From trainings and workshops to a robust library of evidence and guidance, convening spaces for practitioners, and regular funding opportunities, ANDE aims to equip the sector with the resources it needs to support SGBs.
Given the importance of SGBs to economic growth and job creation, supporting these businesses must be a critical part of the global recovery. To support our members and the overall SGB sector during the ongoing crisis, ANDE is working to understand and meet our members’ evolving needs, providing relevant resources and a platform for sharing adaptation strategies.
ANDE conducts and supports research to answer critical questions for practitioners and funders in the SGB sector. Our Global Accelerator Learning Initiative, Knowledge Hub, SGB Evidence Fund, flagship publications including our State of the Sector reports and ecosystem snapshots, and other research activities fill knowledge gaps for SGB support organizations.
ANDE partners with donors to provide several funding opportunities to drive greater resources to organizations supporting SGBs in the developing world and ensure member expertise is leveraged efficiently. The funding is meant to spur more creative and collaborative investments in SGBs and uncover how SGBs contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals.
ANDE’s groups, including Learning Labs and Action Labs, are neutral convening spaces for diverse practitioners to share best practices and new research, discuss hot topics, and learn from one another. They also offer a venue for joint research or action on key issues. Most are open only to ANDE members.
"While studies have found that acceleration does, in the aggregate, have a positive effect on new venture growth, further investigation has shown that there is significant unmet need for financial capital, particularly in developing economies. Little investigation has been done on how accelerators (particularly those that do not invest in their ventures directly) make connections with finance providers and whether these efforts are effective. The Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI), a partnership between the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and Emory University, was created to explore questions such as these. Between 2013 – 2020, GALI partnered with dozens of accelerator programs to collect detailed data from entrepreneurs who applied to their respective application processes. These entrepreneurs, including those not selected into a program, were then resurveyed annually to gather valuable follow-up data about the status of their ventures over time. This knowledge brief explores GALI data from Central American startups, as well as qualitative insights from accelerators and finance providers."
To understand the network’s current level of support for climate entrepreneurship, ANDE identified which of its members work in climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience and mapped where and how this support is being provided. Data were collected between March and August 2021 through a survey of ANDE’s member organizations as well as supplementary desk research. While the analysis in this snapshot is static, the information is meant to serve as a catalyst for greater climate action in the SGB sector.
With support from The Lemelson Foundation, ANDE conducted interviews with 13 representatives from a select group of funders and impact investors to identify barriers to and opportunities for funding climate entrepreneurship. While not an exhaustive list of funders, these representatives provided practical insight on how climate entrepreneurship is seen among funders focused primarily on climate action and/or entrepreneurship and how greater funding could be allocated to the intersection.
No matter how bold our impact goals, if they can’t be measured, we’re building in the dark.
ANDE’s Career Center features job postings from ANDE members, the SGBs they support, and other stakeholders in the social sector.