Empowering Families for Innovative Philanthropy: Summary and Findings of Inaugural Meeting

In September 2013, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation (www.edrfoundations.org) hosted the first Global South philanthropy platform, Empowering Families for Innovative Philanthropy (ERFIP) in Megève, France. ERFIP is a distinctively unique initiative, which brings together philanthropists and practitioners from emerging economies to share best practices, successful models and challenges for peer review and feedback.ERFIP focuses on identifying philanthropists and professionals whose work has significant impact in their respective communities but are not seen visible enough. The aim of this report is to give a sense of the driving force behind the giving and philanthropy starting in three regions: Africa, Asia and the Arab region. It is hoped that such a thorough understanding and exchange of the practice of giving will help collecting data and contribute to better representation of the South in the global philanthropic landscape

Luker Foundation

This case study focuses on the impact the Luker Foundation has made in the fields of education and entrepreneurship in Colombia. The case illustrates Luker’s successes in strategically engaging local stakeholder groups as a collaborative approach to development. This case study is based on textual analysis of online documents, artifacts, and social media sites along with in-depth interviews and focus groups with key members of the Luker Foundation. The primary purpose of this case study is to generate in-depth understanding of the Luker Foundation and its full operating context in terms of key programs, policies, and organizational strategies to generate grounded knowledge that can inform mission, policy and program development, and professional practice, as well as civil and community action. The Luker Foundation currently focuses its work in two main areas: education and entrepreneurship, while continuing to support the social improvement work it has provided since 1994 to multiple institutions in Manizales through dedicated projects. The goal is to make Manizales an example of a sustainable and inclusive society. Once the Foundation moved away from charity to more strategic and structural issues in education, they could not find NGOs in the city with the necessary skills for implementation without Foundation support. Thus, without strong organizations to work through, the members of the Luker Foundation decided to lead the change they wanted to see by taking on an active and central role in delivering a new pedagogical model within the public schools of Manizales

Clearly

In 2019, over 2.6 billion people were deemed to have poor vision, and half of the cases are easily treatable. Yet vision impairment does not have the level of global awareness required to eradicate this public health issue. Despite the numbers, uncorrected poor vision is not part of the United Nations¬’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which encapsulate 17 global issues such as poverty, hunger, and childhood mortality. Poor vision is the largest unaddressed disability in the world today, but for decades it has been forgotten at best, or, worst, ignored. National governments, the United Nations, the World Health Organization – none have done enough to acknowledge this problem and act on it (Chen, 2017). Activist investor and philanthropist James Chen set out to prove that the solution to vision correction is readily available, accessible and increasingly affordable. In 2016, Chen launched a global campaign, Clearly, as an advocacy initiative to bring heightened awareness to vision impairment and effect changes in policy. This case study focuses on how Chen applied an entrepreneurial mindset to the problem of vision impairment, developed and deployed strategic approaches to create a sustainable business model on the local level, and then replicated the process on a global scale

Instituto Inspirare

The primary purpose of information technology case studies is to illuminate specific applications of technology for actors in a given situation or setting – in this case, family philanthropy seeking to address significant issues of access, quality, and support in Brazil’s public schools. Founded by the Gradin family in 2011, Instituto Inspirare recognizes that education is fundamentally unequal among Brazilian students, a state of affairs that has served to reproduce inequities intergenerationally. In order to address the disparities that exist in education quality between Brazil’s public schools and their private, wealthy counterparts. Instituto Inspirare tackles the fundamental issue of access to innovation through a series of online platforms for constructive dialogue between the Brazilian public education system’s most direct stakeholders – teachers and students – and supports building effective, impactful curricula. The ease of distribution of Internet-based platforms enables an increasing number of Brazilians to engage in conversations and collaborate on ways to improve the country’s public education system. The purpose of this case study is to provide in-depth understanding of Instituto Inspirare’s most impactful strategies to inform mission, policy, program development, professional practice, and community action. The study utilizes a computer science principle – the scalability of software – to demonstrate how adopting basic internet presence can spark innovation. Instituto Inspirare’s online-centered strategy applies the theory of digital scalability to successfully engage key stakeholders in education reform. By connecting ideators and idea-seekers in a range of digital formats, Inspirare yields positive innovations to diffuse throughout Brazil’s education system and is making a much-needed contribution to the field

