Empax

I don’t want to belabor this point. But I kind of do. I suppose it’s become part of my agenda to help take the word profit out of the evil, negative space that if often gets thrown to in the social sector. I want to appreciate that this is a concept that motivates people, and it’s easier to work with it than against it. So I’ll reiterate: Profit and Purpose are not mutually exclusively, but rather fundamentally intertwined.

Today I want to highlight an extraordinary example of how innovative solutions to social issues can come from organizations that don’t have a 501(c)3 status.

SHE (Sustainable Health Enterprises) has received a tremendous amount of positive attention recently – and as far I can am concerned, it’s all more than well deserved. SHE, similar to many other female-empowerment organizations, aims to alleviate some of the disparities that prevent women in developing countries from reaching their full potential. What’s dissimilar is the unique technology they’ve developed for advancing this goal: Access to sanitary products.

Not only is the actually technology (how the pads are made) innovative, but everything about the organization’s model embodies social progress. The SHE approach is all about market-based solutions. Not only do they want to collaborate on engineering product solutions, they want to build sustainable business platforms for local women to continue selling these products.

One of the primary reasons for SHE’s success to date is undoubtedly the organization’s ability to listen and work with women on the ground. I had the pleasure of hearing Elizabeth Scharpf (SHE’s Founder) speak, and she was particularly candid about her misconceptions: She revealed just how much she had relied on her local allies to help steer her in the right direction.

While I believe there is a tremendous lesson to be learned about entering new landscapes not with solutions but rather with questions, that is not the focus of this post. Instead, I want to re-center around the idea that an enterprise can pioneer social change will simultaneously building structures for long-term financial sustainability. SHE understands Creating Shared Value, and has layered this in to every facet of their operation. Social innovation and market development are working hand in hand here, and with results that should continue to inspire.