Social Impact And Balancing Social Value With Financial Value

The future is filled with opportunities for the innovator in the Education sector at the BoP. According to a Dalberg study, impact investing in this sector is relatively new. Unlike popularity gains seen in microfinance or agriculture, trends and patterns in Education are just beginning to emerge. The element of trust, accountability, and transparency in the entrepreneur becomes critical and rigor is more reassuring to the investor. Given the nascent activity in Education, the level of effort and work required to build this trust between the investor and entrepreneur is much higher, especially at the BoP. The desire to make a difference and establish financial sustainable schools is still as strong in my spirit as it was when I was 11. As Educators, we are called upon to fill this void. The $3b social investment capital is still available out there and innovation is required. Investors are still looking for more proven, scaleable, profitable, Subway-style Education models in the BoP. In order to attract the commercial investor, an entrepreneur would need to have a commercial model. Such Education models are in short supply at the BoP, especially in the rural areas. Indeed, according to our case study, Omega Schools broke even with 6000 pupils and ten schools. Whether this will be an attractive model for new investors, remains to be seen. BIA conceptually positions itself as a model that will be profitable someday, but with 400 schools under their belt, this also remains to be seen. Pockets of profitable, private schools in areas like India do exist, but the ability to scale effectively, is yet to be seen.  Whether actual profit margins will be enough to expand like McDonalds or Subway and attract the commercial investor, which is what BIA is trying to prove, also remains to be seen. ————————— Akinyi Williams (HGSE ‘16) is the Founder and CEO of Hope for the Child Inc, a non-profit organization based in Minnesota, whose mission is to provide access to education to the poor in Kenya. She is Chief School Administrator at Arise N Shine Community Academy in Kisumu, Kenya. Akinyi has an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Education in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, stepson and their daughter.

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