Portrait of a Latin American Vet talking to a farmer about his cows at a livestock farm - farming concepts

How entrepreneurs solve the world’s toughest problems

In this episode of the Better Heroes podcast, host Matt C. Smith talks to Édgar Sánchez and Camila Escallón on how impact entrepreneurs can help solve the world’s toughest challenges.

Key takeaways:

Through the EY Ripples program, EY professionals work with impact entrepreneurs in-person or virtually, offering support to help improve their businesses’ resilience, productivity and capacity to scale sustainably.
Led by Unilever, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and EY, TRANSFORM is a program that unites corporates, donors, investors and academics to support visionary impact enterprises. Working together, we test and scale new solutions that tackle environmental challenges, improve health and wellbeing, and build inclusive economies across Africa, South Asia and beyond.

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For your convenience, full text transcript of this podcast is also available.

Please remember conversations during EY podcasts should not be relied upon as accounting, tax, legal investment, nor other professional advice, listeners must consult their own advisors.

Édgar Sánchez

The thing that gives me hope is that I feel very passionate about this, and I see the potential, I see the resilience in countries like Colombia and in Latin America. I mean, there's a whole new generation which is looking for opportunities.

Camila Escallón

We are not in this alone. I'm a big fan of organizations that believe in shared values to join forces for a solution. It is TRANSFORM today. It may be other things tomorrow, but the joining power is joining forces and finding people that are willing to do the work. That's what gives me hope.

Matt C. Smith

Truth is, humanity can save itself and our planet. And right at this very moment, there’s someone who took on the challenge — and is on a path to solving an incredibly tough, global problem. This podcast was created to tell you about them.
You’re listening to Better Heroes, a show from the global EY organization about the untold stories of entrepreneurs devoting their lives to impactful innovation. I’m your host, Matt Smith.

Episode Intro

Our whole show is about the impact of purposeful entrepreneurship. Each of our Better Heroes is passionate about making a difference through their social enterprise. We’ve spoken with entrepreneurs who are pioneers in translation, agriculture, technology and so many other industries.
But there are also people who are facilitating entrepreneurship. People who are helping social impact entrepreneurs become Better Heroes. Édgar Sánchez is the EY Colombia country managing partner and the EY Latin America North Talent Leader. Camila Escallón is a Corporate Affairs and Communications senior manager in the Andean Region at Unilever.
Unilever and EY, together with the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), have collaborated on a project to support impact enterprises. The initiative is called TRANSFORM. But before we hear about all the great work that TRANSFORM is doing, we’ll hear from Camilla and Edgar about why they’re passionate about supporting impact entrepreneurs.

Escallón

I would say that the first thing that influenced my career was my family. And I'm going to talk about my grandparents. The four of them had a very strong social mission. They were my inspiration in making sure that whatever I did for work had an impact on my country and the communities close to me. So, I would say that was a big influence on the more traditional side, there was my school. I went to Notre Dame in the United States, and there's a very strong social mission and we're taught to care for others. And whatever we choose as our profession to help to make sure to have an impact.

Smith

We've seen a common thread across this podcast with our guests having had a real kind of strong family influence towards impact and sort of creating a greater good, this utilitarian perspective, if you will. Édgar, did you have a similar upbringing? What led you to your career in financial services moving into the EY world? Tell us a little bit about the background.

Sánchez

Both my parents are from Colombia. I was born here, but when I was three, we moved outside of Colombia for the first time. My father started working for the UN, usually around the peacekeeping missions and other aid missions. So, it was traveling around first to Costa Rica and then all the way across the world to Israel, India, Pakistan and it just didn't stop there, eight countries until I finally graduated from college and then came back to Colombia. But having been exposed to so many cultures, I think it was in a lot of them, there was a lot of social turmoil and economic turmoil, and a lot of challenges for populations in those countries. And I just guess I grew up sensitized to a lot of that now. I never imagined later on becoming a consultant and even a consultant for financial services. But I guess it was just one of those things where life starts taking you somewhere. So, I've done consulting for maybe the past 30 years and for the past eight years, that diligence leading in Colombia, I've gotten very involved in entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. And, you know, it's a way of giving back to the communities where we work. It's a way also of trying to make a change in the world, trying to make an impact, and recognizing that impact. I think this is through self-awareness also. So, it's been a journey. I've been a mentor for Endeavor for almost ten years now. And, the global EY organization has encouraged a lot of our people around the world to become more involved with social entrepreneurs.

