For Socialab Uruguay’s fifth anniversary, they set out to evaluate the social enterprises’ social, economic, and environmental impacts during this period. From 2013 until December 2019, they have worked with 51 projects that aim to solve existing societal issues through the creation of social enterprises. Socialab Uruguay offers support during the beginning stages; in other words, when entrepreneurs are taking their first steps and validating their technical and business proposals. Out of the total number of those supported, 25 are still in progress, consolidating their work by and for resolving these issues.
Socialab Uruguay measured the impact of the latter sample with the purpose of observing and sharing the great work that the entrepreneurs are doing in the country. They are not only leaving a mark on the lives of young children, adolescents and adults in Uruguay that find themselves in vulnerable situations but also on the environment.
How many people are being impacted? What topics are the projects mainly addressing? How much does one earn? What are the demographics of served communities? How much do women participate and what are their roles in the social entrepreneurial world? These are some of the questions we hoped to answer while measuring the organizations’ impact.
Socialab Uruguay hope that this contribution will help to visualize the growth of a sector that has been working for years — and will continue doing so — in order to reduce inequalities. Social entrepreneurship also inspires more innovative minds to dedicate their
time and passion to changing the world.