Enterprise grant-making can support social entrepreneurs from marginalised communities. What is needed to make it work?
Steve Wyler from the Enterprise Grants Taskforce talks to Louise Cannon from UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs.
Steve: Hi Louise, I gather you’ve been supporting social entrepreneurs at UnLtd for 16 years now. So tell me, what motivates you, what keeps you going?
Louise: Well, at UnLtd, we’ve been developing a way of working which is first and foremost about serving the needs of social entrepreneurs, particularly those from the most marginalised communities. Last year we made 150 awards, 68% going to our inclusion groups: Black, Asian, minority ethnic and/or disabled people. And we try to make sure that everything we do keeps social entrepreneur needs at the heart, breaking down the barriers they face. It’s challenging, but very motivating.
Steve: Yes, I can imagine that. Tell me more about that approach. What does it mean in practice?
Louise: For a start, we’ve embraced design thinking – and especially co-design. For example, when we embarked on a programme which was about improving financial inclusion among young people, we began by holding a series of design days with young people themselves.
Steve: OK, did these work well, and if so, what made them successful?
Louise: Yes, they did. Beforehand we felt a certain amount of apprehension. But we found that by engaging with young people in an honest and open way it was possible to build relationships, trust and understanding. We didn’t impose our views – we invited participants to share their hopes for a financially inclusive future and we then explored what the journey towards that might look like. And that was very productive.
Steve: How did you select the participants?
Louise: We took care to invite participants from communities where the problem of financial exclusion is most acute. We worked with inclusion partners, such as Cornerstone Engagement, who specialise in working with young people with Black African heritage and Spiral Skills who support marginalised young people. Our inclusion partners help extend our reach into communities we might not be able to access otherwise. For example, helping us to create a positive environment, consider how to use language more thoughtfully, keeping us accountable, (e.g. ‘this is what you’ve told us, and this is what we’ve done’). Small things can make a big difference, we found.
Steve: Why does this kind of beneficiary engagement matter for enterprise grant making?
Louise: Well, fundamentally we believe that enterprise grant making can help to break the cycle of injustice. By deepening our understanding of the barriers social entrepreneurs face, especially those who are most marginalised, and engaging them in programme co-design, building relationships, and going on a journey together, we have a much better prospect of helping them to build their confidence, to take action on their own terms, and build sustainable enterprises. If we fail to do that, we are reinforcing a status quo that is unjust but getting it right means we unlock the talents of impactful and driven social entrepreneurs who are deeply rooted in their communities and the problems they are tackling.
Steve: Yes, that makes a lot of sense to me, and feels very important as more and more funders are exploring an enterprise grant-making approach. If they really want to make a difference, they will achieve most if they can find better ways to engage with the communities they seek to support, especially those that are most marginalised, as you have been doing.
Louise: Definitely.
Funders can meet the needs of social entrepreneurs by adopting a partnership mindset, a willingness to join forces with beneficiaries and with other funders, in ways that promote inclusion and accountability.
Steve: You mentioned that you worked with an inclusion partner. That seems to have been really worthwhile. Can you tell me about your approach more generally to partnership working with other organisations.
Louise: We certainly want to work with others as much as possible – we recognise that we can achieve more by working in collaboration with others. But it matters who we work with. We want to work with partners who care deeply about equity and inclusion, who are willing to go on a journey together, to learn and to share the learning.
Steve: How do you establish good partner relationships?
Louise: It has to start right at the beginning. Agreeing expectations, understanding what success looks like for each partner. For example, in a programme with the Co-op Foundation, we worked together on a 'partnership parameters and principles’ document. This set out what we would do, and how we would do it, including our commitment to an inclusive and relational model of working with social entrepreneurs.
Steve: Have you found ways to assess the impact of this way of working?
Louise: We take a continuous improvement approach, constantly asking ourselves ‘so what?’, considering what we have learned and how we can apply the learning as we go forward. And especially challenging ourselves on whether we are really serving the needs of social entrepreneurs, or just of our own organisations.
Steve: How would you know?
Louise: We use a lot of data, and we are trying to do so in a more sophisticated way – from assessment scorecards to reduce the potential for bias, to live data dashboards to help us understand our reach and impact. And we place a high value in finding out how social entrepreneurs feel about the relationship with us and with our partners – for example, can they be their authentic selves, warts and all? So, together we generate a mix of quantitative and qualitative data, across our partnerships. And when we review progress, we always do so through an inclusivity lens.
Steve: That’s brilliant Louise. Thank you so much. As you say, enterprise grant-making can help break the cycle of injustice, by providing opportunity for people from the most marginalised communities to take action on their own terms, in a sustainable way. But that will only happen if grant-makers have a deep commitment to inclusive and equitable working, and are willing to join forces with beneficiaries and with other funding partners, placing the interests of those they serve first and foremost. So, it is great to see this determination from you and your colleagues at UnLtd, and to learn about the ways you work.
Louise: Thanks Steve – and if anyone would like to find out more, please do get in touch. I can be reached at: LouiseCannon@unltd.org.uk