Smith

So obviously Camilla Édgar, both Colombians working in supporting the ecosystem there. Still to this day, even though you've worked around the world with various international organizations coming home to, feed back into the ecosystem, as you've both said. But that's not the case for the majority of Colombians, right? And when it comes to sort of the employment and workspaces, opportunities aren't dime a dozen as they are in other parts of the world as they are. So, I'm curious about the progress you've seen in the process of creating jobs and job creation for individuals in Latin America. Édgar, where are we? What's the status right now is sort of job creation in the Latin American markets?

Sánchez

Well, you know, in the past few years, I wish the news were better in terms of, you know, we're just coming out of a pandemic. I think most of the economies in Latin America are trying to rebuild and get back to the levels that, you know, we traditionally had now. So, two things. One of them is, I think Latin America has been making a lot of progress, although the challenges still remain. I mean, we have growing populations, growing urban populations, which are demanding more services, are demanding more of them from populations that are usually also very underserved. And so, this has created a crunch of not being able to provide enough jobs or create enough jobs in the sense that serves more of the segments of our populations. Also in Colombia, for example, we've had a large number of migrants from neighboring Venezuela coming into the country that compounded the need for more jobs. Even though jobs have been created, it hasn't happened at the pace that we need them to. So, it'll be migration, even internal migration from the countryside into the cities. Migration from Venezuela into Colombia. But we also need more education, not necessarily university-style education, but maybe more practical programs that can be easily inserted into the economies. So, I think the challenges still remain regardless of the pandemic. It is a difficult cocktail to take in.

Smith

Thanks, Édgar. Camilla, I'm curious. What have been some of the biggest challenges you've seen for individuals to gain employment in developing countries such as yours?

Escallón

Well, it's not only employment, I would say it's opportunities because one thing is getting a job and being hired by someone, but the other is the ecosystem that allows you to be an entrepreneur, to have your own company or even your own way to make a living. And part of the challenge is changing the reality where you're born. One thing that I believe that is incredibly unfair, and that is still true in Colombia, in our country, is that if you're not born with a set of opportunities, it's very difficult for you to reach them. And the background that you have may define your future. And I think that's where we as companies, be in our conversations like the one we're having here, is changing that. How can we facilitate those opportunities for those that don't have them today and change that vicious cycle? I think that's where the challenge lies.

Smith

It's an interesting point. I come from South Africa, so I'm quite familiar with that developing world and developing nation issue of unemployment. However, you hit an interesting point that goes around creating entrepreneurs because we tend to look at an entrepreneur as an individual who can do something innovative or doesn't even have to be innovative, just has to do something that creates a business. In any sector, any area, whether it be digital or not, right? So, I mean, you still struggle when you innovate, but a lot of young people are creating businesses, and becoming entrepreneurs. And I'm just curious about the role of technology in this shift. What role has technology taken in that shift, Édgar, at least in Colombia and Latin American markets?

