30th Impact for Breakfast Zurich

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Unleashing rural economic development through innovative social enterprise solutions

One out of every eight people across the globe—nearly one billion people—live in rural communities, far from the nearest paved road. Rural populations must walk along dirt tracks, sometimes for hours, to reach markets, health clinics, and schools. Alternatives to walking, like mini-buses and motorcycle taxis, are cost-prohibitive for daily use. 

While the development community makes major investments in health, education, and livelihoods, solutions that address the distance barriers facing many communities remain chronically under-invested. The SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) cannot be met when barriers to accessing services remain so high for so many. Worldwide, an estimated 75% of perinatal deaths result from inadequate transport to basic health facilities. Small-scale farmers living far from markets invest less in agricultural productivity. In Zambia, rural-based students are half as likely to attend secondary school as their urban peers. Similar disparities exist throughout the world. 

In this session, we will learn how WBR and its wholly-owned for-profit social enterprise is responding to this global challenge by creating and distributing specially designed bicycles and a support ecosystem that sustains riders. They will share how their innovative hybrid NGO/for-profit social enterprise model addresses the demand for sustainable rural access solutions at scale, amplifying social impact across education, economic opportunity and healthcare and preparing for scale. By partnering with funders, their non-profit arm implements high-impact community-led bicycle mobility programs for those who cannot afford to buy bicycles. WBR’s hybrid model inspires and influences others towards achieving their goal of helping individuals and communities to thrive, particularly women and girls. 

Speaker: Dave Neiswander - Chief Executive Officer, World Bicycle Relief

Date: Tuesday, Dec 6th, 2022

Time: 9 am – 11 am

Venue: memox.world, Reitergasse 9, 8004 Zürich