Social impact collaboration

Opportunity

Too few girls have the chance to see themselves as technology leaders and changemakers. The lack of visible role models makes it harder for girls to imagine themselves in positions of influence. Today, AI is changing the world. Without targeted support, there’s a real risk girls could be excluded from building the AI solutions that will shape the future of their communities. Given our deep AI experience, we looked for a scalable way to go all in to help our people upskill girls in the technologies that will define tomorrow.

Solution

TAIFA – a partnership EY joined, led by Technovation and UNICEF – aims to empower 25 million girls and young women with AI education, skills and technology by 2037. In the Technovation Girls program, business professionals mentor girls as they choose a problem to solve, learn to create an app and pitch their ideas in a global competition. Empowering young women to innovate creates a ripple effect that in turn benefits whole communities. As Technovation CEO Tara Chklovski emphasizes, “Our goal is to bring the most powerful, cutting-edge tools to the most vulnerable groups so that they can solve their own problems.”

In 2025, more than 33,000 young girls and women across 100 countries joined the program. In one of many program upskilling events, this time in Hyderabad, India, 150 volunteers from EY, ServiceNow and NVIDIA supported girls in solving pressing community challenges through presenting their AI-powered solutions.

From apps that help visually impaired pedestrians cross streets safely to tools breaking down language barriers in healthcare, these highly creative projects showcase the problem-solving skills of young women who are given space to innovate.

Impact

Ninety-seven percent of participants report an improvement in skills, with a majority seeing improvements in coding, leadership, teamwork, problem-solving and confidence. Eighty-seven percent of alumnae pursue or plan to pursue STEM degrees, and 81% say the program influenced their career choice.

For EY Ripples volunteers, the benefits are equally transformative: 83% report increased creativity in their workplace, by opening up their own horizons, and 75% say the experience improved their team-building skills. What begins as mentorship evolves into shared momentum, as both learners and mentors leave better equipped to shape the future with confidence.

Get involved with or learn more about this program.

Opportunity

Land degradation is one of the greatest threats to people, ecosystems and economies, with more than a quarter of the world’s land already degraded. As climate change accelerates, desertification and soil erosion are undermining food security, displacing communities and threatening biodiversity. Regreening — restoring degraded land through sustainable practices and community-led action — is one of the most powerful tools to fight global warming. It’s also a core strategy of EY Ripples to support regenerative environmental action. With deep knowledge across critical business functions, EY has mobilized its people to serve as coaches  to help sustainability startups scale their businesses and their regreening efforts.

Solution

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has multiple programs to support entrepreneurs focused on the promise of regreening. EY Ripples pairs EY professionals with participating entrepreneurs, serving as a sounding board to help these innovative organizations tackle key strategic challenges and pursue new growth opportunities.

UNCCD initiatives being supported by EY people include:

• Great Green Wall Accelerator – a comprehensive rural development initiative that includes support for sustainability startups focused on land restoration, soil conservation and enrichment, reforestation or afforestation and sustainable agricultural practices across 11 countries in the Sahel region of Africa.
• Youth Ecopreneur Programme – in partnership with the International Trade Centre and G20 Global Land Initiative, a global accelerator that empowers young entrepreneurs running land restoration and green businesses, helping to enhance their competitiveness and scale.

Impact

EY Ireland Manager, Vanessa Pulgarin, was paired with an inspiring young entrepreneur from Ghana, Theophilus Dumenyo, the founder of Ento Organics. Ento Organics is a lifeline for small-scale farmers in drought-prone areas, using precision agriculture and regenerative farming practices to build resilience and restore ecosystems. Through regular meetings over six months, Vanessa supported Theo in shaping his communications and stakeholder engagement strategy, mapping partnerships and strengthening his investment readiness. Together, they refined his company’s identity and approach to national and international stakeholders, such as local media and funding programs and prepared pitches to angel investors, nominations to the DG INTPA Youth Sounding Board in Ghana, and the submission of his Youth4Climate Financial Award 2024 Inception Report.

This example serves as a proof point that, when we bring together the public and private sector with entrepreneurs to accelerate social impact, the results can be transformative, unlocking visibility and confidence to scale climate-smart farming solutions that can lift thousands of smallholder farmers out of poverty.