Sánchez

A really interesting question. You know, I think we tend to associate the entrepreneurs currently. We need to be, you know, digital entrepreneurs. It's usually associated to two and a half or it's usually associated with technology. And that might be the case for a significant number of entrepreneurship. But I think sometimes we're also missing out on the other part of traditional entrepreneurship, which was, look, there's a lot of stuff going on in the world that is not already or hasn't reached the level of technology. For example, just last week through another nonprofit organization that we participate here in Colombia, a group of young people who were usually going out on the weekend for treks near the city, were getting robbed every time they went just outside the city. And, you know, the first thing that came up to them was, look, we've got to get the police involved so that we don't get robbed as frequently. But they're not coming up with an idea of why we are getting robbed. Because there is a group of people that don't have any opportunities and that's basically the way they're making a living. So, they went back and managed to get in touch with these people that were actually robbing them on previous occasions and then they set up a foundation to make them forest keepers and to make them guides into those treks that they were making near the city. And that involves no technology at first. So that's part of the things that sometimes are missing.

Smith

Innovation and entrepreneurship doesn’t have to mean creating the next big app or social media platform. It means recognizing a gap or an issue and doing something to solve it. In Édgar’s example, the hikers realized that people outside of the city needed meaningful employment. Now that they’ve recognized a problem and have come up with a solution, they can start to use technology to facilitate their social enterprise.

Sánchez

I think it's a powerful combination when you have an idea that transforms human lives. But you're able to combine it with technology to make it simpler. So, for me, innovation is not about, you know, coming up with a massive type of solution. It's just sometimes applying solutions that we see somewhere else for new problems or for problems that usually nobody cared for in the same way.

Smith

You kind of hit the nail on the head there. It's about organizations such as yourselves creating that platform, that educational bridge, if you will, between those who work in those organizations and those communities both in and outside of the urban areas of your country. So, on that note, I'm curious about what organizations like yours, EY, and Unilever, what role are you meant to play? What is the sort of expectation from the market for you to create and contribute to these opportunities and get maybe kick off with you?

Sánchez

As a service organization, EY teams provide professional services to clients all over the world. So, when you put it this way, they are usually helping companies that are really successful become more successful. Right? I would say that happens maybe more than half the time. But I think, we also put it in our purpose. And so, what is EY’s purpose? It's helping to build a better working world. Sometimes I just leave it help to build a better world, because that’s something that should be the basis for almost anything that we do. We’re not in a vacuum where we don't exist, you know, just as isolated entities. And I think the success, the collective success is really important for anything to thrive. So, the organization has basically put it at the center of its purpose, its ambition to be able to measure how it is giving back to the communities.

Escallón

I would like to add a little bit to Edgar's point on what our role as companies is. And it's very interesting because the name Unilever or the brand Unilever opens doors. And I think once we have those doors open, we also have the ability to make connections. And this is connections with other companies that share our values. This is connections with the government, with very relevant NGOs. And through those connections, we build a platform. And our role as companies is precisely to make those platforms available for those who need them and give them the visibility. A brand like Unilever, or a brand like EY, many people know what it is. We're already visible. It's sharing that spotlight and shining that light on those companies and those people that deserve it.

Smith

Camilla TRANSFORM. This is an interesting initiative, which is a collaboration between EY and Unilever and the FCDO. Tell us a little bit more about TRANSFORM.

Escallón

We are making an effort to identify social or impact enterprises with a very high potential and giving them the tools to succeed. Most small and medium companies actually fail. And what we're trying to do is give them better resilience, productivity, and a capacity to scale. That's the core of the program. What makes it very special, too, is our allies. We make sure that it's people and companies and organizations that share our values, and we end up providing a collective platform instead of just Unilever being, oh, hey, let's do this. Transforming something where it's not just Unilever, it's a series of organizations that come together precisely to give social enterprises a chance.

Smith

So, talk me through the sort of the user journey of TRANSFORM, if you will. How does the average individual in Colombia get involved or elsewhere in such a program? And where do you meet me? What part of the journey amidst rural, urban, where am I based and what am I doing? And how do you sort of take me on the journey to create positive change, I guess, in my entrepreneurial journey and in my benefiting community around me?

