The Covid-19 pandemic has put into stark relief the challenges that the world faces, including inequality and climate change. Many of these issues are interconnected, and are rooted in our obsession with growth, at all costs.

Business has a huge influence on government priorities, the allocation of resources, and people’s lifestyle ideals. However, the way business is conducted – with a laser focus on profit – often has detrimental effect on society and the environment.

For social entrepreneurs, however, social and environmental profit is as important as financial gain. There are countless social entrepreneurs across the world changing outcomes and mindsets for millions of people with alternative business models.

What if we combined the influence of business with the mentality of social entrepreneurs, to create a sustainable, inclusive global system where humans live within the means of the planet and all forms of life can thrive?

Mel Young, himself a leading social entrepreneur, and Alex Matthews have established The New Ism to explore how to create this new system, and have written a book on the role of social entrepreneurship in creating it. In this session, they will discuss why they think social entrepreneurship is the future of business, with case studies of social entrepreneurs changing the way business works.