"Even social entrepreneurship can be quite a lonely place, and although I've spent more than 20 years at the heart of the social impact space, it's actually quite easy to feel disassociated (particularly as a journalist) and somehow an observer rather than 'a real social entrepreneur.' So, winning this prize is personally very affirming."
That's Pioneers Post founder and editor Tim West's reaction to winning the 2023 Cambridge Social Innovation Prize, which is given to "extraordinary founder-CEOs of scale-up social enterprises" to support their growth as leaders, per the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation.
The five winners are: Liz Dennis, co-founder of Filo Project, a community interest company that provides day care to older people; Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi, co-founder and COO of Supply Change, a social enterprise working to create impactful supply chains;Zakia Moulaoui, founder and CEO of Invisible Cities, a social enterprise that trains people who have experienced homelessness to be tour guides; Poku Osei, founder and CEO of Babbasa, a social enterprise that develops young people's leadership skills through training and mentoring; Alice Williams, founder of Luminary Bakery, a bakery that employs homeless people; and
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In the world of social enterprises, failure is a cringe-worthy moment nobody wants to talk about. But, social entrepreneurs can benefit from their failures.