Escallón

So, what happens is we will open the program, make it public by sharing it in the news, but also with organizations that we know are aware of this social enterprise and we ask for proposals. We receive actually more than 200 in this first round, and we then provide them with this flexible capital for them to make possible their next step within their organization.
Smith: Some quick background information on TRANSFORM. TRANSFORM provides funding and bespoke business support to deliver market-based solutions to the world’s biggest development challenges. TRANSFORM is a unique, joint initiative between Unilever, the FCDO and EY. Since 2015, TRANSFORM has supported over 61 projects across 17 countries around the world, impacting the lives of over 7 million people. TRANSFORM recently launched in Colombia.
Escallón: So, I am not providing a very concrete journey, which is part of the benefit of TRANSFORM which is its flexibility and how we make it work in the reality of the country we work in.

Smith

And having a localized approach, we've learned this is very important when introducing some kind of product or platform that is there to provide resources. Édgar, I'm curious about, you know, so you meet me at wherever I am in my entrepreneurial journey right along the services. And to your point, like you mentioned, why is helping successful businesses become more successful? Right? Do those services translate? I mean, how do you actually work with me and how do you make me more successful? Discover and unlock my potential.

Sánchez

Well, this is where we leverage all the experience that we're gathering all over the world, not only with those really large companies, but also with our own set of entrepreneurs where we look what's working around the world, what is it looking into working in the region and what has worked locally. So, none of these are the same. But I do think there are some fundamentals that have worked all over the world now, for example, TRANSFORM, began with Africa, and Southeast Asia. How do you bring that to Latin America? You know, you can say yes, different cultures, but I think some of the basic needs and challenges are the same. So, we tweak some of the things and we try to find the right fit to see where we can make people more successful. So, for example, I think, you know, adding on to what Camilla was saying, how we are selecting the entrepreneurs or these companies that are, you know, have the potential to, it's basically through five criteria. And in this, we're very much, you know, 200% aligned with Unilever and EY, one of them is who is targeting and who is the priority here. So, for example Camila was mentioning the migrants in this stage in Colombia. That's one of the things that we're targeting, looking at how do we make an impact on the migrant population and be able to provide them with stability, with a job, with income, with a future. I think that was really important.

Smith

To choose which companies to support through TRANSFORM, Edgar says impact, scalability, commitment, innovation, and the effectiveness of training are all considered.

Sánchez

They say, look, here's a real tangible market or product that can be put into the market with the other skills and the advice and consulting that they need to take it to the next level. So that's what we do. We sit down, roll up our sleeves and say: Where are you? Where would you like to be? Where do you feel that you need to develop more skills or do more training? That is the flexible part of the flexible funding point that Camilla was talking about and is really important because we have to trust that the entrepreneur knows where he wants to put that funding. So, you put a few things out there. It's a combination of those. I wish there was just one thing, to make it much easier, but it’s a combination.

Smith

I'm curious about an example. I mean, maybe commit it. Can you give us an example of one of the solutions you've worked with that helps grow and creates?

Escallón

Well, one of our chosen enterprises in Colombia is called our Conceptos Plasticos. And what was great about this is one yes is that they won the spot in the selection process. But that's just step one. Step two is precisely identifying those capabilities that they’re lacking or that they need some support in and getting those from our collaborators. So, it's fantastic to have EY teams on the platform because they can help them with the business model, testing, and refining. Unilever helps them with marketing, procurement, and chain. So, these companies end up getting some of the best professionals in the world helping them grow their business. In this precise case of Conceptos Plasticos, they're looking for solutions for the plastics problem in Colombia, especially recyclability. And they're looking to add the social aspect of this. Many of the people that are in charge of the recycling processes in the country do it as their means of survival of existing. It's communities of people or associations that are in charge of this process. So, looking at the social aspect behind recycling and behind this environmental necessity is one of the things that they are doing in a great way and that we're very interested in being able to support. So, we're expecting big things from them, and we hope that this provides them with the support they need to scale.

