May 21, 2019

J.P. Morgan Mentoring Program: “Experiencing Social Entrepreneurship”

Source: JP Morgan final event 1

Launched in 2016, “Experiencing Social Entrepreneurship” is an annual program that matches social entrepreneurs from Ashoka’s network of Fellows with teams of mentors from J.P. Morgan. This program is aimed on one side at supporting leading innovators to tackle their most pressing organization issues, and on the other at engaging J.P. Morgan employees to discover the world of social entrepreneurship and the power of cross-sector collaboration.

Before participating in this program, I realized I was doing a lot but did not know how to put it in the proper format, or even how to appreciate what I was doing! Ashoka Fellow

Social entrepreneurs are applying commercial strategies to transform the world for the better, and while their work may focus on maximizing social impact rather than profits for external stakeholders, their challenges often remain business challenges. Changing systems for the better therefore requires collaboration between different stakeholders to establish new ways of interacting and learning from one another. During the 6-month mentoring journey, J.P. Morgan employees assist the social entrepreneurs, helping them design solutions to their most pressing challenges and enhance their impact and growth strategy.

In the past four years, 40 social entrepreneurs have received the support and insight of more than 100 J.P. Morgan employees. Over 25% have been mentors more than once! Three months after the end of the program, over 50% of social entrepreneurs stated that they were more confident with their financial sustainability and 70% that they were able to work on the financial model or business approach.

The mentorship is opening my mind to something different. While developing my owns skills and my knowledge I can help a social entrepreneur. J.P. Morgan Mentor

In 2019, the program focuses on supporting social entrepreneurs who are scaling and replicating to new geographies. Coming up with innovative solutions to a social problem is a first great step, but the journey for a social entrepreneur doesn’t end there. Social entrepreneurs face different challenges along their growth curve, and a major one is achieving greater scale by expanding their model and adapting it to other countries. J.P. Morgan has proven to be a unique partner to help social entrepreneurs overcome such challenges.

The feedback and bird eye view of the mentors into our work was the most relevant thing I learned and gained from the program. Ashoka Fellow

Social entrepreneurs who participated:

Jonas Staub
Blindspot
National organisation for the benefit of children with and without disabilities, promoting inclusion.
Education

Laila Risgallah
Not Guilty for Family Development
Not Guilty works to abolish sexual abuse of Egyptian children through training, media and education.
Human Rights

Daniel Louis
Shamseya - for innovative community healthcare solutions
Innovative healthcare solutions based on participatory research and evidence-based practices.
Health

Nawal Mostafa
Children of female prisoner`s association
A first-of-its-kind non-governmental organization in Egypt with the aim of saving the female prisoners who have been put behind bars because of poverty-related offenses such as their inability to pay the meager installments for a piece of equipment.
Human Rights

Elie Abou Saab
Jouwar
Jouwar addresses the government’s responsibility to reduce vehicle accidents, instead of blaming accidents on the behaviour of citizens.
Civic Participation

Aminata Diallo
Association Maïa
Maïa works on four topics: the promotion of girls' education, sexual and reproductive health, vocational training and the development of income-generating activities for women from predominantly rural areas.
Education, Economic Development

Zaher Redwan
Green Hand Organization
GHO is a community based NGO, that works towards conservation of biodiversity, aiming at establishing the first botanical garden in Lebanon for native taxa in a highly interactive and sustainable process.
Civic Participation, Education

Ramzi Jaber
Visualizing Impact
VI creates data visualizations to highlight social issues globally, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa.
Human Rights

Ogo Maduewesi

Impact Skin Health and Appearance – ISHAAC

Patient-centered independent social lab that brings interested creative minds together in a center to address systemic challenges and to promote a life course of Skin Health and Appearance Challenges while inspiring, empowering and establishing active support groups and enhancing psychosocial needs, mental and social well-being of skin patients and the appearance challenged primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.

Health