Impact entrepreneurs are playing a pivotal role in driving positive, grassroots change – especially in communities that are often overlooked. Their work is instrumental in ensuring that technological advances translate into equitable and sustainable progress for society at large. AI has the potential to be a powerful force to help impact entrepreneurs scale new and existing solutions and drive operational efficiencies to extend the reach of social initiatives.
Driving knowledge and insights to enable the AI for social innovation ecosystem
At the 2024 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the global EY organization came together with social innovators, other private sector stakeholders and technology organizations to launch the AI for Social Innovation initiative, hosted by the Schwab Foundation’s Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship, co-initiated by Microsoft and supported by the EY organization.
We also collaborated with Microsoft, the World Economic Forum and the Schwab Foundation’s Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship to produce a series of white papers. These landmark papers map the current landscape across the globe and highlight case studies of innovators and the supporting ecosystem at the forefront of driving the deployment of AI for social impact; as well as introducing the PRISM framework, presenting a strategic roadmap for social innovators assessing how to ethically include AI in their operations or models.
Supporting female impact entrepreneurs
According to recent assessments by the United Nations Statistics Division, indicators used to measure progress toward SDG 5 — to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls — are significantly off track from the 2030 targets. Increasing the number of women at the forefront of AI design and development will be a significant step forward. But we cannot be what we cannot see. We need to support women to reskill and upskill in AI and educate, inspire and encourage women to seek out AI-related roles.
As part of the Technovation AI Forward Alliance, led by Technovation, teams are providing mentoring and coaching to support 25 million girls and young women through AI, coding and entrepreneurship education. The program aims to help create a generation of female leaders and innovators capable of tackling complex global challenges through unique skill sets and digitally-native innovation. Our shared goal is to see six million of these young women enter the workforce in tech-related fields by 2030.
Empowering social innovators to harness and scale AI solutions
Impact entrepreneurs are an important driver to make sure that AI is becoming a force for positive social change. By extending the knowledge of EY teams and collaborating with leading organizations, we can support impact entrepreneurs to harness the potential of AI and scale their existing groundbreaking AI solutions.
The EY organization provides not-for-profit professional services as well as a variety of skills development and coaching programs for impact entrepreneurs. This year we launched the AI SDG Accelerator, supporting pioneering AI solutions aimed at driving significant progress towards achieving the SDGs through a portfolio of pro bono services. Our first cohort, in collaboration with Microsoft, Acumen and Meaningful Business, supported selected impact entrepreneurs using AI to advance action towards SDG 4: Quality Education. At EY, we recognize that Quality Education will be crucial to help in creating a more sustainable future and address inequalities around the world.