Sánchez

We're at the initial stages of TRANSFORM in Colombia. The idea is to replicate the success of the program that's had elsewhere in the world. And, you know, so we're excited, for example, about Conceptos Plasticos, because it's about a value chain free recycling, for example, you know, Conceptos Plasticos is, in Spanish, you know, literally plastic contents. Right. So, what do you do with plastic? What can you do with all the plastic that's being generated currently which, includes all these, what we call PET plastics. And one of the ideas is, just to give you an example, how do we make bricks out of recycled plastics. Now, how do we get the recycled plastic? We get them off the streets. Right. In Latin America, people are just picking up all the plastic all over the city wherever they can find them. Now, if we can, put all these people together, you know, have somebody who can buy the plastic, you know, in a frequent and a very rational way then that takes care of part of the cycle. But then you need to build the places where you can manufacture them. So that's going to create also maybe some opportunities for people that are recycling, that are picking up the plastic. And eventually, you can use that plastic brick to build, for example, schools in rural areas.

Smith

It’s truly unique how widespread the impact of one social enterprise can be. In this case, one initiative could have benefits for the environment, employment, education, and the economy.

Sánchez

So, you can see it's a whole virtuous cycle, which is really exciting to see that some of you know, it's just, you know, weeks ago garbage, is becoming is contributing value to all of society at each step of the way.

Smith

It's creating these green jobs. We like to use the term, right. The ancillary knock-on benefits of an entrepreneur creating a solution for a problem. I'm curious because in this case of Plastic Concepts, as they are. The impact angle, just the angle that supports the environment, the sustainability angle. You have quite a unique role if you are interjecting and supporting entrepreneurs at a specific point in their journeys. So how do you point them in the right direction to consider and in the case of these businesses, create cyclical business models that can have ancillary benefits outside of just that core benefit?

Escallón

One thing that is really impactful about this whole thing is that it is precisely a platform, and it is a community, and Édgar was sharing that. This is the first time we would bring TRANSFORM to Latin America. We're very proud that Colombia is that first country where it's at. But Conceptos Plasticos and every other social enterprise actually make part of that TRANSFORM community. And they are able to connect with success cases in Bangladesh, Kenya, and in other parts of Asia, Africa, and speak with other people that are facing similar challenges and in realities that may be very different, but that have surprising similarities. And with that community find that answer, on the one hand, the community that comes out from the group of social enterprises that is supported by what's TRANSFORM. And on the other side, all that knowledge and EY is not participating in TRANSFORM only in Colombia, they're participating in all of these countries. So, imagine that information, that community, that talent that comes from that network.

Smith

I can imagine it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, right? The better you do, the larger it gets, the more feedback, the more knowledge sharing, and the more thought leadership recycles back into the platform itself. You mentioned something earlier, an interesting comment about the diversity and inclusion angle. Obviously, the example now working with Venezuelan people crossing the borders into Colombia, trying to find work and therefore, you know what, using your platform, creating opportunities through the two of you. But how do you place diversity and inclusion as one of the key factors in your platform working with these types of entrepreneurs?

Escallón

Well, on the one hand, there's something we highlight to the entrepreneurs themselves, and that is, that diversity has to be at the center of what they do because we actually believe you need that to be competitive. Being diverse is now something that is not a nice to have. It's a prerequisite to your success. So, I think that makes part of the DNA of TRANSFORM and going a little wider on our talent at Unilever, we have this beautiful thing of the company where every person defines their purpose and you go through the exercise and make sure that it's something that you live in your job, but also beyond. And we tend to attract people that care a lot about their purpose precisely, about sustainability and about having an impact and making diversity a part of our company. And a part of what we do with initiatives like TRANSFORM means that they have opportunities to volunteer and to give back in areas that they care for.

