April is the month for Annual Meetings. This year was particularly interesting as we welcomed four new board members to SE Forum, all with strong experience spanning corporate law to the Sustainable Development Goals. Combined with the Swedish Government’s new strategy for the social entrepreneurship sector, it’s been a motivating month.

This new line-up means SE Forum is taking another step in developing and strengthening our ever-growing ecosystem of professionals who are passionate about using business for good. Positive change will accelerate when all sectors are engaged and with our new recruits we are expanding our reach and expertise.

New perspectives

It’s not to underestimate the insights you gain with new perspectives. Something I’ve certainly enjoyed while meeting with the new board members. For one of the new board members, Katarina Strandberg, the start of the SE Forum journey will be particularly exciting as she’s joining parts of the team on a trip to New York visiting our partner Seeds of Peace and its 25th anniversary celebrations. During the trip we’ll meet with Seeds of Peace staff and board members but also a range of external players such as the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and various investors and social entrepreneurs located in New York. Katarina with her vast network and expertise within corporate law will be a great asset as well as a fun travel companion I’m sure!

In next month’s letter and newsletter we’ll share more about the New York experience involving an American style 700 people Gala, a Symposium at Facebook HQ and future planning for the partnership. We are certainly looking forward to a packed week in the Big Apple!

Building the sector

In other news we are focusing on the Government’s strategy for the social entrepreneurship sector in Sweden and exploring how we can contribute to systematically build a strong sector with positive impact. This is important work that Tillväxtverket and Vinnova (Swedish agencies for business and innovation) are leading, and I’, sure we’ll get a reason to share more about this work in the upcoming months.

Until next time,

Nick

Photo credit: Stina Svanberg