emlyon and Ashoka France establish a partnership to train a new generation of entrepreneurs for change
emlyon business school and Ashoka announce the signing of an ambitious partnership to train a new generation of entrepreneurs for change. The partnership, initially signed for a duration of three years, aims to enhance educational curricula on social entrepreneurship within emlyon, design experiential learning opportunities, and feed research work on the subject.
A Joint Commitment to Support Students in Their Aspirations For A Fairer Society
73% of young people express growing concern about the current environmental situation. According to a study conducted by Ashoka, a pioneering NGO in systemic change, nearly 70% of social entrepreneurs supported by Ashoka began their journey as change agents before the age of 21. To address this major aspiration of young people, Ashoka and emlyon business school are joining forces to strengthen student training in impact entrepreneurship, in line with emlyon's commitments as a Mission-Driven Company since 2021.
Through this partnership signed for three years, emlyon business school and Ashoka aim to train a new generation of change entrepreneurs capable of providing systemic responses to major contemporary challenges. The partnership aims to help students identify concrete levers to transform this willingness into action during their educational journey, a pivotal period during which their commitments shape. The partnership is based on three fundamental pillars:
Strengthening Existing Educational Curricula, at emlyon in social entrepreneurship, particularly within the Grande Ecole Program, the Global BBA, the Specialized Master in Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management, and Executive Education Programs, through:
Enrichment of pedagogical programs on social entrepreneurship, leveraging Ashoka's expertise in the social and solidarity economy (ESS): scaling support, systemic change training, and initiation into co-creation mechanisms.
Interventions by Ashoka fellows, inspiring social entrepreneurs, to share their experiences and illustrate the realities of the social and solidarity economy with students.
Designing Experiential Learning Opportunities:
Developing innovative educational projects with students and the pedagogical body allows them to move from theory to action: courses, entrepreneurial projects, and a serious game module.
Creating a Dedicated Track in Social Entrepreneurship: at emlyon venture labs, the incubator-accelerator integrated within emlyon for over 40 years.
Using the Partnership as a Research Lever:
The shared willingness of emlyon business school and Ashoka, as well as its fellows' network, to make it a field of experimentation and analysis.
A structuring collaboration at the service of action and social innovation.
This partnership between emlyon business school and Ashoka aligns with the strategy of both institutions who share a strong conviction: it is urgent to encourage the emergence of a new generation of enlightened and engaged leaders, capable of designing solutions that transform organizations: Ashoka develops, alongside supporting its fellows' network (social entrepreneurs supported by the NGO), dedicated programs for youth to help each young person reveal their power to act and build an impactful trajectory.
In its strategic plan "Resonances," emlyon committed to integrating competencies related to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in 100% of its courses through the "SDG inside" methodology developed by researchers from the School.
At a time when the question of the planet's habitability constitutes the major challenge, we are convinced that business schools have an essential role to play in training professionals who can act consciously to tackle the major socio-environmental issues; be it the scarcity of natural resources, biodiversity, climate change, inequalities, and inclusion. We believe it is crucial to combine performance and positive impacts. emlyon has made this strong commitment for several years, and this partnership with Ashoka fits perfectly into this perspective.
This partnership with emlyon marks a key stage in spreading a culture of engagement and transforming our models through social entrepreneurship dear to Ashoka. Together, we aim to train a new generation of leaders and changemakers capable of changing the rules of the game to build a fairer and more sustainable society.