Contact: Lynne Smit
Communications Lead, Catalyst 2030
Email lynne.smit@lesacommunications.org

Connect. Celebrate. Accelerate.

23 April 2021 – Catalyst 2030, the global movement of social entrepreneurs and social innovators who are collaborating to achieve the SDGs by 2030, will be holding its second annual Catalysing Change Week from 3 to 7 May 2021.

“At Catalysing Change Week 2021, we will unite experts, social innovators, and representatives from the private sector and governments to showcase, listen to and come to understand one another. Participants in the event will be able to tap into the collective wisdom around systems change while forging partnerships across countries, regions and sectors,” said Jeroo Billimoria, spokesperson and one of the movement’s co-founders.

Catalysing Change Week 2021 will host 120 online sessions over five days, covering all major time zones. Session presenters will include Catalyst 2030 Award winners and finalists who will bring their own distinct contributions to the programme, as well as Catalyst 2030 members and changemakers from around the globe.

The Week will build on the success of Catalysing Change Week 2020 which had an audience of over 4,000 individuals. Together, participants represented more than 1,600 organisations across 131 countries.

This year’s themes reflect the priorities of the movement in this unique period of our global history. The Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to delay the achievement of the SDGs by 50 years or more. It is in this context that the creation of a space for the world’s top social innovators to interact, co-create and share best practices is even more important.

The sessions will be structured around these three key themes.

Connect. As a core principle in our Theory of Change, we serve as honest brokers who foster connections between various stakeholders in our ecosystem. Our objective is to create an environment that enables collaboration and co-creation as we, together, seek to address the most pressing issues of our time.

Celebrate. Celebration is a great way to encourage, inspire and re-energise each other as we go about our work. We showcase best practices, creating a ripple effect as other stakeholders adopt these practices in addressing their specific challenges.

Accelerate. We bring key stakeholders together to create tangible outcomes for policy making. This is particularly relevant as we engage with governmental stakeholders. As outlined in our Embracing Complexity, Getting from Crisis to Systems Change and New Allies reports, social entrepreneurs’ collaborations with governments are key to bringing about change and achieving the SDGs at local, national, and global levels.

The overarching goal is to foster an improved understanding of the conditions that best allow social entrepreneurs and their allies to thrive. This understanding will then be translated into tangible policy recommendations and programmes that can be implemented globally.

To achieve this goal, Catalysing Change Week 2021 has six key objectives.

1. Celebrate positive systems-change models
2. Build commitment to systems change work in policymaking
3. Showcase practical problem-solving abilities within the network
4. Bring the voices of unheard people to the conversation
5. Accelerate efforts to achieve the SDGs by 2030
6. Learn from all network members and build capacity

Registration for Catalysing Change Week 2021 is free.

For more information, visit https://catalyst2030.net/about-the-campaign/

Download the overview document here.

Notes for editors

Catalyst 2030 is a global movement of social entrepreneurs and social innovators from all sectors who share the common goal of creating innovative, people-centric approaches to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Joining forces with communities, governments, businesses and others, Catalyst 2030 members are changing systems at all levels through collective action and bold, new strategies.

Launched at the World Economic Forum in January 2020, Catalyst 2030 comprises more than 500 proven social entrepreneurs who are active in over 180 countries and who directly reach an estimated two billion people. We believe in collective action and that bold new strategies are needed to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

For more information about the work of Catalyst 2030, or to arrange an interview, please contact Lynne Smit at: lynne.smit@lesacommunications.org.