We believe in the transformative power of people working together. Through exchange of knowledge, expertise, innovation and inspiration, we connect, empower and drive social change.
Work with us
Everyone benefits when knowledge and practice are shared, so our two interconnected strands of activity work together to expand the collective intelligence of the global social innovation community and help organisations prepare for the challenges ahead.
Field building
A programme of activities mobilising our expansive network of social innovation practitioners to connect, share, support and create shared visions for a better future.
Innovation Services
Expertise and knowledge of global innovative thinking and practice leveraged to build capacity, knowledge and skills within organisations to tackle complex challenges effectively, at speed.
Why and how of social innovation?
In the face of some of the world’s biggest challenges, fresh approaches and new ways of doing things are needed more than ever. As a result, the concept of social innovation has gained momentum. But it isn’t a new concept – people have always sought new and better ways of tackling social challenges.
Using innovation to address our biggest challenges is not a job for social sector organisations alone. Sometimes civil society provides the impetus for local, bottom-up, grassroots solutions. Governments can also take the lead, by including citizens in policy making, or working across departments to redesign processes and remove red tape. In other cases, finance and private enterprise lead the change.
At SIX, social innovation means taking a pluralist approach to solving society’s most complex challenges, using the best every sector has to offer. It often happens in between places and sectors. It involves people working together, bringing diverse experiences and perspectives.
What matters most, whether the innovation is coming from the public, private or third sector, or from a formal or informal institution, is that social innovation delivers new power relationships, disrupts the status quo, and delivers solutions that make a genuine and positive difference to people’s lives. We must empower people and equip them with the capabilities to play more active roles in their own lives, and in the decisions that affect them.
Our global reach
We worked worked with dozens of partners from governments, companies, foundations and NGOs, across 6 continents over the last 15 years. We’ve hosted hundreds of events, fed into policy agendas and developed programmes to advance new agendas. Learn about some of our work on the map below.
North America
South America
Australia
Europe
Africa
Turkey & MENA
Asia
More of our recent work
People powered change – Social Innovation Indaba in South Africa
In September 2024, SIX partnered with the University of the Free State to host the first global gathering of global social innovation leaders in Bloemfontein, South Africa. We discussed what it takes to build the collective power of communities to create thriving, resilient, people-powered places.
People powered change: Learnings from South Africa’s experience
Watch our online dialogue exploring people power change in South Africa with Vice-Chancellor and Principal Francis Petersen from the University of the Free State (UFS) and Dr. François Bonnici from the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
New report: Business for Good – Building the new normal with stakeholders
A new collaborative research exploring how businesses, specifically SMEs, can reinvent themselves by working together with stakeholders to build a ‘new normal’ that works for everyone in post pandemic Hong Kong. Download the report here.
Why funders should pay attention to democracy
From influencing policy, to championing communities to be better advocates for their own futures — Why funders should pay attention to democracy and how they can build collective power and influence, drive momentum and take action around long term systems change. Read our Retreat summary report here.
Get in touch to work with us