Scaling the Impact of the Pet-Human Bond with Social Entrepreneurs

Learn more about the next phase of the Prize journey—a Scaling Social Innovation Program and a Mentoring Program for young changemakers.
Street Vet founder Jade Statt cares for a homeless person's dog
Source: Rachel Fauber

We’re delighted to share more about the next phase of the Prize journey: a Scaling Social Innovation Programme for established changemakers with existing projects and a Mentoring Programme for young changemakers with piloted projects.  A total of 9 finalists, including the winners from the 2018 and 2020 editions, are participating in these programmes which are part of the benefits package from the 2020 Prize edition. The programmes will build connections between social entrepreneurs, Purina experts and thought partners to advance their projects and ideas to leverage the pet-human bond to improve the well-being of society.

 

Scaling Social Innovation Program 

In September, six social entrepreneurs embarked on the Scaling Social Impact Programme (SSIP), an accelerator for highly-impactful projects. The six-module online course on System Change, led by Ashoka, runs until end of November. 

Participants include: 

Business leaders from Purina with the support of experts on the pet-human bond have formed advising teams around each social entrepreneur to help them think differently, their project to become viable, and achieve systems change and success. 

SSIP is a mutual learning journey for both the social entrepreneur and the business leaders who participate. By working closely together, both parties have the opportunity to explore synergies and grow their changemaking skills. 

 

Mentoring Programme for young changemakers 

For the first time, the second edition of the BetterwithPets Prize was expanded to include young changemakers across the EMENA region with ideas for projects that leverage the pet-human bond.  

Young changemakers from three high-potential idea-stage innovations have joined a Mentoring Programme with the goal of taking their programme from ideation to implementation. 

Participants include: 

  • Homely Home (Russia, 2020 Winner) 

  • Pet Me Business Model (Saudi Arabia, 2020 Finalist) 

  • SoliVet (France, 2020 Finalist) 

The young changemakers are paired with Purina business leaders who serve as advisors and provide petcare ecosystem expertise. They are also connected to a consultant from Kearney, a global management consulting firm, to receive technical support and resources to improve their strategy.  

The Mentoring Programme concludes with young changemaker delivering presentations to their peers, Kearney consultants, and Purina advisors on their programme strategy and next steps to launch their ideas.  

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We will be sharing more updates on the social entrepreneurs and young changemakers in the coming months.  

Also, if you want to know more about these programmes, don’t miss the Ashoka Changemaker Summit 2020. On Tuesday 17th of November, from 1pm to 2pm CET, Purina will hold a public session with some of the entrepreneurs and their mentors to talk about pet-human bond potential for social innovation and how we can grow this community.