How Can We Centre Co-production in the Social Enterprise Space

By: Fatuma Khaireh

It is an exciting time for those of us passionate about the power of social entrepreneurship for positive social change. It is a way to bridge the gap between the commercial and charity sector. At Yalla Hub, we have a growing community of women from minority backgrounds, including migrant and refugee women eager to test out and develop new creative and business ideas. They have innovative and creative ideas that have the potential to transform their own lives and those of their community.

Social entrepreneurship has a crucial role to play in tackling the pressing issues of the day. Ten years of austerity leading to a rollback of the state has led to a sharp rise in poverty, insecure employment, wage stagnation, loneliness, and poor quality housing, with migrant and refugee women experiencing the brunt end of these cuts.

Women from migrant and refugee backgrounds have so much to offer in terms of skills and knowledge. At Yalla Hub, we offer them a testing ground for their ideas and support them in their aspirations. Allyship and cooperation from people across income and cultural backgrounds are crucial for meaningful social change. 

The practice of co-production and co-design is essential for creating a sustainable model for social entrepreneurship. Beneficiaries have to be at the centre of how we make things work. 

We all have so much to learn from each other. We must have a reciprocal relationship. So that we are better able to refine the work we're doing and better understand how we can support more marginalised members of our community. 

Individuals being supported have to take ownership of the decision making and design process, and this requires a commitment to taking risks. Well-meaning paternalistic strategies to social entrepreneurship do little to empower marginalised communities. It's important for beneficiaries to be on an equal footing to other stakeholders. 

A well-curated and expertly designed project that looks great on an annual report does little if it does not address an imbalance of power. The sector as a whole has to take social inequality more seriously if we are to tackle it head-on.

So many of those who would benefit from the power of social entrepreneurship are often shut-out. In our experience, many of the women we are working with have voiced their reluctance to start their own business out of fear they will lose access to the little welfare benefits they have and fear being pushed further into poverty.

We have to take a holistic approach to how we design projects and deliver services better, responding to the specific needs of marginalised communities and ensuring their voices are front and centre.