In a context of overlapping crises, rising needs and tightening resources, how can social impact leaders remain ambitious? This interactive forum on the 20th of May 3.00 to 4.15 pm BST brought together the Business Fights Poverty community to explore practical responses to doing more with less.
READ THE INSIGHTS SUMMARY ACCROSS THE PARTNERSHIP SERIES HERE
Drawing on emerging insights, this discussion focused on two key areas: building effective, trust-based partnerships to drive systemic change, and harnessing AI to increase efficiency and impact while managing risks.
Participants shared experiences, challenges and solutions, with a focus on human-centred approaches that enable collaboration, innovation and meaningful progress in difficult times.
Questions
What is one practical example of a business/NGO/Government partnership that you have been a part of or are aware of that has helped achieve more than each partner could have done alone?
Where do you think AI could help social impact organisations scale their efforts in the current climate? Please share ideas for where AI could support organisations to conduct new research, deepen knowledge management, improve programme design, scale communications, strengthen fundraising, build partnerships, or anything else that could help them increase their impact.
What is one decision, behaviour, or mindset shift that social impact leaders need to make now to stay ambitious in a context of crisis and constraint?
Named Contributors:
Adam J. Tomášek, Executive Director, Debt for Nature Coalition
Aishwarya Choubey, Project Manager, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
Alex Millington-Jung, Cultivator Lead, The Centre for Global Equality
Annabella Skof, Socioeconomic Sustainability Expert and Member, Annabella Skof Consulting and Business Fights Poverty, Global Expert Network
Asaad Taha, Managing Director & Principal Advisor, S4F.Solutions
Beatriz Tumoine Eugenia, Member, Business Fights Poverty, Global Expert Network
Divya Kalychurn, Senior Partnerships Manager, Save the Children
Felicitus Okoko, Executive Director, GenerationUs Kenya
Hamish Taylor, Director, Shinergise and Member, Business Fights Poverty Global Expert Network
Hesham Elzeftawi, Founder & CEO, EBRIIZ and Member, Business Fights Poverty Global Expert Network
Hina West, Managing Director and Member, Climate Strategies and Business Fights Poverty, Global Expert Network
Jess Berliner, Co-founder & Director of Learning, Learn Biomimicry
John Bee, Executive Board Member and AOAC AFRICA SECTION, and Member, Business Fights Poverty Global Expert Network
Julia Corvalan, Global Operations Manager, Poverty Stoplight
Karen Pillay, Resource Mobilisation Specialist, Cara Link Services
Kim Bettcher, Consultant, Independent
Lall Khan, Member, Business Fights Poverty Global Expert Network
Louise Holden, Founder and CEO, Ad Pontem Advisory and Member, Business Fights Poverty Global Expert Network
Maggie Rarieya, Member, Business Fights Poverty, Global Expert Network
Mamta Naidu, Head Of Development, New York, The/Nudge Institute
Marc Schleifer, Member, Business Fights Poverty Global Expert Network
Masara Dato Salleh, Business Development Director, oPG GLOBAL
Md. Masum Masum, Field Technical Specialist, International Development Enterprises
Natasha Kwakwa, Member, Business Fights Poverty Global Expert Network
Paul Ellingstad, Member, Business Fights Poverty, Global Expert Network
Philipp KĂĽst, Social Impact Lead, Reckitt
Rachel Seftel, Head of Research and Impact, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
Rachael Clay, Founder Director, Ethicore
Rani Pooran, Senior Operations Officer and Member, IFC, World Bank Group and Business Fights Poverty, Global Expert Network
Rebecca Lekoko, Dean and Adjunct Professor, University of Botswana
Robert Rono, Executive Director, Youth For Nature
Sanjay Banka, Executive Chairman and Banka BioLoo Limited, and Member, Business Fights Poverty Global Expert Network
Sinem Hun, CEO, Genderscope LTD.
Steph Shankland, Director and Member, SAS Research and Business Fights Poverty, Global Expert Network
Stuart Mills, Impact Leader, Practical Acts
Todd Kirkbride, Managing Director, Strategy and Partnerships and Member, The Scaling Community of Practice and Business Fights Poverty, Global Expert Network
Vanessa Adams, Founder and CEO, Level4International
To post a comment, you will need to sign up / log in to the Business Fights Poverty Discussion Forum:
If you are not already a member of the Business Fights Poverty online community, you will need to sign up here. If you are a member, we have recently updated our community platform so you will need to reset your password when you log in. Once you are logged in correctly, return to this page and click “Log In” - the blue button at the top right of this page - you will not need to enter your details again.
