Grassroots Business Fund invests in social businesses that are making a positive impact at the base of the pyramid in communities around the world. MBAs Without Borders Advisors, recruits graduates of top business schools to grow and scale social enterprises that drive economic development, create jobs, and improve standards of living in dynamic global markets. MBAs Without Borders will partner with Grassroots Business Fund to provide pro bono consulting services to ten social enterprises.
Many social enterprises are driven by a passion for creating sustainable impact to address societal challenges and create economic impact but lack the business acumen to scale and succeed. For investors, such as GBF, looking to inject capital in these businesses, the lack of appropriate processes and controls serves as a red flag - leading many to forgo the investment. Even a short-term intervention to build internal capacity can serve to address many of the initial concerns.
MBAs Without Borders provides a mechanism for social enterprises to benefit from embedded business consulting prior to and over the course of an impact investment at little-to-no cost. Advisors build internal capacity while supporting strategy, operations, management, and financial planning, serving as a "safety net" for the investment. Through the proposed initiative ten MWB Advisors will multiply the ability of the investees to best utilize their GBF investment.
GBF's investees support 5.2 million employees and their families. 93% of GBF portfolio companies report business advisory services helps reduce business risks. Embedding advisory services in investee social enterprises with an MWB Advisor will create a virtuous cycle that multiplies the potential of the investment to create jobs, enhance social impact and increase returns while providing the next generation of business leaders with a transformational experience in the critical growth markets.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
