Empowering Women as Key Changemakers: Why Female-Driven Social Innovation Matters

Female entrepreneurs are key drivers of social innovation in emerging economies of the Global South. To bring about system’s change, however, these entrepreneurs depend on access to development ecosystems for growth and scale. This contribution therefore aims to present examples of existing support structures, which allow female social entrepreneurs in the Global South to grow their business. As part of its program portfolio, the Bayer Foundation provides those resources through a breadth of initiatives and programs targeted at social innovation in the healthcare and agricultural sector: To support startups in their exploration stage, the Social Impact Startup Academy (SISTAC), for example, offers an innovative action learning program run in collaboration with the Ingolstadt School of Management. Supported by Bayer mentors and innovation management tools, students analyze selected social entrepreneurs’ business models and generate concrete ideas to boost their growth as an integral part of their Master’s program. Through its Women Empowerment Award and the connected growth accelerator, the Bayer Foundation particularly highlights the high-impact innovations of female entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa that underline the leadership role that women have as drivers of positive societal change. Finally, the foundation’s Social Innovation Ecosystem Fund invests directly in game changing ecosystem approaches to drive progress in smallholder farming and last mile health delivery, with the ultimate goal to support market-creating innovations that empower underserved populations to lift themselves out of poverty. By presenting these examples and initiatives, the aim of this chapter is to encourage social innovators from different fields and cultural areas to join forces to achieve the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development.