Article

Scaling Impact Through Collaboration with Lisa Hawkes and Noshin Suleman

2026-09-24 · By Lisa Hawkes, Global Sustainability Senior Manager at Unilever; Noshin Suleman, Associate Director, Global Corporate Responsibility team at EY

Lisa Hawkes of Unilever and Noshin Suleman of EY share lessons from more than a decade of TRANSFORM, exploring how cross-sector partnerships can help impact enterprises scale. They highlight the importance of trust, locally led innovation, technical support, corporate networks and procurement pathways in turning promising social enterprises into sustainable, scalable solutions.

Meet Social Impact Pioneers, Lisa Hawkes, Global Sustainability Senior Manager at Unilever, and Noshin Suleman, Associate Director, Global Corporate Responsibility team at EY. In this article, they share insights from more than a decade of TRANSFORM, exploring what it takes to build effective cross-sector partnerships, support locally-led innovation and help impact enterprises move from promising ideas towards sustainable scale.

Social and environmental challenges rarely sit neatly within the remit of a single organisation. Businesses may bring market knowledge, networks and commercial expertise; governments and development organisations can contribute funding and development experience; while entrepreneurs often bring a deep understanding of the communities and markets they serve. Bringing those strengths together, however, requires more than simply forming a partnership.

TRANSFORM, a collaboration between Unilever, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and EY, offers lessons from more than a decade of putting this approach into practice. The programme has supported over 160 enterprise and research projects across 19 countries and reached more than 21 million lives.

As Lisa and Noshin explain, some of the most important work happens behind the scenes: establishing trust, governance and shared objectives; learning when to adapt rather than rigidly follow an initial plan; connecting entrepreneurs with the right expertise and networks; and creating pathways into corporate supply chains and public procurement.

Their experience also points towards a wider lesson for the social enterprise sector. Scaling impact is rarely about funding alone. Enterprises need different forms of support at different stages, while large organisations need to become more accessible to locally-led businesses and innovations.

Here are Lisa and Noshin’s thoughts:

1. Lisa, Looking back to the early days of the TRANSFORM programme, what were some of the biggest obstacles you faced, and what kept you going when progress felt uncertain?

Building an effective public-private partnership takes time and deliberate effort. In the early years of TRANSFORM, a major focus was on creating the foundations that would allow three different organisations to work as one team.

Unilever, FCDO and later EY each brought different priorities, cultures, processes and expertise. Recognising these differences as a strength, we invested in defining a shared purpose, clear governance structures and common ways of working that allowed us to benefit from our different perspectives while staying aligned on our goals. Over time, this helped create a distinct TRANSFORM culture grounded in trust, openness and a willingness to learn from one another.

The partnership also required significant work behind the scenes, from establishing financial and legal arrangements to agreeing decision-making processes and accountability structures. These foundations were critical to everything that followed.

What kept us going was the belief that no single organisation could solve complex social and environmental challenges alone. Time and again, we saw that the most promising solutions already existed within local communities, led by entrepreneurs with a deep understanding of the challenges they were trying to address. That sense of possibility, and the entrepreneurs behind it, kept us motivated.

1. Nosh, How has working with partners from different sectors, business, government and development organisations, helped accelerate TRANSFORM’s impact?

TRANSFORM’s strength lies in bringing together partners across the public and private sectors, each with its own unique contributions.

Unilever brought expertise in marketing, distribution and behaviour change to enterprises. FCDO offered flexible grant funding and insights in international development. EY provided technical assistance through advisory support, coaching and skills development workshops.

The value of this model is best seen through enterprise examples. Boost, a B2B digital platform serving small retailers in Africa, was connected to the biggest distributor in Nairobi through Unilever and received advice on pricing strategy from EY. This combination helped Boost secure commercial agreements when pitching to work with Unilever outside of TRANSFORM. Similarly, Alner, a refill enterprise in Indonesia, received TRANSFORM funding with EY consulting support and access to Unilever brands, helping it expand from a few hundred to more than 1,400 refill stations.