Thank you Zahid, Yvette and Anna for inviting me as a named contributor in this important session, which I am very much looking forward to. In case anyone is interested in connecting, here is my LinkedIn profile.
Hello all, I’m Rachel Seftel, Head of Research & Impact at the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. I’m very pleased to join this conversation, especially given how live these questions feel for organisations trying to stay ambitious while bumping up against very real capacity and resource constraints. Thanks for having me, and if anyone would like to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn.
Hi everyone, I am looking forward to the discussion next week. In a field where resources are decreasing, partnerships are an important vehicle for mobilization and delivery as is AI. Please connect with me on LinkedIn:
Hello everyone, I’m Dr. Asaad Taha, Managing Director & Principal Advisor at S4F.Solutions. I’m grateful to join this conversation as a Named Contributor.
My work focuses on poverty graduation, evaluation, systems thinking, adaptive learning, AI, and partnership design. I’m especially interested in how we move beyond “doing more with less” toward building systems that learn, protect human agency, and leave durable local capability behind.
I look forward to learning from this community and contributing to the discussion.
I look forward to joining the BFP community again for another fantastic hybrid discussion as a Named Contributor. It will be nice to wear a different hat this round then past sessions as I will try to offer a different take on answering this critical question from the perspective of the Managing Director of Strategy and Partnerships for the Scaling Community of Practice. Happy to connect with others via www.linkedin.com/in/todd-kirkbride
Thank you, all, looking forward to joining the conversation on Wednesday, and thanks to the BFP team for the invite to be a named contributor. My linkedin is Marc Schleifer | LinkedIn.
I’m happy to join others in discussion this important topic - "Ambition in the Face of Crisis and Constraint’. I am an education scholar and community development specialist based in Botswana. My work sits at the intersection of adult education, lifelong learning, and social impact, focusing on leveraging education, including AI-driven strategies, to empower individuals and communities to design context-driven solutions that address challenges such as climate variability, unemployment and poverty.
Hello there! I’m Jess Berliner, the Co-founder & Director of Product of Learn Biomimicry. A question to you: What is one thing that you’d really like to tackle in our online conversation on Wednesday? I’m so curious about what is top of mind for you! What I bring to this party: I’ll be introducing the mindsets and concepts of biomimicry and anti-fragility. These practices both align with the strategies and patterns that are present in nature, and can help us to shift our perspectives, ask better questions, and better understand the true power of feedback loops.
Hi everyone, I’m Natasha, member of the Global Expert Network convened by Business Fights Poverty. Glad to join this conversation, I was at the Africa non-profit summit last week in Accra, where the role of AI in helping organisations scale and be more efficient was a key topic, and the question of resource mobilisation through domestic sources and earned income explored - grounded examples of being ambitious in the face of crisis and constraint. I’m keen to explore ambition in the context of local/proximate organisations and funders who are supporting this work. Do connect with me on Linked-In https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-kwakwa/
Hi everyone, I’m Aishwarya Choubey, currently working with GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), where I focus on workforce nutrition and sustainable food systems. My work involves leading partnerships with government, private sector, and development stakeholders to integrate nutrition into workplace practices and responsible business frameworks.
Really looking forward to joining this crtical conversation tomorrow on staying ambitious. I’m busy hacking leadership and wealth. Do connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartmills/
Hello everyone, pleasure to join you all for this conversation. I am a Socio-Economic Sustainability Expert with my own boutique consulting firm. Connect with me on linkedin.com/in/annabella-skof-595a42
Hello everyone, I’m Hesham Elzeftawi, Founder and CEO of EBRIIZ, a for-profit cross-cultural business shaped by my work across international cooperation, education, youth development, financial inclusion, community engagement, and cross-cultural learning.
I’m glad to join this conversation on staying ambitious in a context of constraint, especially around trust-based partnerships, practical evidence, and the responsible use of AI to improve learning and decision-making.
hi all. Thanks to the whole BFP team for the invite to join this conversation as a named contributor. Partnerships are vital to us as humans, to business and to this sector.
I am an ex VISA, ex Mastercard but now a member of the BFP Global Expert Gp and an advisor and board member for FinTechs and payment firms.