EdelGive

EdelGive Foundation, set up in 2008, is the philanthropic arm of the Edelweiss Group. Through the last decade, EdelGive has primarily been a grant-making organization supporting small and mid-sized NGOs across India. Additionally, it has become a connecting platform between grant makers/donors and credible NGOs across the country. Its endeavor is to build sustainable institutions and organizations that promote societal growth and innovation and advance the common good by bringing the skills, resources and talents of for-profit business to the not-for-profit world. Logically, collaboration across sectors and with groups having complementary skills and resources can help build and scale sustainable models to address perennial societal issues. However, few philanthropists or other actors collaborate when aiming to confront some of the most challenging issues of our times. This is how EdelGive Foundation differentiates itself from its peers. EdelGive Foundation has worked to build collaborative philanthropic ecosystems and platforms for collective action to produce long-term, sustainable and holistic impact. The case draws upon giving trends and traditions in pre- and post-partition India. Philanthropy in India has deep historical, cultural and religious roots; pre-partition India saw the emergence of wealthy families as a result of industrialization. In fact, philanthropy had played a key role in strengthening the independence movement in India. From industrialization in pre-partition India to post-partition nation building, the case looks at the birth of Edelweiss group as a result of India`s economic liberalization in the 1990s. The successful business group created its CSR arm – EdelGive Foundation – which has benefitted hundreds of thousands of people directly and indirectly by building the capacity of non-governmental organizations. The case highlights EdelGive`s journey over the years

Vehbi Koc Legacy

Vehbi Koç was a visionary who began his business career running a single grocery store and went on to build one of the largest conglomerates in the world, comprising 113 companies, 90,000 employees, and 14,000 dealer agencies. These statistics alone represent the monumental accomplishment of Koç’s life and work. His approach was generative and impactful in part because Koç was ahead of his time in conceptualizing and implementing a number of strategies for which successful modern-day businesses are often lauded: human capital development, diversification, sustainability, strategic resource allocation, talent identification and support, collaborative innovation, strategic partnerships, and corporate social responsibility to create and harness social and economic impact. This case study brings Vehbi Koç’s key undertakings to light and reveals how his forward-thinking, innovative strategic legacy continues through the work of the Koç Foundation today. The case study utilizes theories of Human Capital Development, Stakeholder Capitalism, and Corporate Social Responsibility to analyze the work of Koç Foundation in Turkey

Azalaï Foundation: A Vision of an African Entrepreneur

Established in 2015 in Mali, the Azalaï Foundation is the philanthropic division of Azalaï Hotel Group (AHG), founded by Mossadeck Bally. The Foundation acts as a separate entity with regard to AHG and focuses on assisting economic development in West Africa by providing vocational training in the hospitality industry. Despite being a philanthropic organization, the Azalaï Foundation is deeply rooted in AHG`s traditional business strategy. The Group provides employment opportunities to those trained by the Foundation. Utilizing Hambrick and Fredrickson’s Strategy Diamond presents a conventional perspective for understanding the survivability of the organization by contextualizing its market segmentation, expansion initiatives, and stakeholder relationships. Framing the Azalaï Foundation through the lens of a traditional, competitive business demonstrates the effectiveness and sustainability of philanthropic organizations in the broader business world. The Strategy Diamond framework deconstructs Azalaï Foundation\u27s approach to successfully tackle issues and generate change within the communities where it operates: • Expansion initiatives for the Foundation in all locations where Azalaï hotels are based • Assistance from the Foundation for small business support, female empowerment, education, and child development to build trust with local communities • Establishing formal partnerships between the Foundation and international NGOs to gain knowledge, expertise, and access to additional funding. The traditional business framework grants insight into Azalaï Foundation’s future growth initiatives. Rather than diversifying, the organization has a continued interest in playing to its strengths and expanding beyond West Africa. Promoting strong staging measures and risk analysis is a crucial component driving Azalaï Foundation’s continued success in a rapidly developing business environment

Charles Kié: Future Africa Foundation

The founders of Future Africa created the Foundation (FAF) in 2013 to give underprivileged children the chance to access good quality education in a healthy environment. One of its stated aims is to educate the masses about environmental issues including plastic waste, recycling and preservation with a view to building healthy environments and creating sustainable businesses for improved livelihoods. The Foundation differentiates itself by taking a 360° view of multiple intertwined problems: lack of access to quality education, women’s empowerment, environmental protection practices, sustainable businesses – all through improved waste management solutions. The Foundation aims to dive deep and address the root causes of these burgeoning issues. It takes a circular economy-like approach to maximize resource utilization and minimize waste, both material and human. This business-like approach with clear KPIs is one of the factors differentiating it from its peers