Social enterprises – businesses with a revenue model that try to make the world a better place – are on the rise. We discuss this trend with ISS alumna Lisa Jordan, who has over 30 years of experience working for governments, NGOs, and foundations in (nearly) all parts of the world. She knows for a fact that small initiatives can generate a huge impact.

If you ask Lisa, there are multiple kinds of people: those who want to build things and those who want to change things. Lisa herself chose to dedicate her career to social change. She got the opportunity to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on social change initiatives around the world. Currently, one of the initiatives she is supporting is using technology and knowledge from Delft and Rotterdam to create sustainable energy from waste plants in Africa.

These social enterprises that Lisa supports differ from NGO’s, as the enterprises do have a revenue-generating model. ‘Doing well and doing good’ is a well-known saying in the industry. However, despite of the model, the social impact is always dominant in these organisations. Lisa tells us that, if an organisation wants to be eligible for (financial) support, their cause should always come first.

You can also listen to this episode as a podcast: