IMD Annual Report 2021

Special features 28

Social innovation

As demand grows for more effective, sustainable and equitable solutions to the world’s diverse and complex social, economic and environmental challenges, in 2021 IMD accelerated its investment in the rapidly-emerging area of social innovation.

Guided by the work of Professor Vanina Farber and her growing team at the elea Center for Social Innovation, IMD has established itself as an academic leader in exploring how private capital can be deployed to deliver positive impact through ESG, impact investing, innovative blended financing, market building and scalable social enterprises. “We are looking into how we can address social and environmental problems more efficiently and effectively than the market has been doing or was doing in the past,” Professor Farber said. “How can we align the different incentives among players with a common purpose or intentionality to finance and scale up solutions?” In line with its purpose to develop leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society, IMD’s strategic commitment to social innovation was further underlined in 2021, with Farber’s appointment as the Dean of the EMBA program and the addition of three elea Senior Fellows.

“We need to think about new forms of capitalism with well understood and articulated, positive social impact. IMD also has a role to play in the development of thoughtful and ethical leaders, and we are committed to broadening the horizons of the executives who come to IMD by helping them understand that they can do well by doing good.”

JEAN-FRANÇOIS MANZONI IMD PRESIDENT