These examples reinforce one of TRANSFORM’s most important lessons: entrepreneurs need more than funding – they need an ecosystem of support that helps remove barriers to growth. That’s what helped accelerate TRANSFORM’s impact, reaching over 21 million lives.

1. Lisa, Collaboration is more important than ever during these times of cost restraints and climate crisis – TRANSFORM is all about collaboration. What have you learned about building successful partnerships, and what advice would you give other entrepreneurs looking to work with large organisations?

Strong partnerships are built on regular and open communication. It means recognising when something is not delivering results and discussing what the practical next steps are. This approach allows supporting organisations and enterprises to solve problems together, adjust quickly and avoid small challenges spiralling into larger issues.

Our experience with Powered by People, a B2BC wholesale platform that connects local artisans with international buyers, illustrates this well. Early in the project, the team identified barriers that had not been anticipated, including challenges around product photography and pricing. Rather than treating the original project plan as fixed, additional support was introduced, such as professional photography to improve product presentation and a pricing calculator to help artisans value their products more effectively. Adaptations like these are only possible when there is ongoing engagement from both sides.

For enterprises, it is also important to identify internal champions within large organisations who believe in the solution and can help navigate the complex structures and processes of a big business. Rather than aiming immediately for a large commercial agreement, look for opportunities to test the solution through a pilot. Small-scale trials help build evidence, credibility and relationships. Even if a partnership does not lead directly to a purchase agreement, the process can still be valuable. Many TRANSFORM enterprises gained a better understanding of procurement requirements, quality standards, pricing expectations and decision-making processes that later helped them secure opportunities elsewhere.

Large organisations are most likely to engage when there is a clear “give and get” for both parties. For entrepreneurs looking to work with large organisations, be ready to explain not only the social or environmental value of the solution, but also how it can help address a business objective, whether that is reaching new consumers, strengthening supply chains, testing innovation or advancing sustainability goals.

1. Lisa, Scaling impact is often much harder than proving an idea. What have been the key milestones in TRANSFORM’s journey from early innovation to reaching larger numbers of people, and what lessons have you learned about growth? (How do you scale and what advice do you have for others)

Over more than a decade, TRANSFORM has supported over 160 enterprise and research projects across 19 countries, reaching over 21 million lives.

A major milestone in our journey was shifting from a globally managed model towards a more localised approach. From 2023 onwards, regional teams increasingly led challenge design, sourcing and selection. As a result, 88% of enterprises selected by our local panels had at least one local founder, compared with 53% of those selected by a global panel. This helped us identify enterprises that were deeply rooted in their local markets and better aligned to community needs.

In East Africa, for example, we ran a challenge to identify new enterprises to receive funding and business support, with the whole process conducted in region. Among the winners was Gwiji – a digital platform that connects cleaners to jobs, supporting more than 3,350 women from low-income communities to increase their daily earnings. The enterprise has been very successful in adapting the business to local needs, including decentralising training to community locations and shifting from monthly to daily payments.

Another important lesson about growth is that there is no single pathway to scale. Entrepreneurs need different support at different stages of development. For some, the priority is refining a business model. For others, it is building supply chains, developing management systems, securing commercial contracts or attracting further investment. Scale happens when funding is combined with the right expertise, networks and partnerships at the right moment.

1. Nosh, Across the social enterprise sector, what emerging trends or innovations are you most excited about right now, particularly in relation to creating sustainable and inclusive development? (your top three trends that others aren’t seeing yet)

One trend that excites us is the continued rise of locally-led innovation. Increasingly, we are seeing solutions designed by people with a deep understanding of the communities they serve. For example, Nigerian enterprise Reeddi develops portable energy capsules, which fit the daily realities of off-grid communities. It also eliminates the expensive upfront cost barrier associated with accessing reliable electricity, one of the biggest barriers that limit people from switching away from petrol and diesel generators.

