Social innovators can work with corporations to help America—and their bottom lines

The COVID-19 pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis that has worsened the inequities in America’s economic, social, and political systems. Yet the crisis is also a once-in-a-generation chance to rebuild, reimagine, and transform our rigid systems for a new, more just, healthy, and prosperous era. If we are to emerge from the pandemic stronger than before, and we must, then we need new ways of thinking now.

Proximate leadership in social innovation has the means to do just that. Proximate leaders are those who are deeply connected to fighting injustices because they have experienced them firsthand, or are deliberately and carefully engaged with communities facing them. They are the leaders who see the problems, as well as the solutions, that people removed from the community might overlook.

Corporate leaders have a unique responsibility and opportunity to invest in proximate leaders and the communities directly impacted by the world’s toughest challenges. Investing in proximate leaders, moreover, can deliver tremendous returns to both a company’s broader social impact and its bottom line.

In our complex global society, these proximate leaders and innovators cannot be exclusively responsible for facilitating positive change. Governments, philanthropy, and corporations must also step up. Corporations now have the scale of resources to create sustained impact and thus the responsibility to do so. The earlier standard of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has evolved into environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, where impact is measurable, and accountability is interwoven into the structure and foundation of business.

Many corporate leaders are likewise dissatisfied with being bystanders to injustice and have a desire to promote purpose-driven work through the length and breadth of their organizations. Investing in social innovation is the model that will accomplish these goals and more, helping companies capitalize on the financial and social value of innovation while injecting renewed energy and creativity into solving some of the world’s toughest challenges.

Investing in proximate leaders also helps fill an important gap in the marketplace and social ecosystem. Proximate innovators have the unique knowledge, on-the-ground infrastructure, and trust of and relationships in the communities that they are trying to serve that are required to bring the best solutions to the market. However, proximate social entrepreneurs often struggle with access—whether that be to capital, networks with the business world, or other crucial resources.

As women, we have firsthand experience with barriers to access and believe that no one committed to fighting injustice should face this obstacle. These hurdles are magnified for women of color and compound across social identities of race, gender, class, and more. Corporations have a chance to be part of this burgeoning field by supporting the talent-spotting of proximate leaders, backing their ideas with capital, and connecting them to their networks of influence.

Decades of trying to help communities from the outside has exposed the flaws that occur when solutions come from people too far removed from the directly impacted groups. We must instead support and amplify the social entrepreneurs who are closely familiar with the problems that need to be solved. This is why sourcing talent does not need to be a daunting endeavor—the talent can be found in and around the communities at the center of the problems we are trying to solve. Through years of doing this work, Echoing Green has recognized three qualities that make a successful social entrepreneur—passion, resilience, and resource magnetism.

When it comes to investing in leaders, financial capital is important, but so too is human capital. Social innovators first need a path to the table, but then they also need influence at the table when they’re there. This is why both financial support and leveraging connections are crucial. Beyond providing capital, companies can leverage their expansive networks to connect entrepreneurs with other innovators, researchers, and donors and use their organizational power to provide additional technical assistance, data, and operational support.

This model is worth investing in and joining. Social innovators are force multipliers. The Schwab Foundation reported that its community of just under 400 social innovators has impacted the lives of more than 622 million people worldwide. Moreover, Echoing Green Fellows have raised more than $7.5 billion in service of social change. Social innovation changes the lens through which challenges are seen and demystifies the interconnectedness of social issues.

At Echoing Green and Comic Relief US, we promote early-stage funding of emerging social innovators. Our fellows are at the forefront of sustainable equity. Some of our most successful fellows include Shanté Elliott, founder and CEO of TasselTurn, a nonprofit that closes the achievement gap and creates pathways out of poverty for homeless and foster-involved youth by connecting them to personal education coaching, mentorship, and college and career resources; Brittany Young, founder of B-360, an organization that utilizes dirt bike culture to end the cycle of poverty, disrupt the prison pipeline, and build bridges in communities; and B. Cole, founder of the Brown Boi Project, which transforms the way that communities of color talk about gender by building the leadership, economic self-sufficiency, and health of LGBTQ people of color. This is the power of innovation—one solution, intended for one problem, can impact the way other problems are viewed, and even solved.

Investing in social innovation is not just good for society, it’s also good for companies—it is an opportunity to redefine and emphasize an organization’s values and purpose to consumers, employees, and shareholders alike. Stakeholders increasingly demand that companies take action on critical issues such as climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion, and sustainable development. The results are clear: When KPMG invested in creating a purpose-driven work environment, it saw increased growth and more satisfied employees. Further, on average, purpose-driven corporations grow three times faster than their competitors, partially because consumers are willing to pay a premium to support these socially responsible companies.

That said, businesses don’t have to tackle these problems alone. Companies can forge strategic partnerships in order to multiply their investment impact. Echoing Green, for example, has partnered with Comcast NBCUniversal and TPG’s Rise Fund, as well as other large banks and corporations, in order to provide more for innovators and their communities and create shared social value.

We cannot lose the priceless creative energy and the passion for change by overlooking emerging social innovators who simply need capital and connections. These leaders have front-row seats to some of our nation’s darkest moments and, through their unique lived experiences, have the power to change the way we think about solving them. The next generation of leaders will change the world. What will you do to support them?

Alison Moore is CEO of Comic Relief US. Cheryl Dorsey is president of Echoing Green.