From a pool of 130, five social enterprises stood out above the rest in this year’s competition for the Fred Morgan Kirby Prize for Scaling Social Impact, which CASE has the privilege to manage. One of these five will ultimately be awarded the prize – a $100,000 unrestricted grant to support their achievement of impact at scale.
The Five Finalists
The five finalists include both nonprofit and for-profit enterprises working across India, Africa, and the U.S., focusing on impact areas such as economic growth, poverty, education, health and wellbeing, housing, and reduced inequalities. Over the next month we will take the opportunity to share why we are so excited about the work and impact potential of each enterprise – so keep an eye out for those posts on our blog. In the meantime, here is a brief snapshot of each:
Benetech – Global Certified Accessible program
- Mission: Empower communities with software for social good.
- Impact Area: Education, Economic Growth
- Primary Geography: USA, Canada
- Governance: Non-Profit
- Years in Operation: 20 overall (4 years for the GCA program)
Read HERE why we are so excited about Benetech.
Earth Enable
- Mission: Make living conditions healthier and more dignified for the world’s poor.
- Impact Area: Housing & Wellbeing
- Primary Geography: Rwanda
- Governance: Hybrid
- Years in Operation: 7
Read HERE why we are so excited about EarthEnable.
Lwala Community Alliance
- Mission: Build the capacity of rural communities to advance their own comprehensive wellbeing.
- Impact Area: Health & Wellbeing
- Primary Geography: Kenya
- Governance: Non-Profit
- Years in Operation: 14
Read HERE why we are so excited about Lwala.
Recity
- Mission: Keep plastics in the economy and out of the environment by creating a socially restorative circular economy of plastics propelled by improved infrastructure and a human centric approach.
- Impact Area: Poverty, Economic Growth
- Primary Geography: India
- Governance: For-Profit
- Years in Operation: 4
Read HERE why we are so excited about Recity.
Serve Minnesota – MathCorps program
- Mission: The mission of MathCorps is to empower and inspire children from under-served communities through teaching mathematics and fostering self-worth; strong values; and a sense of family to build good lives for themselves and more just society for all.
- Impact Area: Education, Reduced Inequities
- Primary Geography: US
- Governance: Non-Profit
- Years in Operation: 19 years (13 years for the MathCorps program)
Read HERE why we are so excited about Serve Minnesota.
The Process: Getting to Five Finalists
The F. M. Kirby Impact Prize, named after early entrepreneur Fred Morgan Kirby and supported by the F. M. Kirby Foundation, recognizes one impact enterprise each year that is working to scale its impact on social and/or environmental problems around the world. The first F.M. Kirby Impact Prize was awarded to Healthy Learners in February 2021, and applications for the second year of the prize opened in July 2021.
For the second year, CASE adjusted the application process based on lessons from the first year, changing it to a two-step application to reduce the amount of work required for applicants not selected to move on to the next rounds; followed by semi-finalist and finalist interview rounds. The first round was an open call for qualifying enterprises to submit an organization “pitch deck” detailing the problem they are trying to solve, the solution to be scaled, and evidence impact to date. By the closing of the application window on August 20, 2021, 130 enterprises had submitted a complete application. Each submission was reviewed by two members of the F. M. Kirby Impact Prize Selection Committee and evaluated using the selection rubric.
After the initial review, the selection committee invited 38 enterprises to participate in Round 2 of the selection process and submit 15 short answer questions related to scaling strategies, financial viability, and the enterprises’ impact key performance indicators.
After two rounds of application submissions and a semi-finalist interview round, the selection committee narrowed the applicant pool to the five finalists listed above. The public announcement of the winner will take place on February 9, 2022, at the Fuqua Net Impact Club’s Sustainable Business and Social Impact Conference (SBSI).
Learn more about SBSI 2022 and register to attend here.