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Catherine Wijnberg 21 Feb 2024
Social entrepreneur, Andrew Muir, acknowledged
For its social intervention and experiential environmental education programmes, the Wilderness Foundation's director, Andrew Muir, was selected as the winner in the Social Entrepreneur category for the 2011 Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Awards Programme.
Other nominees in the category included Catherine Wijnberg (The Fetola Foundation), Kim Feinberg (The Tomorrow Trust) and Nicola Leitch (African Queen).
"This award will help us to build on what has already been established with regards to the Umzi Wethu programme as well as our other social investment programmes. We will have access to the Schwab Foundation's global network, providing unprecedented opportunities to engage global decision makers," says Muir.
"Social entrepreneurs are individuals who have created an innovative solution to a seemingly intractable problem facing society. The social enterprises that stand out to us are those that have been able to build a financially self-sustainable, scalable entity that has already delivered long term social impact to large number of beneficiaries. I am very excited about the candidates we have received from across Southern Africa, as it is a testament to the power of visionary individuals with sound business models to make a transformational positive change in the world", says Abigail Noble, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship regional head for Latin America and Africa.
Winning programmes
The Umzi Wethu programme is one of the foundation's flagship intervention projects. Aimed at displaced and socially vulnerable youth, the three academies train young men and women between the ages of 18 and 25 for jobs in the hospitality and eco-tourism sectors.
In the area of experiential environmental education, the foundation has established the "Pride" and "Imbewu" projects, which were developed to fulfil the need for an environmental education, outreach programmes among disadvantaged youth from urban and rural areas.
The sustained funding of 70% of the Pride project's running costs has been achieved through the sale of spring water (through Woolworths) which carries the Wilderness Foundation logo. Further funding is gathered from the support of various schools and private enterprises, which are passionate about the project.
