News release
For immediate release
London, Friday 8 November
Good Deals Pioneers Awards presented to leading social entrepreneurs
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Afghan social entrepreneur Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, founder of
Afghan Institute of Learning
Sophi Tranchell, CEO, Divine Chocolate
Sir Ronald Cohen, outgoing Chair of Big Society Capital
To celebrate the impact individuals have in making social change happen
across the world, Good Deals, the annual social UK social investment
conference, has presented Pioneers Awards to three leading social
entrepreneurs who are delivering educational change in Afghanistan, positive
Fairtrade impacts in Ghana, and social investment market developments in
the UK and abroad.
Dr Sakena Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL),
which aims to address the crisis of poor access to education and health
services for Afghan people, in particular women and children, began her quest
to provide education for girls during the Taliban regime in the mid 1990s.
When the Taliban banned schools in Afghanistan, communities that had
heard of the work of the institute in refugee camps asked it to support
underground schools for girls.
Dr. Sakena Yacoobi said: “When children want to learn you do what you can.
News soon spread that our schools were safe, trusted and offered a good
education. Teachers used their own homes and the communities supported
the schools and, as word spread, we were asked to support schools by many
other communities. Although the reality was that if the schools had been
discovered, the teachers and the students would have been punished and
possibly killed.”
Speaking about how AIL works with social investors Yacoobi said: “Both the
implementing organisation and the social investor or donor need to be in
agreement on their vision and concepts of how to do the work. Most people in
Afghanistan want education for their children and they want to be healthy and
have a good life. To be a change agent for long-term impact you have to work
in complete cooperation with the community.”
Fairtrade pioneer Sophi Tranchell has been at the helm of Divine Chocolate
since 1999 when it set out to change the way the chocolate industry works
forever.
Divine is the only Fairtrade chocolate company that is 45% owned by cocoa
farmers - the Kuapa Kokoo farmers co-operative in Ghana. The co-op now
has 65,000 members from over 1,400 village societies. Divine has since
launched successfully in the US, and is distributed across Europe, Australia
and some of Asia.
Sophi Tranchell said: “It’s the first time in history that cocoa farmers have
received the lion’s share of the profit from a chocolate company. We’ve made
huge inroads in taking Divine’s proposition to a market dominated by three
multinational players because we believe in the product and a different way of
doing business. Now the giants of the chocolate industry have followed our
lead and have converted some of their products to Fairtrade. We’re proof that
social enterprise in this sector can work and I’m so proud that Divine has
championed the way it does business across the world. We would like to see
a real sea-change in support for social enterprise models, for co-operatives,
for employee ownership – a future where money and decision making is in the
hands of the many, and not of the few.”
No one person has been as instrumental to the formation of the UK social
investment marketplace as Sir Ronald Cohen who is currently Chair of the
world’s first social investment bank, Big Society Capital. Big Society Capital
provides investment and support to social investment intermediaries using
money from dormant bank accounts.
With roles in setting up the Social Investment Taskforce over a decade ago,
through to the Independent Commission on Unclaimed Assets and the set up
of the UK’s first social impact bond, he has seen the wholesale bank through
its research and development and start-up phases, and is widely credited for
championing the concept in the City and Government. He is now Chair of the
G8 Social Investment Taskforce and leading a major international effort to
boost impact investing.
Recognised for his pioneering role and leadership by UK Prime Minister David
Cameron at the G8 summit this year, Sir Ronald Cohen said: “Big Society
Capital has developed into a powerful force driving social improvement in the
UK and I have been privileged to be its founding chair. The UK is a leading
light in the development of a social investment market. This is real
collaboration between the UK government, and the social and financial
sectors, in creating a sustainable market that will bring about powerful social
change.”
ENDS
Images available on request
For further information contact:
Sarah Gilbert: sarahgilbert@matterandco.com / T: +44 (0)208 8533 8893
Anna Hollis: anna@matterandco.com / T: +44 (0)208 8533 8893 / +44
(0)7779 603538
About Good Deals
Good Deals, now in its sixth year, has established itself as the UK's leading
social investment conference. Attended by social innovators from across
sectors and across the world, we bring social entrepreneurs and investors
together to get good deals done.
www.good-dealsuk.com/
About Matter&Co
Matter&co is a communications company that designs and delivers Good
Deals.
Matter&co works with inspiring organisations across business and society to
create positive social change through innovation and enterprise. We are a
creative communications company with more than a decade’s experience
building success for ambitious, values-driven organisations – building
marketing and PR campaigns, brands, events, print and digital media.
Matter&Co is the company behind Good Deals the UK’s leading annual social
investment event, and the creator of the SE100. We are a strategic partner for
the Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneers.
www.matterandco.com