ZURICH & LUGANO, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Partnering for Global Impact® 2013, the second global social impact partnering conference held in Lugano, Switzerland, was attended by 300 delegates from 196 companies who engaged in 507 one-to-one meetings facilitated by partneringONE®. The partnering activity, a unique offering in the social investment space, grew by 13% over last year.
“There was a real need for a partnering event in the social impact space, and based on the overall positive response surrounding the second edition, Partnering for Global Impact fills that need,” said Carola Schropp, Co-Founder of Partnering for Global Impact. “We are already hearing about positive outcomes resulting from connections made at the event, which we will continue to report about on the PGI website.”
The event featured a dynamic program with 26 company presentations, and panels, plenaries and keynotes delivered by leading industry executives and thought leaders.
A highlight of the conference was the Fidelity Future Impact Prize award, sponsored by Fidelity Worldwide Investment in collaboration with the HUB Zürich, an incubator for innovative social ventures. The award supports ideas that have the potential to become solutions of the future.
This year’s first prize winner Pragulic, a start-up that employs homeless people as tourist guides in the streets of Prague, received the main prize of CHF 12,500. Pragulic is a social enterprise that challenges stereotypes and rebrands homelessness by enabling people to experience the world from a homeless perspective. Founded just one year ago, Pragulic aims to reintegrate the homeless into society and provide them with a livelihood, while also raising public awareness and understanding for the issues and stereotypes they confront. Tereza Jurečková, the founder of Pragulic, also received the FIP Audience award of CHF 5,000 for her presentation.
“Pragulic was founded in response to the homeless population in Prague, to educate people about the problem through first-hand experience with homelessness,” said Jurečková, co-founder and CEO of Pragulic. “We are so pleased to have been awarded the Fidelity Future Impact Prize 2013 because it will enable us to expand our outreach and engage new partners in this social impact endeavor. Participating in the awards at the Partnering for Global Impact conference was beneficial to Pragulic in increasing our contacts in the impact investing space. We look forward to attending again.”
The runner-up award of CHF 7,500 was given to Bloomtrigger. The Bloomtrigger project is a creative new model for online fundraising and environmental education whose mission is to prevent deforestation. Bloomtrigger deploys a virtual currency of “blooms” and creative mapping technology to link donors and schools with forestry projects in Brazil. Video coverage of the conference and the awards ceremony will be available soon at www.pfgi.com.
The five finalists pitched their ventures to the following impressive jury:
- Iris Bohnet – Professor Public Policy and Academic Dean, Harvard Kennedy School; Director, Women and Public Policy Program; Board Member, Credit Suisse
- Margaret McGovern – Partner, PYMWYMIC
- Filipe Santos – Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Academic Director, INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Initiative
- Alfred Strebel – Managing Director, Switzerland, Fidelity Worldwide Investment
- Dr. Peter A. Wuffli – Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, elea Foundation
Look for updates and next year’s conference registration information on the Partnering for Global Impact website.
Additional links and information:
Follow Partnering for Global Impact 2013 on Twitter: twitter.com/PGImpact (hashtag: #PGI13)
About Partnering for Global Impact:
In its second year, Partnering for Global Impact is designed to promote impact investments and venture philanthropy by facilitating transactions to achieve measurable social impact. It is a unique, innovative forum where social entrepreneurs, project incubators, philanthropists, fund managers, foundations, financial institutions, families and family offices, and forward-looking investors can partner, identify and generate investment and funding opportunities.
Information on Partnering for Global Impact can be found online at www.pfgi.com.
