Contact Energy is a key sponsor of the Akina Foundation's Launchpad six month incubation programme. Photo / Mark Tantrum.
General manager, corporate affairs, at Contact Energy, Nicholas Robinson, casts some insight into how his "large corporate enterprise" is being inspired by the work of social enterprise hub the Akina Foundation.
It was over a year ago now when we first sat down with the bright-eyed and energetic crew, of the then Hikurangi Foundation, to learn about the fast-growing world of social enterprise in New Zealand. Aware of the famous models of social enterprise, like Tom's Shoes, we were pretty unaware and ignorant of the quiet efforts going on at home in New Zealand.
We were excited and intrigued by what we saw and heard. Here was this small organisation which was running like hell to keep up with the momentum of a growing number of enterprises seeking to marry up the, often seen-to-be competing, worlds of environmental and social outcomes with vibrant and dynamic business.
As a large corporate enterprise in New Zealand it is often difficult for us to meaningfully connect with social and environmental issues that extend beyond writing the cheque and collecting money in buckets along the Main Street. What social enterprise offers us is the opportunity to be involved in enterprises that are potentially scale-able and, if successful, have long term sustainability.
We were an early driver and major sponsor of the movement to retrofit insulation in homes before it was funded by government. When we were introduced to Hikurangi and to the Launchpad we were looking for something that would enable us to take our commitment to social and environmental development another step forward. And so began our partnership with the Akina Foundation and Launchpad.
It seems like an odd marriage; a big company like Contact and a grassroots foundation looking for social transformation. But actually it's proving to be a rewarding partnership.
The potential we saw in Launchpad was the opportunity to contribute and connect to a wide range of social and environmental outcomes, while being part of a movement working to transition how we do business in New Zealand.
At its core, social enterprise challenges the old notion that economic development can only be driven by one overriding factor, instead demonstrating that social, environmental, economic and community development can be driven simultaneously, not at the expense of one or the other.
We wanted to be a part of Launchpad in a way that involved our people in the process of starting a social enterprise, and allowed them to learn from the process of how shared social and business benefits can be achieved.
Together we have created the Launchpad development programme. It's a leadership programme for our Contact people that runs alongside Launchpad. We've placed eleven of our best people in the support roles working alongside the Launchpad teams so that they can share their knowledge, provide mentoring and advice for the teams, and bring back to Contact their experience of what it's like to work in a small, lean and agile organisation.
Of course the development programme would not be what it is without the eleven start-ups that have been selected to participate in Launchpad. While their ideas are good, the people involved are especially inspiring due to their commitment and drive to improve social and environmental outcomes. We are proud to be contributing to a new wave of innovation, community development and next-gen business. That, to me, is what social enterprise is all about.
It really has been a multi-faceted partnership that Contact has developed with Akina. Our people involved have gained a massive amount of learning already. Many have been struck by how fast these ventures move in their development in comparison to the pace of a large organisation like ours. It's been a fantastic exercise in agility for all involved.
Our partnership hasn't all been smooth sailing. Working with people as passionate as those at Akina, and those in the eleven teams, has kept us on our toes and made us examine what it's like for small organisations with limited resources to engage with large well-resourced companies like ourselves.
I'm sure you'll be hearing more about the businesses and the people over the next few years. Launchpad is just the beginning.
Running from October 2014 - March 2015 Launchpad will assist eleven successful up-and-coming enterprises with practical hands-on business mentoring and development support.
Read more about Launchpad here
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