Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Annual Report 2024 2025

Public-sector engagement Policy Leadership Council on Social Economy and Social Innovation An evolution of the Social Economy Working Group established in 2021, the Policy Leadership Council on Social Economy and Social Innovation brings together more than 30 policy leaders from international organizations, governments, academia and business, united by a shared commitment to unlocking the potential of the social economy and social innovation through effective public policy. With the transition from the working group to the council, the Schwab Foundation formally handed over the chairing role to members of the council. The council subsequently appointed Jeroo Billimoria, Founder of the One Family Foundation, and Jonathan Wong, Chief of Innovation, Enterprise and Investment at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), as co-chairs. Among its achievements, the council facilitated two high-level policy roundtables focused on unlocking the social and solidarity economy: the first in South Africa in November 2024, and the second in Kenya in May 2025. These events were co-organized by the Schwab Foundation, World Economic Forum, African Union Commission, International Labour Organization, Catalyst Now, Africa Forward and the Motsepe Foundation. Further, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025, the council launched the second edition of the Unlocking the Social Economy report, this time focused on advancing equity in the green and digital transitions. The report highlights the essential role of the social economy – which includes social enterprises, cooperatives and similar models – in creating inclusive innovation. With over 200 million jobs and $2 trillion in global turnover, the social economy contributes to affordability, accessibility and job creation while empowering marginalized communities. Read more about the council here. Social enterprise data In April 2024, the Schwab Foundation released The State of Social Enterprise: A Review of Global Data 2013-2023, revealing that up to 10 million social entrepreneurs generate $2 trillion in annual revenue, making the sector larger than the global apparel industry. Notably, half of all social enterprises are women-led and collectively generate an estimated 200 million jobs. The report also exposed key data challenges, including inconsistent quality, limited comparability and difficulty in measuring social and environmental value. To address this, the Schwab Foundation convened an advisory group of experts from academia, international organizations and industry to harmonize global data collection efforts. In December 2024, the advisory group met for a two-day in-person workshop in Geneva to align on survey-based data collection. Together, they reviewed over 700 survey questions from around the world and developed a standardized set of core indicators to improve comparability across datasets. This work culminated in the publication of a standardized set of survey questions and a report, Collecting Data on Social Enterprise: A Playbook for Practitioners, which shares lessons and good practices in survey design and implementation. Access the standardized set of survey questions and Data Playbook here. Credit: Medtronic LABS Schwab Foundation Annual Report 2024–2025 25