David Auerbach and Ross McLean

Podcast Interview

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This week Yvette Torres-Rahman, Partnerships Director at Business Fights Poverty interviews Ross McLean, President of Dow in Sub-Saharan Africa and David Auerbach, Co-Founder of Sanergy.

Thanks to an introduction by Acumen, Sanergy who are tackling the sanitation crisis in Kenya have been able to work closely with Dow, a leading global chemical company.

Sanergy collects toilet waste and convert it into a pathogen free organic fertilizer. David explains how Dow have helped Sanergy develop their middle management and how introductions to some of their distributors have opened new distribution channels and given them credibility and reputation by association. Ross acknowledges that the partnership is also beneficial to Dow in a number of ways including helping them have better local knowledge and understanding on the ground.

Click on the interview audio above to hear their advice for others who are looking to engage in and benefit from skills partnerships, which includes finding adjacency in each other’s businesses and identifying what success looks like.

Collaboration can be tricky. Yasmina Zaidman, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Acumen joined the interview for some final thoughts on how social enterprises and global corporations realize the potential of partnerships. These include: How different strengths and weaknesses make them complimentary. How they can help each other strengthen channels for sourcing and distribution and how through venture partnerships they can create, invest and build enterprises together.

For more examples and analysis on collaboration between social enterprises and global corporations like Dow and Sanergy, download above the full report by Acumen and Business Fights Poverty.

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