At Impact Hub, we believe in collaboration. In building strategic alliances with like-minded organizations to support social entrepreneurs. We believe in taking action for a better future, together. That’s why we have launched our Community Partnership: A new way for organizations to collaborate with our network and further support impact entrepreneurs around the world to achieve impact at scale.

Beate Weinzinger is the Growth Lead at Impact Hub Global, in charge of expanding our network to new cities and countries and leading this offering. We talked to her to find out what it’s all about and how it will help organizations to scale their impact and that of their communities — by accessing our knowledge base, learning through our capacity building activities and enjoying collaboration opportunities within our network.

Q: Hi Beate! Tell us about Impact Hub’s Community Partnership. What’s it about and what type of organizations is it for?

By 2030, we envision an impactecosystem where resources and opportunities are more inclusively accessible, collaborations and connections are more easily forged, and inspiring changemakers of all backgrounds are more visible. But we can’t do this alone. By partnering with aligned organizations we can unlock the potential of our communities to improve lives and protect the planet.

By partnering with aligned organizations we can unlock the potential of our communities to improve lives and protect the planet.”

Our Community Partnership is the model for doing exactly that.It allows us to open up our knowledge to interested organizations, learn from each other, offer a broad range of capacity building and networking opportunities and engage Community Partners in joint projects and opportunities. Only if we build a strong and bold network of organizations and communities, we can challenge the status quo. 

Q: It seems it’s an opportunity with a lot of potential! What are the benefits of being an Impact Hub Community Partner? 

There are many great opportunities for Community Partners to engage! One of the main benefits is connecting with our 107 Impact Hubs in 63 countries and, of course, all other organizations that become Community Partners to explore learning and business opportunities.

Another great value is the access to capacity building activities — both virtually and in-person — for organizations and teams members interested in deepening their knowledge on the impact entrepreneurship ecosystem. This year, we will have webinars on topics such as entrepreneurial support from ideation to scaling, circular economy, diversity, equity and inclusion, wellbeing, sustainable programs structures or fundraising and business development. 

Our Makers Festivals, our online capacity-building conferences, and regional gatherings will also be great opportunities for learning and networking. Besides this, we want to build partnerships with our Community Partners and connect our members with theirs so that we can achieve impact at scale, together.

Q: And how is partnering with Impact Hub going to help organizations to achieve impact at scale?

As a network we inspire, connect and enable changemakers at scale — being part of a peer-to-peer network like ours, will enable organizations to provide better access to markets, knowledge, talents and resources to their members and beneficiaries. 

Or as John-Paul Parmigiani, Co-Founder of Impact Hub New York Metro, would describe it:

Building any organization is a challenge, but being part of a network of like-minded organizations not only makes operating easier through sharing best practices andinitiatives more impactful through engaging larger networks — but it also makes work more fulfilling and fun!”

Q: Is there a specific focus area on how Impact Hub and Community Partners will work together?

Impact Hub is all about collaboration and so will be the Community Partnership. We are working daily to build large-scale collaborations with partners from the public, private and civic sector. We aim to involve Community Partners in our work bybuilding joint programs, engaging in joint business making, sharing knowledge and resources, and connecting entrepreneurs across the globe. 

Our network is beyond excited to reach new organizations, new geographies and a diverse range of social entrepreneurs.  As Devi Clark, Managing Director of Impact Hub Kings Cross, puts it:

“As an Impact Hub, we get inspiration, a values-driven peer group and a global footprint for our customers through our global network. Working with other Hubs is not only enjoyable and fulfilling, but all of us benefit from tapping into a deep well of experience and best practice. I’m excited that we will be able to enrich this even further by adding Community Partners to our network. Together, we can serve international changemakers even better, with relevant local offerings, additional locations and the ability to make a bigger difference to the people and planet. Let’s do it — together.” Devi Clark, Impact Hub Kings Cross

Q: What impact does Impact Hub and the organizations that join its network hope to create together?

To keep it short and to the point: By 2030, we want to catalyze a broad impact movement, reaching more than 100M people, and bring impact entrepreneurship to the forefront. 

Interested in being an active part in this effort? Join us as a Community Partner!

We want to catalyze a broad impact movement, reaching more than 100M people and bring impact entrepreneurship to the forefront.”

Q: Sounds like a very ambitious plan! What experiences similar to those offered by this partnership has Impact Hub had with other organizations? 

We have had the opportunity to train more than 80 organizations in entrepreneurship support methodologies, as well as given them access to expert knowledge and best practices on topics like Community Building, Business Incubation and Finance. Especially, in translocal programs, such as the Enrich in Africa Initiative, the Better Incubation Program or the OECD Peer Learning Partnership. 

We have trained organizations in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine and Jordan via the MedUP! Program and numerous teams in building social entrepreneurship support centers across the globe, such as the RevHub team in Orange County, US, or the Stream-Incubator team in Tripolis, Libya. 

All these experiences and the knowledge and lessons learnt from building a global network are integrated in our Community Partnership model. But best we open the floor to some of the great organizations we have already worked with: 

The Impact Hub team’s expertise was key in helping RevHubOC to execute our vision for social entrepreneurship in Southern California. The coaches bring invaluable experience in building programs, engaged communities and fundraising with a customized approach that allowed us to significant progress along the way.” Isabelle Bart, Executive Director at RevHubOC.

“The Impact Hub support for the MedUP! program and network of social entrepreneurship stakeholders was very valuable and created a remarkable interaction among social innovators from the Mediterranean. Their team brings a variety of expertise in social entrepreneurship and a great drive to share knowledge and empower organizations to make a change and create regional impact. The collaboration was very supportive through the workshops, coaching sessions and tools shared, contributing to strengthening the social entrepreneurship ecosystem and cooperation among actors in the field.” Krystel Khalil, Program Manager at Berytech.

Q: To conclude, what are you most excited about when it comes to this offering? 

Personally, I am most excited to connect with new organizations and learn from their experience, local context and innovative approaches and ideas. 

Having been part of this network for more than 6 years, one of the most important aspects is the inspiration you gain from the amazing people building up our Impact Hubs and how much we can all learn through collaboration. 

Building a network that goes beyond our Impact Hubs will enrich our sector and help entrepreneurs succeed. That’s what we urgently need to tackle the worlds’ challenges.

Our global community of 24.000+ impact entrepreneurs and innovators is making change happen. Imagine what we can do together! Want to deepen your support for impact entrepreneurs, innovators, creators and changemakers? Let’s partner for impact. Learn more and apply to become an Impact Hub Community Partner.