By Bahar Kumar
In May, we were thrilled to meet up with over 50 other Impact Hubs at the Global Retreat off the coast of Portugal not far from Lisbon. At this meeting we were officially ushered into the network through a lovely ritual of being gifted the Impact Hub Manifesto along with some Asian treats. The main purpose for being present at the retreat was to foster meaningful connections and really experience what the Impact Hub culture is all about. The aim was to explore possible partnerships so that we can truly leverage what this global network has to offer for our innovators and social entrepreneurs.
Celebrating with some of our Asia Pacific (APAC) Hubs – Stephanie Arrowsmith APAC Director who founded IH Jakarta, Melanie Mossard from IH Phnom Penh, myself & Shazeeb Khairul from IH Dhaka
What we found was an immensely open community, gracious with all their learnings and assets, ready to bring their best practices to Nepal, but to also pull from our experiences and priorities to work towards being equitable and inclusive. I have to be honest – the Global South was not well represented – but these are change-makers who are aware of this challenge and hungry to engage with our communities.
The Impact Hub Network Co-Manifesto – so powerful and inspiring!
It was a treat to meet face-to-face with so many of the Makers (those who work at Impact Hubs) who supported us during our onboarding process. And what an affirmation to hear from Beate Weinzinger the Growth Leader at Impact Hub Global, that Kathmandu was the strongest hub to enter the network in 2021!
Connecting with members of Impact Hub Global – including Beate & Tatiana Glad, Executive Director
The retreat was a space to reflect personally, professionally, and as a larger global community. We deeply looked at the state of the network and celebrated the fact that more than 50% of Impact Hubs are now led by women – woohoo!… but how inclusive really is Impact Hub in our respective communities? Do this brand and image pull in the critical change-makers we need to bring along on this journey to truly build impact at scale? If not, how do we do that? And instead of reaching 1 Million impact makers by 2030, can we boldly raise our ambition to reach 1 Billion instead? What do we mean by reaching them, and what is our role in taking their work to the next level?
We bring back with us new friendships, new learnings, and immense inspiration to bring impact to scale to Nepal. From exploring how to work with Brazil’s model to support micro-SMEs and Impact Hub Harrare’s program on Circularity – the opportunities and collaborations are endless!
Check out our new Impact Hub Kathmandu website to see how you can #JointheJourney to bring impact at scale to your community!
