
The total number of beneficiaries reached by
Annual Survey respondents in a year
Proportion of Award Winners whose ventures
employ at least one person
95%
Award Winners who create social capital and
promote trust in communities
62,000
Volunteering opportunities created by survey
respondents in a year
2,700
Total employed by 1,014 respondents to
Annual Survey 2012
£45m
Estimate annual wage value of these jobs
Data come from Annual Survey 2012, which was sent to 4,300 current and former Award Winners supported since 2003. 1014
responded.
9. AWARENESS
TO LEADERSHIP
adopt, adapt, embed, amplify
PHASE 1
2009-2011
Awareness: UnLtd deliver in 70 HEI’s
PHASE 2
2012 -2013 UnLtd support 56 HEI’s deliver support
PHASE 3
2013 – 2015 HE sector will lead on knowledge
exchange, skills transfer and
mainstreaming support in HE sector
10. WHAT’S THE MODEL?
HEI’s - Find, Fund and Support Talent
•
Talent Scout: facilitate outreach and marketing activities
•
Pre Application Support : to develop and hone their ideas up to application
level
•
Decision Making: responsible for the assessment and selection of Award
Winners
•
Funding: manage the Awards funding, make payment to Award Winners
•
Support: independently supporting Award Winners, wider support ecosystem engagement for additional support, investment, tools
11. OUR AWARDS
HEIs are adapting and adopting
TRY IT
• Up to £500
• To test an idea
• To develop
confidence and
entrepreneurial
skills
DO IT
• Up to £5,000
• Grow an
entrepreneurial
idea
• Potential to
achieve social
change
BUILD IT
• Up to £15,000
• For existing
ventures
ambitious to
grow
FAST
GROWTH
• Up to £20,000
• Can be given to
ventures at any
stage of
development
• For people
ambitious to
scale rapidly
13. AWARDS
CRITERIA
Awardees must be:
• Living in the UK for the duration of the project
• Staff, student or recent graduate (within 1 year) at your HEI
• An Individual or part of small informal group
Projects must:
• Benefit the public or a UK community
• Need an award to ensure success
• Be a Learning Opportunity for the Award Winner(s)
• Not be part of the Award Winner’s paid employment
• Be an entrepreneurial solution to a social problem
• Not be for activities outside the law, against public policy or
anything that fosters ethnic, religious or commercial disharmony
15. RESEARCH & EVALUATION
• Award Winner Data Monitoring
• Quarterly Monitoring
• UnLtd Research
• HEI Led Research
16. HE Support Programme
Phase 1: 2009 - 2011
Outcomes and impact
• UnLtd delivered support to social entrepreneurs in 70 HEI’s
• 200 new social ventures created by staff and students across 70 HEIs
• After 12 months: each social venture achieved on average 540
beneficiaries, average of 2 jobs,12 volunteers, and £5,800 in additional
income.
• Evaluation showed social entrepreneurship adds value to HE
through enhanced teaching, research impact, knowledge
exchange, staff development – benefits which multiplied as they passed
to student
• Evidence of social entrepreneurship as ‘learning by doing’ approach
17. Phase 2 - 2012-2013
Outcomes & Impact (early stages of
evaluation)
• 56 HEI’s find, fund and support over 750 social entrepreneurs
• Cash awards over £1.4m, plus development support
• Diversity of institutional types
• 69% of HEI’s partnering with other organisations to deliver support
e.g. community based support organisations and student societies
• 49% of HEI’s working with other HEI’s to provide support
• Understanding and support has grown at sector level
The majority expect to continue supporting social
entrepreneurs and embed the changes made
18. Phase 3 - 2013-2015
KEY AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Build towards critical mass
Expert regional clusters led by HEI’s
Graduate training programme run by HEI’s
Partnership innovation fund
Early stage to social investment support
HEI led Train the supporter system
National Learning and Knowledge Network
Learning Centre, and data commons
23. RESEARCH & RESOURCES
Social Entrepreneurship Toolkit
http://unltd.org.uk/socialentrepreneurshiptoolkit/
A guide to utilizing university intellectual
property for benefit of society
http://unltd.org.uk/2013/03/20/social-enterprise-and-university
HE Support Case-studies
http://hefce.unltd.org.uk/
Latest Evaluation of HE Support Programme
http://unltd.org.uk/2013/10/11/evaluation-of-the-higher-educationsupport-programme/
More about unltd in a mintue, first, so what is it about social entrepreneurs that makes them special
Attitudes, aspirations and life choices are changing – Do you see this kind of difference in your young entrepreneurs?
