American University of Sharjah hosts social enterprise leaders

The School of Business Administration (SBA) at American University of Sharjah (AUS) has brought together leading experts in social enterprise to discuss how innovation can be used to transform lives in communities in both Nigeria and Bangladesh.

The event, “Social Entrepreneurship: Developing Solutions and Empowering Lives,” forms part of the SBA Dean Distinguished Lecture Series, events designed to disseminate knowledge about important issues among the AUS community.

This event hosted two illustrious speakers: Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro, founder of the award-winning social enterprise group MitiMeth; and Maysoon Barber, Executive Director of the Fatima bint Hazza Cultural Foundation.

Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro, who is a 2022 MIT Legatum Foundry Fellow and 2014 Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellow, explained to participants innovative ways in which female artisans have used the invasive water hyacinth to create eco-friendly home products. Her organization, Mitimeth, has been responsible for training over 700 women in Ghana and Nigeria to make environmentally responsible home products from natural and recycled materials, generating revenue and enhancing the employability of this group.

Maysoon Barber, an AUS alum who has extensive experience in education and social impact and who has led initiatives across the Middle East related to education access, led a discussion on how UAE architecture students have designed and created floating structures that mitigate flooding effects in Bangladesh. The buildings have allowed for students to attend school while flooding is taking place, an important accomplishment as Bangladesh sees increased flooding due to climate change.

“These examples taken from Africa and South Asia are testament to the impact social entrepreneurship can have in improving lives. Social entrepreneurship initiatives like those discussed at this event play an important role in economic growth, particularly in developing economies, as social enterprises create jobs and enhance employability. Evidence also shows us that social entrepreneurship has positive social benefits at a community and national level and for sustainability,” said Dr. Narjess Boubakri, Dean of SBA.

According to the European Commission, the social entrepreneurship sector employs around 40 million people and engages over 200 million volunteers across the world. Some of the most important global companies, including Netflix and Facebook, offer funding to social enterprises. SBA students learn about the importance and impact of social enterprise in courses such as Entrepreneurship (MGT 403) and Social Entrepreneurship (MGT49402), among others.