The Million Lives Club (MLC), a global initiative that celebrates innovators and social entrepreneurs who are making a significant impact in addressing global development challenges, has recognised Partners for Possibility (PfP) the flagship programme of Symphonia for South Africa (SSA) as an official member of its Vanguard cohort. Vanguard members have successfully scaled their solutions to serve over 1 million people living on less than $5 a day.
On receiving the news, PfP Founder and CEO of SSA, Louise van Rhyn, said: ‘’The PfP community is elated to learn of PfP’s inclusion as a Vanguard member of the Million Lives Club initiative.
“We are humbled by this latest validation of the PfP programme as an innovative, creative solution that has and continues to have a transformative impact on the lives of our participants and their respective communities.
“Of course, we are excited about the many prospects and opportunities that come with being a Vanguard member such as greater visibility, shared learning and the funding opportunities. At the same time, we realise that a recognition of this nature and its associated benefits come with great responsibility. We are now, more than ever, determined to reach more of South Africa’s 20,000 under-resourced schools, thereby impacting more lives for the better.’’
PfP partners principals from under-resourced schools with business leaders in a year-long, collaborative and practical journey. Since 2011, the programme has benefitted over 1,300 schools in every province of South Africa by strengthening the leadership of school principals whose influence on the quality of teaching and learning in the school is pivotal. To date, this process has transformed the lives of over 1 million learners.
This announcement crowns a year of celebration, reflection and growth for the programmeas it marks 10 years ofenabling co-action, co-learning partnerships. From the pioneering pairing of Van Rhyn and Principal Ridwan Samodien, PfP has evolved into a catalyst for cross-sectoral collaboration, nation-building, ecosystem strengthening and the development of resilient, socially-conscious, empathic and inclusive leaders in both the public and private sectors.
The MLC recognises the importance of a customer-centric focus in global development and believes that highlighting social innovators who have reached transformative numbers of people is a powerful way to encourage the uptake and scaling of innovations for global good, everywhere.
The club’s recognition of social entrepreneurs whose innovations have reached a million people, or are rapidly approaching that milestone, helps to nurture innovation ecosystems. The initiative is inspired by members of the International Development Innovation Alliance(IDIA) and is supported by a growing partnershipof leading development organisations.