We’re also excited about the growing use of AI and digital tools to help organisations improve decision-making, optimise operations and reach underserved populations more efficiently.

Additionally, we see enormous, untapped potential in public procurement. Governments collectively spend $13 trillion each year, yet many impact enterprises still struggle to access public contracts. Too often, procurement systems prioritise the lowest cost and lowest risk options, making it difficult for innovative enterprises to compete, even when they deliver significant social and environmental value. Creating clearer pathways for impact enterprises, embedding social value into procurement decisions, and simplifying tendering processes could unlock a powerful new route to scale. Public-private partnerships can help accelerate this shift by co-designing registries and standards, piloting frameworks and outcome-based contracts, and financing supplier readiness so more impact enterprises can compete.

1. Nosh, As programmes like TRANSFORM conclude and leave a legacy of learning, what do you think needs to happen next to help more impact enterprises succeed and scale across Africa, Asia and other regions?

The future of social entrepreneurship should focus on having clearer pathways to scale. Too many impact enterprises are still excluded from larger markets because they struggle to access corporate supply chains, public procurement opportunities or long-term commercial partnerships. Making it easier for innovative enterprises to compete for these opportunities could be one of the most powerful ways to accelerate impact over the coming decade.

Sharing learnings has been a core focus of TRANSFORM for more than a decade. From events, webinars and podcasts to reports, toolkits, insight papers and beyond, we have sought to capture and share what works in supporting impact enterprises. As TRANSFORM concludes, we’re proud to distil all these into the TRANSFORM Playbook, a practical resource for others looking to build partnerships and support impact enterprises. We hope it is a useful tool for organisations and entrepreneurs to continue to collaborate, adapt and build on these lessons.

1. Lisa and Nosh, After everything you’ve learned on this journey, what is the one message you would like policymakers, businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs to take away about the power of collaboration for impact?

You don’t need to get everything right from the start or tackle every challenge at once. Building successful partnerships is an iterative process of testing, learning and adapting as you go. It’s important to have clear objectives and ensure everyone is aligned on what success looks like, but it’s equally important to recognise the strengths that each partner brings. The most effective collaborations are often those where organisations are willing to learn from one another, combine their expertise and work together to solve challenges that would be difficult to address alone.

Progress is rarely linear. For policymakers, businesses and entrepreneurs alike, our advice would be to start small, stay open to learning and focus on building trusted relationships.

In conclusion:

TRANSFORM’s experience demonstrates that collaboration for impact is not simply about bringing organisations together. It requires the deliberate work of aligning different priorities, building trust, creating clear governance and remaining willing to adapt when circumstances change.

For impact enterprises seeking to grow, three lessons stand out. First, funding is only one part of the journey. Access to expertise, corporate networks, technical support and commercial opportunities can be equally important in helping an enterprise overcome barriers to scale. Second, locally-led approaches can help ensure that solutions remain grounded in the realities of the communities and markets they serve. Third, partnerships with large organisations often develop incrementally: pilots, internal champions and a clear understanding of the value created for both sides can provide an important route towards deeper collaboration.

There is also a wider challenge for businesses, governments and development organisations. If impact enterprises are to reach significantly more people, they need clearer pathways into mainstream markets. Corporate supply chains, public procurement and long-term commercial partnerships can all become powerful mechanisms for impact when systems are designed to allow innovative enterprises to participate.

As Lisa and Noshin’s reflections suggest, there is no single formula for successful collaboration or scale. Progress is often iterative, and the support an enterprise needs will change as it develops. What matters is creating the conditions in which organisations can test ideas, learn openly, combine their different strengths and build trusted relationships over time.

A massive thank you to Lisa and Noshin for sharing their insights with us. Lisa and Noshin are part of the Business Fights Poverty community. Together we learn and share good practice on delivering business and social impact.

If you have feedback on this article or you too would like to be a part of the Social Impact Pioneers series, please do get in touch: editor@businessfightspoverty.org – we would love to hear from you.