Smith

It's interesting because we started the conversation with trying to create employment opportunities in Colombia and other nations, of course, right, using your model, TRANSFORM and replicating that blueprint elsewhere. And that is working. You are creating and supporting and influencing those opportunities with the right values, but also those opportunities are now feeding back into your organizations respectively, and helping both organizations be better places to work, be more interesting places to work, and have more impacts from your own corporate aspects of things. What else gives you hope in the changing landscape in developing countries around employment?

Escallón

What gives me hope, Matt, is that we're not in this alone. I'm a big fan of organizations that I believe in and that we shared values with to join forces for a solution. It is TRANSFORM today. It may be other things tomorrow, but the joining power is joining forces and finding people that are willing to do the work. That's what gives me hope.

Smith

Édgar.

Sánchez

Well, first I think there's the first thing that gives me hope is that I feel very passionate about this. And I see the potential, I see the resilience in countries like Colombia and in Latin America. I mean, there's a whole new generation which is looking for opportunities. I mean, how do we face them as private companies? How do we work with government entities to develop things that are forward-looking, you know, but are also multipliers of well-being, of a livelihood. Combination of potential versus the resilience that we see every day in our cities. That's just amazing. That's why I love to get involved in this. And that's why I think this has made such an impact on me in the past decade.

Smith

But I mean, the evidence, the proof is in the pudding, as we say. Right. The evidence is that you look at the solutions coming out of the TRANSFORM platform to date. Lastly, if I am someone who is interested, maybe you're listening to this and you're like, TRANSFORM, how do I get involved? How can I apply? How can I get access to commit to fill me? And where do I go? What do I do? How do I take part and transform?

Escallón

Well, the process is still open, and we invite people to go to our home page on TRANSFORM.Global. And this is people in Colombia, but also people in other parts of the world that may be listening and the different bids that are open will be posted there in Colombia. As I mentioned before, we've received over 200 applications, but we're still looking for ideas and there is still room for the great entrepreneurs that are listening to work with us. And I would say that this is ongoing. And my invitation will also be to collaborators that are interested in funding this initiative and interested in joining the EY organization and Unilever in making this platform work in Colombia because we don't want to stop in at this first initiative. We want to keep going and we want to join forces with all those organizations that share our purpose and are willing to do the work to make the difference.

Smith

Thanks, Camilla. Open application. Get involved if that's you. If you're listening to this and you're curious about it, go check it out. TRANSFORM.Global and even just go to check out the different solutions that have been created. It's quite inspiring to see some of the products and specifically some of the people and see what they're doing in their local markets. So that's it. Two fantastic, Better Heroes. Thank you so much. Édgar, Camilla for joining us.
Thank you all for joining me on this episode of Better Heroes. You can learn more about Édgar at EY.com and about Camilla and Transform at TRANSFORM.Global. And you can learn more about EY Ripples and all of our impact entrepreneurs at www.ey.com/eyripples. Links are in our show notes.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast, Better Heroes wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also rate and leave our show a review to help others find out about the amazing work of our impact entrepreneurs. Before we go, we’d like to thank our podcast producers Hueman Group Media, who helped us bring this show to life (pronounced ‘human’).
That’s it for today’s episode. We’ll be back next week.

Music

Better Heroes is a project of EY Ripples, a global program to mobilize people across the EY network to help solve the world's most urgent social and environmental challenges. By extending EY skills, knowledge and experience to impact entrepreneurs on a not-for-profit basis and forging collaborations with like-minded organizations, EY Ripples is helping scale new technologies and business models that are purposefully driving progress toward the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals.
The views of third parties set out in this podcast are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Presenters

Matt C Smith

Professional MC, Broadcaster & Host, The Lunicorn

Camila Escallón

Communications and Corporate Affairs Senior Manager, Unilever

Édgar Sánchez

EY Colombia Country Managing Partner; EY Latam North Talent Leader

Podcast

Episode 8

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34m 39s

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EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

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How entrepreneurs solve the world’s toughest problems

Key takeaways:

Matt C Smith

Camila Escallón

Édgar Sánchez

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