1. The Social Enterprise Action Hub, which is an online meeting place, or web page platform, that helps social entrepreneurs, corporations, impact investors and policy makers to exchange information and engage in partnerships. This platform enables companies on the Social Enterprise Action Hub to apply for financing from accredited investors, institutions, and government agencies.

2. The Collaboration Labs Connect, which links social enterprises and organizations of all sizes in interactive sessions. During the interactive sessions, stakeholders develop and refine solutions to current challenges, with the goal of deploying the business models developed.

3. The Partnership in Action Research Groups. The goal of this component is to disseminate knowledge about corporate social enterprise partnership best practices through webinars.

As of today, there are 156 countries with different global compact business participants (25% of Fortune 500 companies are signatories). 18,000 firms in the network trade on 16 partner Sustainable Stock Exchanges – a global sister initiative. 500 business schools have endorsed the principles of responsible management education, also a global compact sister initiative. There are US$45 trillion in assets under management, using the principles for responsible investment (a global compact sister initiative). In 2015, there was a survey that evaluated the efficacy of the program. 50% of survey respondents stated that the network has played a significant role in shaping their company’s vision, and 60% reported that it has played a significant role in guiding their sustainability outcomes and in motivating the company to take action towards broader goals. 17% of large survey respondents demanded their suppliers to adhere to the global compact network.

# **_4.8. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)_**

The IDB has been managing the Social Entrepreneurship Program since 1985 covering the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions. Under the program, the IDB provides technical assistance, loans, and grants to social enterprises that demonstrate innovative and sustainable solutions to alleviate poverty and unemployment. Projects financed are, mainly, small rural producers from marginalized communities. Projects funded are pilot initiatives that can be scaled up, thus providing a demonstration effect in providing essential services to needy populations. Under this program, the IDB provides, approximately, US$10 million annually to different projects in 26 countries. The reimbursable (loan) component for each social enterprise is up to US$1 million. Moreover, the average loan size is approximately US$700,000. The repayment period for these loans is up to 10 years, with a maximum grace period equivalent to the time of execution of the project (between 36 and 42 months). The interest rate on the loans depends on the characteristics of the project. The technical assistance component provides non-reimbursable funds for strengthening the technical, operational, or administrative capacity of social enterprises. In most cases, the maximum amount of funds for technical assistance in a project is US$250,000. Since its inception, there have been 645 direct beneficiaries (social enterprises) and 625,000 indirect beneficiaries (consumers, workers, clients). The IDB carries out impact evaluations for each project independently and regularly. Impact evaluations provide evidence of concrete changes seen in project beneficiaries attributed to project activities. These evaluations produce valuable insights and evidence to help expand, enhance or redirect their programs.

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