This was not a franchise model – it had to be about HEIs adopting UnLtd’s core principles but innovating within their individual context and bringing back that innovation to share more widely. Pro-bono Advice and Support As set out in the programme’s prospectus, UnLtd Connect provided pro-bono and mentoring support to learn from corporates and successful social entrepreneurs. For those institutions delivering a Find, or Find and Fund model, social entrepreneurs were ‘matched’ to a mentor where there was an identified need for such support, and an appropriate mentor was available to deliver the required support. Social Entrepreneurs in Higher Education Learning Network
Try It: 3-6 months / Up to £500 / Try out an ideaOn a small scale first / Take the first steps / Finding out if their idea is viableLearning what is needed / Identifying the skills needed to run it / Develop confidenceDo It: 6-12 months / Up to £5,000 Made at an early stage but potential to achieve social changeStart of an entrepreneurial journey / Grow an entrepreneurial idea Have the basic skills / Confident their project will work Honed their ideas in order to develop / Understanding of what is needed / Some project planning already /Considering the long termBuild It: 12 months / Up to £15,000 /Individuals with exceptional projects Potential of developing to scale or becoming investment-ready Not necessarily rapid growth or to major national scaleInnovative and entrepreneurial solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing communities, wider society and the world. Usually operating for over a year / Demonstrate a viable business case for project development / Considering the long term
Analysis of UnLtd Monitoring Data UnLtd are collating a wide range of monitoring data from each HEI, which has been reviewed wherever available by the evaluation team. It includes: Core monitoring data / HEIs are required to enter data for each award winner on UnLtd’s customer relationship management (CRM) system (e.g. type of study, venture type, and demographics). HEI Survey / HEIs were invited to complete a survey in May/June 2013 to explore their experiences and perceptions of the programme. 45 HEIs completed a survey. The findings emerging from this survey are presented in this report. Award Winner Survey / UnLtd invited each award winner to complete a survey in May/June 2013 to explore their experiences and perceptions of the HESP. A further survey way will be carried out in Autumn 2013 The findings from this survey will be reported in the January 2014 update report. Event feedback / HEIs and award winners were invited to complete a short feedback survey after each event. In addition to rating the event itself, the survey also captures information about the collaborative opportunities created. Termly Reports / HEIs completed a monitoring report at the end of each term to capture the type and value of awards made in that reporting period, as well the more qualitative experiences of the programme.
Impacts 89% setting up a venture for the first time 82% increased confidence 85% improved knowledge of social issues 92% improved knowledge of social enterprise 63% of students reported their venture added value to their studies 75% of students said felt they had improved their employability 74% of teaching staff set up a venture which related to their role 89% of staff - enhanced teaching, increased research impact, helped CPDDisciplines: Huge Variety19% Management and Business related 17% Creative Arts & Design 17% Social Sciences The rest across the disciplines
Our surveys, direct discussions and feedback from the Phase 2 conference show that HEIs want to take this further with UnLtd, by having: Regional Clusters for expertise and mutual support, linking with Local Enterprise Partnerships.New partnerships and connections with a wide range of actors in the social enterprise space, including private sector companies, civic institutions, third sector organisations, FE Colleges, Housing Associations and other locally based social enterprise support agencies, local communities and specialist networks etc.Extending support to higher achieving social entrepreneurs, linking them up with research expertise.Innovations in support methods and progression routes. The tools, metrics, training and support to strengthen their work and achieve full potential.HEIs want to take social entrepreneurship all the way: from that handful of pioneers in 2009 to a fully embedded, sustainable ecosystem of support. Universities are the natural centres of social entrepreneurship and innovation, bringing substantial benefits to our society and economy as well as their localities and direct work.
University of Cambridge The delivery of the HESP at the University of Cambridge was led by the Public Engagement team in collaboration with the University’s Careers Service, the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the Judge Business School, and the Cambridge Student Hub. A range of events and activities were offered at the pre-Award stage, including presentation networking evenings, a pitch workshop and 1-1 sessions with potential applicants. Other available support included the offer to join the University’s Setting up a New Enterprise teaching programme run by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning in the Judge Business School. An additional Careers Service adviser with a focus on social enterprise also joined the project team.
Faculty Champions The Oxford Brookes Programme, ‘From Passion to Action’ was based in the Research and Business Development Unit but a member of staff within each of the University’s faculties were appointed to champion its delivery. This approach served to embed the Programme throughout the university and enable the engagement of students at ‘the coalface’. Student Hubs has helped deliver the workshops and advice sessions, this has been essential given the limited internal resources. Through the Student Hubs our award participants have been able to attend some events organised by another institution.
University of Bath: CASE STUDY: UniPopshop 2013 The University of Bath ran a ‘popshop competition’ at Spitalfields market in London in June 2013 in association with UnLtd and HEFCE. The University has run this competition amongst its own students in previous years and extended the invitation to participate to all 56 UnLtd HEI partners this year. This simple concept involved giving students a £300 start-up loan (through a ‘Try It’ Award), a mentor and use of a stall in the market to sell their social enterprise products. Three awards were made at the event: Best Social Impact; Highest Overall Profit; and Best Digital marketing Campaigning
A Strategic Goal to be the Number One UK HEI for Social Enterprise The University of Northampton’s strategic vision has been driven by a top-down approach and led by the Vice Chancellor and Executive Deans of the faculties since 2010 The university is committed to the development of social enterprise in the UK and around the world and reflecting this, social enterprise runs through every element of the university, including teaching, research, community engagement, procurement and engagement with policy-makers. The university’s social enterprise strategy is based around three core aims: 1. Delivering an enhanced student experience. 2. Delivering entrepreneurial, innovation and enterprise skills. 3. Delivering through our values social inclusion and social innovation. Recent activities include the launch of the ‘Billion Pound Challenge’ in 2012, in which the university proposed that the higher education sector in the UK should strive to spend £1 billion of its £7 billion annual procurement budget in ways that deliver social as well as best value.
With our partners, creating Global Social Entrepreneurship Network - a global peer to peer learning network - http://gsen.unltd.org.uk
