IMD elea Center for Social Innovation

Convening change agents to accelerate the speed, scale, and effectiveness of social innovation

IMD elea Center for Social Innovation

Convening change agents to accelerate the speed, scale, and effectiveness of social innovation

Our Mission

Convene entrepreneurs, executives, investors, philanthropists, researchers, and other change agents to accelerate the speed, scale, and effectiveness of social innovations across the spectrum of capital.

Our Vision

The number one center of excellence and trusted learning partner for leading social innovators and change makers.

Our Focus

Impact management: how asset owners (investors, banks, entrepreneurs, corporates, or family offices) articulate their impact objectives, what problems they want to solve, who they want to reach, where they want to invest, and what risks they want to take.

Unlocking Social Innovation

Social innovation creates new solutions (products, services, markets, models, processes) for a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous society by addressing social and environmental needs more efficiently and effectively than current policies and businesses.

The IMD elea Center for Social Innovation was launched at IMD Business School in 2018. We develop and share research, pedagogical content, and educational programs that help leaders in business, government, and civil society navigate the challenges of initiating and implementing social innovation.

Through these core activities, we convene entrepreneurs, executives, investors, philanthropists, researchers, and other change agents to accelerate the speed, scale, and effectiveness of social innovations across the spectrum of capital that address the key social and environmental challenges of our time.

REFLECT

on the purpose of business and act as catalyst.

DESIGN

pedagogy to inspire mindset change.

DEVELOP

leadership capabilities to create social innovation.

FORGE

connections between corporations, academics, investors, and change makers.

Achieving social impact and innovation calls for inclusive leadership. Our partnership leverages IMD’s deep leadership development expertise and the elea Foundation‘s philanthropic impact investment focus as well as its community of social entrepreneurs.

Peter Wuffli Chair of the elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization and former Chair of the IMD Foundation

IMD is delighted and privileged to host the IMD elea Center for Social Innovation. This center is created at a time that feels very much like a crossroads, where we need to think about new forms of capitalism with well-understood and articulated positive social impact.

Jean-François Manzoni IMD President
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Thematic Pillars
CREATING

social and environmental value. Focus on risk taking and the capital structure of social enterprises.

FINANCING

social and environmental value. We focus on the tools that impact investors use to make investment decisions.

ACCELERATING

social and environmental value. We focus on subsidy design and the ability to crowd in commercial-rate investors.

MAINSTREAMING

social and environmental value. Investigate how ESG issues drive social innovations within corporate settings.

Insights & Research

Through our research and educational work with social innovators from across the world, we have gained some extraordinary insights into the dynamics that can drive systems change and accelerate the pace of social innovation. With the ongoing support of the elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization, we have published a large number of articles, cases, reports, books, chapters, and academic articles in top international academic journals.

Popular Media
Case studies
Latest Academic Articles

Media & Events

Led by Vanina Farber, IMD elea Professor of Social Innovation and Dean of IMD’s Executive MBA program, we host a webinar series that explores how philanthropists, investors, entrepreneurs, corporations, and foundations are using the spectrum of capital to address the key social and environmental challenges of our time.

Discover Our Webinars
About the IMD elea Center for Social Innovation
  • Our Team
  • Advisory
  • Chairs
  • Senior elea Fellows
  • Faculty
  • With sincere thanks to the elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization

    We are very fortunate to benefit from the support of the elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization to study and support social innovators across the world.

    The IMD elea Center for Social Innovation is pleased to announce the appointment of Katherine Milligan, Maximilian Martin, and María Helena Jaén as its first Senior elea Fellows.

    Social innovation is a highly complex topic that relies on an interdisciplinary approach. Our team of faculty experts is committed to focusing on the characteristics and challenges unique to social innovation.